Friday, September 01, 2006

Women’s Protection Bill: Committee completes first clause-by-clause reading

By Zulfiqar Ghuman

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) Select Committee on Thursday completed a clause-by-clause first reading of the Women’s Protection Bill 2006, despite the absence of Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP-P).

According to committee chairman, Nasarullah Khan Dareshak, the decision to press ahead with the meeting came after the PPP-P informed him that they would be unable to attend the meeting due to the opposition’s All Parties Conference (APC).

“Yes, the committee has completed the first clause-by-clause reading. The committee will again review the bill tomorrow (Friday) in the presence of PPP-P legislators and will try to take them into confidence. We will finalise the Bill in next day or two and then refer the same to the NA,” he told reporters after the meeting.

“The committee will take input from the PPP-P before finalising the Bill and referring it to the NA for consideration. We want to take (the) PPP-P onboard with consensus on this Bill,” he added.

The PPP-P is represented at the committee by four party legislators: Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Sherry Rehman, Raja Pervez Ashtaf and Nayyar Hussain Bukhari.

The party supports the complete repeal of the Hudood Ordinance and has expressed reservations concerning the government-drafted Women’s Protection Bill, which seeks to make certain amendments to the Criminal Procedural Code and the Pakistan Penal Code. Moreover, the PPP-P has indicated that it would issue a note of dissent if its demands were overruled by a majority decision in the Select Committee.

Nevertheless, the PPP-P is the only opposition party to participate in the committee. The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amle (MMA) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have already boycotted the committee, vowing to resist the “un-Islamic bill” both in and outside Parliament.

PPP-P Central Information Secretary and Select Committee member Sherry Rehman confirmed that a schedule clash had led to the PPP-P’s absence from Thursday’s meeting, adding that the party’s committee representatives would attend Friday’s meeting.

Courtesy DailyTimes.com.pk

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