20th Amendment Bill deadlock restored in Pakistan

The deadlock between the government and the main opposition party, the PML-N, over the 20th Amendment Bill has finally been resolved, paving the way for at least some political stability, at least till the impending Senate and general elections, a Daily Times editorial has said.

The draft of the revised 20th Amendment is expected to be presented before parliament shortly after the federal cabinet and its allied parties approve it.

The main purpose of the 20th Amendment was to provide legal cover to the by-polls held by an incomplete Election Commission after passage of the 18th Amendment. Despite the Supreme Court's (SC's) reminders to the government over the presence of this anomaly, the government had been failing in reaching a consensus with the main opposition party over the final draft of the 20th Amendment Bill.

However, the delay led the SC to suspend all 28 lawmakers elected through invalid by-polls on February 6.

The Supreme Court's move exerted enough pressure on the government and it started a round of serious negotiations with the PML-N, which put forward certain demands as preconditions if the government wanted its support for the unanimous passage of the 20th Amendment.

Its demands included a neutral caretaker government in consensus with the opposition leader and appointment of an independent, neutral election commissioner to hold elections. After four-day long negotiations, the government has ceded to the opposition's pressure and both the parties agreed on the revised draft of the said amendment, which is welcome. The government has undoubtedly acted wisely, the editorial said.

The passage of this amendment would help reinstate 28 suspended members of parliament elected in questionable by-polls.

At the moment, when the schedule of by-polls on February 25 and Senate elections on March 2 has been announced, the latest agreement is indeed a reflection of the growing maturity of the political system, the editorial added. (ANI)