The National Assembly on Wednesday approved the bill 2024 of Anti-terrorism (amendment) by a majority vote that promulgates it in the law after rejecting opposition proposals amid protests in the Chamber.
The Chamber suspended its routine agenda to take the bill. President Ayaz Sadiq ordered a staff in the approval of the bill, which showed 125 votes in favor and 45 against. Opposition members protested and shouted slogans during the process.
The president of the PTI, Barrimer, Gohar Ali Khan, argued that the bill violated article 10 of the Constitution and fundamental rights by allowing detention without trial for up to three months, extensible by three others.
He said that no law could be promulgated in the contravention of the Constitution or the decisions of the Supreme Court, and indicated past cases of prolonged detention without due process.
Read: HRCP urges the government to discard the anti -terrorist invoice
Maulana Fazlur Rehman questioned the need for such law, remembering similar measures in the Musharraf era that, according to him, treated citizens as “born criminals.”
The opposition argued that the law could be misused, while the government insisted that it was necessary to address the prevailing security situation.
Oil reserves
Separately, the legislators of the Popular Party of Pakistan (PPP) sought a clarification of the government about the past comments of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, on vast oil reserves in Pakistan.
On July 31, Trump resorted to social networks to announce a new agreement between the United States and Pakistan for the joint development of Pakistan’s “massive oil reserves.”
Dr. Nafisa Shah of PPP questioned why the Government had not provided information if such reservations existed. “The president of the United States tells us about oil reserves in Pakistan, but why does the Pakistan government inform us?”
Read more: Trump wins his deal, Pakistan looks at the future
Responding to the warning of Attention, Federal Minister of Petroleum Ali Pervaiz Malik said that Pakistan had recently granted oil exploration rights to Kuwait, Türkiye and other countries.
He confirmed the presence of reservations, but said that his exact size could only be determined after the exploration work began.
He added that three main gas fields were discovered, greater than the SUI field, and the exploration had begun in Hyderabad.
Malik pointed out that countries like China and the United States had technology to quickly verify the presence of oil and gas.
Dr. Shah also questioned whether Trump’s comments, including that Pakistan could one day export oil to India, intended to pressure India so that concessions, given that the Pakistani ministers said they still did not know the size of the reserves.
The PPP legislator Syed Naveed who asked if the exploration opportunities would be open to countries beyond the United States.
Malik replied that rights would be available for multiple companies.
