Later returning unsigned A bill seeking to reverse the changes made in election laws by the former PTI government, President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday did the same with another law to clip the vast powers of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The two bills were passed by the National Assembly and Senate last month and were later sent to the President for approval. However, Alvik sent them back on 4 June, after which the government issued a joint sitting of parliament To pass the bills on June 9 – which were approved on the same day.
Procedurally, after bills are passed by a joint sitting, they are submitted for the assent of the President. If the President does not give his assent within 10 days, it will be deemed to have been given.
However, President Alvi sent back the unsigned election reform bill for the second time on Sunday, doing the same with the NAB bill on Monday.
According to a statement issued by the Presidency, Dr Alvi said he believed the bill to be “regressive in nature”, adding that it would “promote corruption by ensuring that the long arm of the law is crippled”.
The President said the bill also sent a message to the corrupt, who claimed that they had tremendous wealth, that they were not accountable and were free to continue looting the country.
“The President expressed regret that the little man would be caught for petty crimes while the corrupt rich would be free to continue their blood-sucking abominations. Having weak accountability is against the basic rights of the people of Pakistan. […] It is also against the basic principles of our Constitution,” the statement quoted the President as saying.
The President said that he was aware of the fact that the NAB bill would be enacted into law even though he had not signed the bill. Elaborating on the reasons for not signing the bill, President Alvi said that it has been observed that there were lapses in the implementation of the NAB Ordinance.
“This law, like all other laws giving power to the executive, was misused for political exigencies by those in power. For this reason, the accountability process in Pakistan became quite ineffective, with the role of vested interests. The public raised an alarm. The lengthy judicial processes involved and ineffective prosecution for refund of looted money actually made it very difficult to uncover, prevent and eliminate corruption,” the President said.
He further said that a concerted effort is desperately needed for reforms.
“Our experiences of the past few decades must have guided us; to revise the law, to abrogate it, to close the obvious loopholes, and to strengthen it. At least that was the hope that some of the efforts of previous governments left out. and the principle of accountability, though upheld, was weakened beyond recognition,” he said.
President Alvi said that instead of structurally reforming the institution, the enactment of the promulgated amendments amounted to “demolishing the process of accountability without an alternative mechanism”.
Such weak laws, he said, create a mask of justice that hides the possession of a corrupt elite, and nations accommodating such laws ensure very harmful exploitation of the common man perpetuating an unjust society. Huh.” Do not allow him to sign the bill.
NAB Bill
The NAB (Second Amendment) Bill 2021 states that the deputy chairman of the bureau, who will be appointed by the federal government, will become the acting chairman after the completion of the chairman’s term.
The bill also reduced the tenure of the NAB chairman and prosecutor general from four years to three years. After approval of the bill, NAB will not be able to process federal, provincial or local tax matters. In addition, regulatory bodies have also been removed from the domain of the Bureau.
It says, “All pending inquiries, investigations, trials or proceedings under this Ordinance, relating to persons or transactions … shall be transferred to the authorities, departments and courts concerned under the relevant laws”.
It has also prescribed a three-year term for the judges of the accountability courts and is set to make the courts binding to decide the case within a year. Under the Bill, the NAB has been mandated to ensure the availability of evidence against a suspect before he is arrested.
According to one of the major amendments, the Act “shall be deemed to be effective from the commencement of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 and thereafter”. The Speaker shall be appointed by the federal government after consultation between the Leaders of the House and the opposition in the National Assembly.