NA committee approves draft of 20th amendment bill

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs on Monday approved the draft of the 20th Constitutional Amendment Bill, FTNews reported.

The committee’s meeting was attended by only seven out of its 17 members. Committee members from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) decided not to attend the meeting.

The committee approved the draft after a debate. The bill protects lawmakers elected in controversial by-elections after the passage of the18th Amendment from possible disqualification by the Supreme Court.

The bill would now be sent to the National Assembly for voting and would be sent over to the Senate once approved by the lower house of the parliament.

The main aim of the bill concerning by-elections tabled by Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khursheed Shah is to rectify a flaw which came to light when the hearing of a petition filed by Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, the Supreme Court questioned the legal status of lawmakers who had been elected as members of parliament and provincial assemblies in by-elections held at a time when the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was incomplete due to non-appointment of its members as required under the 18th Amendment.

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