ISLAMABAD: A joint sitting of parliament passed the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2023, on Monday after President Dr. Arif Alvi refused to give his approval, as the government is trying to empower the body’s chairman.
Both houses — the Senate and National Assembly— adopted the bill in April, but the president returned it to the parliament and advised the legislators to reconsider the amendments.
The president sent the text back to the parliament, saying that earlier amendments to the laws of accountability were already pending before the apex court — after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan challenged earlier amendments.
The president had noted that this aspect had not been addressed in the legislation and the prime minister’s advice.
Law Minister’s Address in Parliament
On the occasion of reintroducing the bill in the parliament, the Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the laws that were legislated during a dictator’s rule were now being misused in the shape of political engineering.
He said that despite PTI’s claim that the bill was an NRO-2, time would show the party that it is really an NRO-2 for itself.
Tarar said that under former chairman Javed Iqbal, NAB was used for political engineering.
Referring to the apex court hearing on the NAB bill, he said no institution has the right to interfere in the parliament’s matters.
