Parliament joint's session approves electoral reforms, NAB bills

ISLAMABAD: The joint session of the Parliament has passed the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Bill 2021 and Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2022, ARY News reported on Thursday.

President Dr Arif Alvi had previously refused to sign the bills – one aimed at limiting the powers of NAB and the other to reverse the amendments made by the previous PTI government on the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and i-voting for overseas Pakistanis.

Article 46 of the Constitution had been violated, the President had claimed, as he was not informed about the legislative proposal before the bill was brought to the parliament.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarrar presented both the bills in the joint session of Parliament today. The election amendment bill has now abolished the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs), while the NAB bill has formulated a post-retirement procedure for its chairman, among other changes.

After the joint sitting’s approval, the bills will be sent once again to the President for approval, but if he does not sign them within 10 days, it will be considered that his assent has been given under Article 75(2) of the Constitution.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been a strong vocal about the right to vote for overseas Pakistanis and the use of EVMs.