No ordinance promulgated sans president's assent, says govt after PPP stages walkout

• PPP says such acts didn’t take place during martial law.
• Any ordinance without presiden’s assent illegal, says PPP.
• Law Minister Tarar says he will speak to PPP’s Qamar.

The federal government on Monday assured its major ally, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), that it had not promulgated any ordinance without President Asif Ali Zardari’s assent after the party staged a walkout in the National Assembly.

PPP MNA Naveed Qamar, speaking on the NA floor, said that for the first time, in “Pakistan’s black legislative history”, an ordinance — the Special Economic Zone Ordinance — has been promulgated without the approval or signature of the president, terming it “shameful”.

“How can you promulgate an ordinance and put it into effect, without getting the president’s approval on it? This has never happened, not even in dictatorships,” Qamar said.

“I don’t know what the government’s excuse is for doing such a thing. Under such circumstances, we cannot be a part of this parliament. I, along with my party [colleagues], will walk out.”

Moments after the walkout, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari — who served under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as the foreign minister in his previous tenure — summoned a high-level party meeting to discuss the concerns over the ordinance, sources told Geo News.

In response, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar said that there were actually nine or 10 bills and ordinances that were pending assent with the presidency.

“Just yesterday, we were informed that the president has been pleased to grant assent to those bills, acts, and ordinances. Maybe it’s part of that, or it might not be,” the law minister said on the floor of the NA.

“But, let me be very clear on behalf of the government: Article 75 mentions that the bills approved during a joint sitting are deemed to have been assented to after 10 days if [the president] does not give his assent. The deeming clause is invoked after 10 days. We have not notified even those out of respect for the president.”

He said that there are some bills, including those related to universities, which are still pending with the presidency, and the government has not notified them, nor does it plan on promulgating them. “I have explained this now, but I will still talk to the relevant quarters and get back to Naveed Qamar.”

PPP MNA Agha Rafiullah, while speaking to Geo News, said that such actions had never taken place even during periods of martial law, as were being carried out today. He said they had reservations over the Special Economic Zones ordinance and its procedure.

He said it was an unfortunate moment because such actions were not taken even during the martial law regimes of Ayub Khan, Zia-ul-Haq, or Pervez Musharraf.

Rafiullah alleged that the government was going to carry out an illegal and unconstitutional act. He remarked that these “were people who did not listen to words”.

He said PPP members were deeply concerned that no such action should take place in the House. He added that when unconstitutional actions occurred, it was necessary to raise a voice against them.

Moreover, former prime minister and PPP leader Raja Pervez Ashraf, in an exclusive conversation with Geo News, said the president’s signature on an ordinance was essential, which was why it was referred to as a presidential ordinance.

He said an ordinance could not be enforced without the president’s signature and that, in the absence of such approval, it became unconstitutional and illegal.

Ashraf said he did not know how this had happened or why the mistake occurred. He added that he believed the matter would be discussed the following day and that the issues related to the mistake would become clear.

He said it would have to be examined why this happened, and under what circumstances such a step was taken. The PPP leader said the acceptance of such an ordinance at any forum was zero and called for the process to be rectified immediately.

Ashraf said his party would see what position the law minister had taken, adding that if the explanation was acceptable, then it would be fine.

'Appointment of opposition leader'

Separately, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq moved forward with the process for the appointment of the opposition leader in the National Assembly, setting Thursday as the deadline for issuing the official notification.

Speaking on the NA floor, PTI Chief Whip Amir Dogar confirmed that 75 members had signed the submission supporting Mahmood Khan Achakzai as the opposition leader.

Later, the NA speaker held a meeting with lawmakers from PTI and PPP, wherein he briefed the latter on this matter.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said the speaker had briefed PTI members on the formalities, assuring that the notification for Achakzai would be issued by Thursday.

PTI leader Asad Qaiser also confirmed the development to Geo News, saying that the process would be completed on Thursday, noting that PPP members were also present during the Speaker’s consultations.

PTI was forced to name new opposition leaders in both houses after Omar Ayub, Leader of Opposition in NA, and Shibli Faraz, opposition leader in the Senate, were removed from the top parliamentary positions on August 9, following their convictions in the May 9 cases.