Mar.23, 2010

ISLAMABAD: The passing of an Anti-Money Laundering Bill by the Senate at a time when senior lawmakers were attending a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms generated a controversy on Monday, which led to a walkout by lawmakers.

The protesting lawmakers, who included members from treasury benches, forced the Senate chairman to write a note to the president, requesting him not to sign the bill and to send it back to parliament for re-approval.

The House had passed the bill unanimously, but senior members censured the move as they came back from the committee’s meeting, saying the bill was against basic human rights and in violation of the country’s sovereignty.

Leader of Opposition in Senate Waseem Sajjad, whose proposed amendments were dropped from the bill due to his absence, was the first to launch a protest. He was later joined by Adviser to Prime Minister Mian Raza Rabbani, Professor Khurshid Ahmed of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Haji Adeel of the Awami National Party, Shahid Bugti of the Jamhoori Watan Party, Abdul Rahim Mandokhel of PkMAP and SM Zafar of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, who accused the government of bulldozing the legislation.

Imposition: The members said the legislation was drafted in the US and was being imposed on the country without taking into account the consequences of its implementation. They said under the proposed law, lawyers and accountants will be bound to provide details of transactions of their clients to agencies, which was a breach of professional conduct.

The lawmakers said there was a need to make amendments as proposed by Senator Waseem Sajjad before passing the bill.

Some treasury members, including Leader of the House Nayyer Bukhari and Interior Minister Rehman Malik, tried to appease the protesting members. They suggested that since the law had already been passed, a committee should be set up to sort out the matter. However, the protesters did not agree to the proposal and staged a walkout.

In accordance with the protestors’ demand, acting Senate Chairman Jan Muhammad Jamali then agreed to write a note to the president, asking him to use his powers under Article 75 return the bill for re-approval.

Also, Local Government Minister Justice (r) Abdul Razzaq Taheem joined the protesting members, complaining that development funds sanctioned by the prime minister were not being released. Taheem informed the House that an official of the Finance Ministry had sent back the files forwarded by 80 parliamentarians of proposed development schemes approved by the prime minister.

Taking notice, the acting Senate chairman said that such an official should be sacked immediately.