The president of Pakistan has signed the recently passed Election Act (Second Amendment Bill) 2024 into law.
After the signatures of President Asif Zardari, the Elections Act (Second Amendment Bill) 2024 has officially been enacted into law. The bill had previously been passed by majority votes from both the National Assembly and the Senate.
The Senate Secretariat had sent the bill to President Zardari for his signature after its passage in both legislative bodies. With the president's signature, the bill has now completed the legislative process.
The Senate Secretariat has received the signed summary, and the next step will be the issuance of a gazette notification, which will formally publish the new law, sources said.
Also Read: PTI challenges Election Amendment Act in Supreme Court
On August 6, the Senate passed the bill by a majority vote, following its earlier approval in the National Assembly. During the vote, 30 treasury members were present in the Senate. The opposition, with 15 members in attendance, did not propose any amendments to the bill, according to Senator Farooq H. Naek.
"Once the bill is passed, no further debate is permitted," Senator Naek clarified.
Opposition members expressed strong protest in the Upper House. "Parliament is supreme, and if any institution interferes, I will stand with parliament," declared Senator Ali Zafar of the PTI. "The judiciary has set a poor precedent by ruling on the election symbols issue."
"Parliament makes the laws. If a law is unconstitutional, the courts can nullify it," Senator Naek asserted.
Earlier that day, the National Assembly passed the Elections Act (Amendment Bill) 2024 by a majority vote.
According to details, as per the decision of the Supreme Court regarding reserved seats, the government was able to carry out important legislation. The bill for further amendment to the Elections Act 2017 was approved by the National Assembly by a majority vote.
Also Read: National Assembly passes Elections Act (Amendment Bill) 2024
The bill was presented jointly by the PML-N's Bilal Azhar Kayani and Zaib Jaffar. According to the bill, a candidate who does not submit his party affiliation certificate before obtaining the election symbol will be considered independent. If the list of candidates for reserved seats is not submitted within the prescribed period, no political party shall be entitled to the reserved seats.
Any candidate's declaration of affiliation to a political party once in the prescribed period shall be irrevocable, the bill states.
The next day, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) challenged the bill in the Supreme Court. PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court and prayed to the apex court to annul the law.
An Article 184-3 application was filed through the mediation of Salman Akram Raja. The federation and the Election Commission of Pakistan were made parties in the petition.
