Opposition, govt fail to reach consensus over FATF, NAB bills

ISLAMABAD: The opposition and the government failed to reach a consensus over various draft legislation, including the action plan of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and a proposal to amend the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO).

The leaders of the opposition parties, including the PPP and PML-N, today (Tuesday) staged a walk-out out of a parliamentary committee meeting, saying the federal government was not speaking in good faith.

Addressing a press conference alongside PPP leader Sherry Rehman, PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi pointed out that the bill concerning the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which the government had brought, was the same as before.

“We had told the government that we are willing to join the debate if the bills were in the public interest and in line with the Supreme Court’s directions,” he explained.

He further said, “We said that this can’t be accepted and it was then decided that the bill concerning the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), will be debated section by section and a new amendment bill will be finalised.”

However, he said that the government refused to agree with the amendments. “We asked about the issues in the amendments, but they didn’t have an answer. In this regard, we said that if they can’t talk on the amendments in good faith, then we can’t move forward,” he clarified.

The PML-N also said that the government wasn’t talking in good faiths. “Their intentions, I don’t think, are for working in the national interest, we walked out of the meeting,” he added.

Last week, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi informed that the government and the opposition members will meet to discuss draft laws concerning the FATF action plan and NAB.

Earlier on Monday, the proposed amendments to the FATF-related United Nations (Security Council) Bill 2020, Anti Terrorism (Amendment) Bill 2020, and NAO came under discussion at the second meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Legislative Business.