ISLAMABAD: The Senate’s Standing Committee on Law and Justice Wednesday discussed the Constitution Amendment Bill-2024 (Amendment of Article 51).
The bill was introduced by senators Kauda Babar, Naseebullah Bazai, Manzoor Ahmed Kakar, Sana Jamali, and Danesh Kumar in the house on January 1.
Senator Kumar told the house committee that the Constitution designated 10 reserved seats for non-Muslims in the National Assembly, with the entire country as the constituency. “This unrestricted geographical allocation allows political parties to nominate candidates freely, resulting in disproportionate representation favouring populous provinces,” he added.
The proposed amendment, according to senator Kumar, “seeks to rectify this by ensuring a minimum of one seat is allocated to each province to address the existing disparity”. The committee met with Senator Ali Zafar in the chair.
Following thorough discussions, the committee unanimously supported the amendment, deeming it fair and equitable.
In response to legal concerns raised by Senator Kamran Murtaza of the JUI-F on the matter, chairman committee directed the ministry of Law, and ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to find out a way forward and also provide details of previous efforts to amend Article 51 of the Constitution.
The meeting was attended by senators Kamran Murtaza, Danesh Kumar, Farooq Hamid Naek and Walid Iqbal.
