Will the NRO rest in peace in Senate?

There will be no action on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in the Senate unless the government desires further proceedings on it.“The government will feel such need only after the approval of the NRO by the National Assembly. He said that the NRO was laid in the Senate just for its information and not for further action leading to its passage.

The official said that unless the government converts the NRO into a bill and moves it in the Upper House, the Senate would not go ahead with it. He explained that under Article 89 of the Constitution, the laying of ordinances in both the parliamentary chambers was a mandatory requirement. In the National Assembly, it is automatically converted into a bill and stands referred to the concerned House committee while it remains an ordinance in the Senate after its tabling there, he said.

Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Law Muhammad Kazim Khan, who belongs to the Pakistan Peopleís Party (PPP), told The News that he was not summoning his House body because the NRO was yet to be referred to it.“There is a possibility that instead of sending the bill to his standing committee after it’s passed by the National Assembly, the Upper House would itself decide its fate,” he said.Kazim Khan said that the will of the majority would prevail in the standing com-

mittee if the bill was referred to it.Of the total 12 members of the Upper House committee, the PPP has six senators while its two allies ñ the Functional League and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam — have one nominee each. Opposing them are the two PML-Q senators and one member each of the PML-N and the Jamaat-e-Islami.The finding of a standing committee on a bill referred to it is always a recommendation, which is not binding on the House. But generally, it is considered that a bill cleared by a House body has the unanimous opinion of its members hailing from different parliamentary parties.

When the NRO was laid in the Senate last week, leader of the opposition Wasim Sajjad moved a resolution, seeking its disapproval. The official said that the fate of this resolution would be decided in the forthcoming session of the Senate in early November before it would take any action on the proposed law. He said a voting would be held for the purpose. He said the government was working hard to get the NRO passed from both the National Assembly and the Senate till Nov 28, when the ordinance would complete its 120 days life.