ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly has approved seven government bills including the National Anti-Money Laundering, Counter Financing of Terrorism Authority Bill 2023.
Minister of State for External Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar presented the bill which was approved on Thursday.
He said that the legislation is of great importance and if implemented and enforced properly, it will ensure that Pakistan does not fall under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list again.
Hina Khar said that the Bill envisages the establishment of an Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financial Authority.
He said that the chairman of the authority will be appointed by the prime minister, he added that the authority has finance secretary, foreign secretary, interior secretary, governor of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. , will include national accountability. Bureau (NAB) Chairman, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) DG, Anti Narcotics Force DG, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman, Financial Monitoring Unit DG, Necta National Coordinator and Chief Secretaries of Provinces.
Other government bills passed by the House on Thursday include The Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals (Amendment) Bill, 2023, The Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2023, . Pakistan Civil Aviation Bill, 2023, ‘National Logistics Corporation Bill, 2023’, ‘The Gun and Country Club Bill, 2023’ and ‘Pakistan Air Safety Investigation Bill, 2023’.
Earlier, the proceedings of the National Assembly witnessed debates and protests over the passage and passage of the bill to establish more than two dozen private educational institutions and universities in different parts of the country.
Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali of Jamaat-e-Islami asked whether the members of the National Assembly had made an agreement to establish private universities and pass the bill on their behalf.
“A member of this House compromises the quality of education and presents a bill to establish 10 private universities in Islamabad and other parts of the country,” he said.
He also pointed out the lack of quorum in the House in an attempt to block the passage of the bills, which led to the adjournment of the proceedings till Friday.
Only one private member’s bill titled Institute of Gujarat Bill 2023 introduced by Armaghan Subhani could be passed by the House.
Federal Education Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain also agreed with the point of view of the Jamaat-e-Islami MP and said that some MPs want the approval of the charter of the universities through the Acts of the Parliament.
He said that it has happened in the past also that the charter of 11 universities was approved by the Punjab Assembly without completing the code of conduct and now the Higher Education Commission is not certifying the degrees of these universities.
He said that the National Assembly is passing the bills which were stuck in the standing committees of the Senate. He agreed that the development of universities in the private sector could not improve the quality of education. He agreed that the National Assembly could approve the bill for the establishment of an institute and not a university.
Zulfikar Ali Bhatti of Muslim League-N, who wanted to move the King’s Universities Bill 2023, said that if it was assured that the bills of universities with HEC’s NOCs were also not passed, he would move them. Bill will be withdrawn.
Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali also blocked the passage of another bill related to the establishment of a private university. He said that the university being built in Lahore is being named Islamabad.
The MP of Jamaat-e-Islami raised the question of non-fulfilment of the quorum due to which the proceedings were adjourned till Friday (today).
The JI MNA made his presence felt as he protested against the treatment meted out to him by the Home Ministry officials and even threatened to point out the lack of quorum earlier.
He said that on the second day he went to the ministry to check updates on cases of already submitted arms licenses, but officials there treated him harshly.
He asked the Speaker to postpone the bill sponsored by the Ministry. Otherwise, they will indicate lack of quorum in the House.
On his demand, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Javed Abbasi, who wanted to introduce the Federal Prosecution Bill 2023 on behalf of the Home Minister, agreed to postpone it.
