Pakistani Senate grants time to parliamentary committee to present reports on CPEC Authority Amendment Bill

Islamabad: Senate, the Upper House of the Parliament, has granted 30-day extension to the parliamentary Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Special Initiatives to present report on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

The CPEC Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021 proposes a number of changes including offering control of the management of the CPEC Authority to its board of directors.

Presented recently by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, the bill proposes that the federal government would issue policy directions to the CPEC Authority which it would have to follow.

Rabbani, while sharing details of the bill, said that in the past, all control over the CPEC Authority was exercised by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

If approved, the control would be given to the Authority’s board of directors, which would include representatives from all provinces, Rabbani maintained. The government is however, opposing the bill.

On Thursday, the House passed eight motions under rule 194 (1), granting extension to three standing committees for presentation of reports on matters referred to them.

Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat was granted a 30-day extension for presenting report on the Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Special Initiatives was also given 30-day extension for presentation of report on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

The Standing Committee on Law and Justice was given 60 days extension for presentation of reports on five bills and a point of public importance related to establishment of Income Tax Tribunal in Quetta, Balochistan.

Five other bills on which reports would be presented included the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2022 (Amendment of Articles 175A, 181, 182, 183, 184, 195, 196, 197 and 209); the Establishment of the Office of Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman) (Amendment) Bill, 2022; the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2022 (Amendment of Articles 1, 51, 59, 106, 154, 175A, 198 and 218); the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Amendment of Article 37) and the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021) (Amendment of Articles 111, 140, 260 and 275).