Due to the absence of a PTI member in the meeting, the committee sought opinions on the plan to redraw the map of Punjab.
ISLAMABAD:
A constitutional amendment proposal to create a new southern Punjab province dominated a Senate panel on Thursday, with deliberations on the bill postponed after a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member was absent from the meeting, even as the committee sought provincial inputs on the plan to redraw Punjab’s administrative and parliamentary map.
The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice met under the chairmanship of Senator Farooq H Naek.
The committee also addressed a proposed constitutional amendment that seeks to make higher education mandatory for holders of the country’s top constitutional offices.
The committee reviewed the private member’s constitutional amendment bill introduced by Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, proposing changes to Article 62 of the Constitution to introduce minimum educational qualifications for key public offices. After deliberations, the committee decided to seek formal opinions from provincial governments.
During the meeting, it was revealed that the governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab had rejected the proposed amendment, while Sindh and Balochistan were directed to present their views in the next meeting.
Under the proposed amendment, a bachelor’s degree recognized by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) would be mandatory for the posts of president, prime minister and chief ministers. The proposal also seeks to extend the educational requirement to governors, presidents of assemblies and the president of the Senate.
The bill further proposes the insertion of a new paragraph (h) in article 62 and includes amendments requiring federal and provincial ministers to have at least a postgraduate qualification.
While discussing the bill, Senator Farooq H. Naek recalled that a similar proposal had been brought during the regime of former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf, saying that such legislation was aimed at blocking the political path of the late Benazir Bhutto.
“Musharraf did not even know that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was a graduate,” the committee chairman said.
The committee also took up a PTI bill proposing the creation of a new southern Punjab province. However, the bill was postponed due to the absence of the PTI member concerned.
The committee decided to give the member one last opportunity to attend the next meeting.
