Bill for overseas Pakistanis’ reserved seats rejected

A billthat would have allocated reserved seats for Pakistanis living abroad was recently rejected by the Law and Justice Committee of the National Assembly of Pakistan.

The meeting also covered a bill introduced by Noor Alam Khan, which required dual-citizen lawmakers to give up their foreign citizenship.

Khan proposed that those with dual citizenship or Pakistanis living abroad be given reserved seats in the assembly.

Aalia Kamran from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) argued against the proposal’s implementation.

The committee also looked over another draft that Noor Alam Khan had proposed that dealt with the authority of contempt of court.

Former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, was accused by Khan of abusing his position of power. In response, Barrister Gohar of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) contended that a more sophisticated legal structure needed to be implemented instead of doing away with the contempt of court rule.

Latif Khosa, a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), stated that a law created by an elected parliament should take the place of the contempt of court statute, which was first implemented under an authoritarian government.

Noor Alam Khan chose to drop his bill on contempt of court after these talks. The committee also voted against a proposal to prolong the quota system in addition to these proposals.

Members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposed this measure, which was introduced by Aalia Kamran of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI). Nonetheless, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), JUI, and one PTI member endorsed the plan.