ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday passed a resolution in the National Assembly to extend the Pakistan Protection Ordinance (PPO) for further 120 days whereas opposition party members and members of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) protested against the government's move and staged a walk-out from the Lower House of Parliament, DawnNews reported.
Zahid Hamid, who was tasked by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to start a consultation process to finalise the changes needed to make the draft bill palatable, tried to calm the opposition by contending the PPO was necessary for protection of the country and told them that necessary amendments were made in it.
“We will even incorporate more amendments of the opposition for its passage as bill unanimously” Zahid offered
Opposition leader Khurshid Shah, belonging to the Pakistan People Party (PPP), also protested against the resolution.
He said that any bill having the consent of the all the nation would be allowed to sail through the house and added that said piece of legislation was a direct attack on the fundamental rights of the citizens.
Subsequently, he announced that a walkout would be staged in the house along with the all opposition parties.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf's (PTI) Shah Mehmood Qureshi terming the bill as a 'black law' said that it had been rejected by the nation.
"Government should try to evolve a consensus rather than repeating the scenes of last session when a similar kind of legislation created the ugly scenes in the house”, Shah suggested and added that he felt the country's defence needs but he exerted that it should not be at the cost of fundamental rights of the citizens.
MNA Abdul Rashid Godil, belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), said that the government could not be supported in killing the country's citizens.
Moreover, MNAs belonging to the JUI-F also staged a walk-out saying that instead of extending the PPO the bill should have been jointly legislated.
The Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO) bill promulgated in October last year grants sweeping powers of arrest and detention to police and security agencies.
Opposition members had claimed that the bill was a move by the government to legitimise enforced disappearances in the country.
The ordinance bill was approved by the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Interior on Jan 21 this year.
On April 7, the Protection of Pakistan Bill was approved in the National Assembly, amid much uproar and protests.
— Irfan Haider contributed to the reporting of this story