16^th meeting of the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs was held in Committee Room No.7, Parliament House, Islamabad at 11:00 a.m. under the Chairmanship of Mr. Mujahid Ali, MNA to consider the Government and Private Members’ Bills.

The Standing Committee discussed the Bills in detail, Mr. Ali Mohammad Khan, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs requested that the following Bills may be withdrawn. The committee therefore, unanimously recommended that the following Bills may be withdrawn: -

i. The Members of Parliament (Salaries and Allowances) (Amendment) Bill, 2020” (moved by Mr. Ali Muhammad Khan,

ii. The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2021” (Ord. No. IV of 2021) (moved by Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar Awan, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs) (Government Bill);

The Committee also discussed the pros & cons of the following Bills. Some members requested that Committee may not passed the following Bills in a haste and proposed legislation may be deferred till its next meeting for in-depth analysis in order to avoid overlapping of the existing legislation. The Committee agreed in principle and deferred the following Bills/agenda items till its next meeting: -

i. The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2019” (Section-104) (moved by Mr. Riaz Fatyana, MNA) (Private Members Bill);

ii. The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2020” (moved by Rai Muhammad Murtaza Iqbal, MNA) (Private Members Bill);

iii. The Biometric Electoral Voting Bill, 2020” (moved by Mr. Muhammad Aslam Khan, MNA) (Private Members Bill);

iv. The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2021” (moved by Mr. Ali Gohar Khan, MNA) (Private Members Bill);

v. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to brief the Committee over the ambiguity and discrepancies in the voters lists, by making Election Commission of Pakistan, a party in the matter and directing them to re-visit the Electoral Rolls;

vi. The Election Commission of Pakistan to brief the Committee over the review of the process of voters verification on annual basis as presently it is done only during the election process; and    

Members/MNAs, namely, Ms. Rukhsana Naveed, Ms. Shaheen Naz Saifullah, Ms. Zill-e-Huma, Ms. Fouzia Bahram, Ch. Mehmood Bashir Virk, Rana Sana Ullah Khan, Rana Mubashir Iqbal, Mr. Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju, Mr. Aftab Shaban Mirani, Mr. Mahesh Kumar Malani, Ms. Shams-Un-Nisa, Ms. Shagufta Jumani, Moulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, Mr. Ali Mohammad Khan, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Riaz Fatyana, MNA/Mover, Mr. Ali Gohar Khan, MNA/Mover and representatives of Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs & Election Commission of Pakistan attended the meeting.