ISLAMABAD :. The joint session of the parliament on Thursday passed two key bills , Election Reforms 2017 and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Act 2022 (amended).
These both bills were earlier passed by both houses of the parliament and sent to president , Dr Arif Alvi, for vetting, but he opted to stay errant as usual and instead showing responsibility as head of the state and signing the bills .sent them back to the prime minister for reconsideration..
The president perhaps is illiterate and has no knowledge that the government could use the option of joint session for approval of the bills he sent back without vetting . As per the cinstitution, the bills passed by the joint sitting become the law without vetting of the president .
After the amended Election Reforms Act 2022, there would be no use of electronic voting machines (EVM) in the forthcoming general elections. It also deleted the plan to give direct right to vote to the overseas Pakistanis. The Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) government had granted the right to vote to the overseas Pakistanis, but it did not evolve any procedure for making 10 million expat Pakistanis use their right to vote. The PTI government like many other politically motivated decisions used the issue of voting eight to the expat Pakistanis for its political gain. Had PTI shown seriousness in granting right to vote to the expat Pakistanis it could have evolved some procedure for enabling 10 million overseas Pakistanis use the right of vote .
The joint session also passed the second bill for NAB Act 2022 (Amended) sent back by Dr Arif Alvi . After the approval of the joint session , this bill also ultimately became the law . Under the amended NAB Act 2022, the watch dog will not arrest any accused without submitting undeniable proof of involvement in the crime . The detention period has also been cut down from 90 days to 30 days. Amendments in NAB Act were a long outstanding demand of the political parties including the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN).
The joint session also passed a bill regarding protection of the parents.