Tag: Pakistani parliment

  • Parliamentary Panel speeds up work on electoral reforms as elections loom closer

    Parliamentary Panel speeds up work on electoral reforms as elections loom closer

    A parliamentary committee has sped up work on election reforms by examining 73 rectification proposals presented before it, The News has reported.

    The parliamentary panel has decided to finalise the suggestions by next week and will get the reforms to the election act approved by both houses of parliament before the National Assembly’s tenure ends in August.

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also said that the tenure of the National Assembly will end in August this year.

    An in-camera meeting of the Parliamentary Committee headed by its chairman and the Economic Affairs Minister, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, was held to finalize recommendations.

    Law Minister Azam Tarar, Dr. Fehmida Mirza, Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar, Senator Taj Haider, MNA Afzal Dhandla, Senator Manzoor Ahmed, Senator Kamran Murtaza, and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary attended the meeting.

    Ayyaz Sadiq said, while talking to the media, that there is no proposal to ban any political party, and the parliamentary committee’s job is to make electoral reforms.

    “We will review the contentious issues on Thursday besides drafting the agreed-upon proposals. The controversial issues that need further discussion will be examined on Monday,” he said.

    Sadiq also mentioned that effective proposals will be taken into consideration for transparent elections.

  • Govt to increase the travel allowance so most Parliamentarians are able to get free petrol

    Govt to increase the travel allowance so most Parliamentarians are able to get free petrol

    The government has drafted a bill to increase the travel allowance of parliamentarians from Rs10 per kilometer to Rs30 per kilometer.

    The bill has been drafted on the request of parliamentarians who requested to increase travel allowance which has not been increased since 1980. Based on their request, if the parliamentarian owns a civic or corolla or a smaller car, their petrol will be free.

    Here is how:

    Lets see how much it would cost if a Parliamentarian is traveling from Lahore to Islamabad.

    How much is the distance between Lahore to Islamabad?

    The distance from Lahore to Islamabad is approximately 380 kilometers.

    If we go by previous allowance the parliamentarians would get Rs. 3,800 to travel between Lahore and Islamabad.

    If the allowance is increased to Rs30 per kilometer they will get Rs. 11,400 for the same route.

    If a person is using a civic, corolla or a smaller car to travel from Lahore to Islamabad they will consume around 47 liters of petrol which will cost around Rs. 12,000.

  • VIDEO: Gun-touting man caught in Islamabad

    VIDEO: Gun-touting man caught in Islamabad

    A man wielding a gun was arrested from outside the Parliament House in Islamabad on Monday.

    Footage shows the man walking on the main road, waving a pistol in one hand and what seemed like a knife in the other. Several security officials appeared to surround him.

    Police said the arrested man was shifted to Secretariat Police Station and a pistol was confiscated from him.

    After arresting the suspect, police said the initial investigation revealed he is a 45-year-old man who lives in Rawalpindi’s Chakri area. 

    Police say the suspect is suffering from mental illness.

    Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said during a press conference that the weapon confiscated from the man had no bullets inside.

  • NA body approves bill seeking criminal proceedings against anyone defaming military

    A bill seeking criminal proceedings against anyone who defames the military, has been approved by National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior.

    The bill, under which the said act is punishable by up to two years in prison or a fine of Rs500,000 or both, will now be presented before the lower house of the parliament.

    According to sources, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have opposed it as a violation of right to freedom of expression.

    However, it received the votes of a majority during the NA body’s meeting.

    Last year, the National Assembly had introduced the Criminal Law Bill, 2020, to make intentional defaming and insulting the armed forces as a punishable felony.

    According to an insertion 500A in the Pakistan Penal Code Act 1860, anyone who deliberately ridicules or slanders the armed forces or member of the armed forces shall be found guilty.