Senate approves Anti-Terrorism Amendment Bill 2020

The Senate on Thursday approved clause-wise Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and United Nations Security Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

The bills were presented by Adviser to Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan during the session chaired by Senate chairman Sadiq Sanjrani.

This legislation is related to fulfill certain requirements of the Financial Action Task Force in order to exclude Pakistan fro its grey list.

PML-N leader Mushahidullah Khan said the government remains silent on the major issues.

He said the foreign minister should have taken action over entry of TikTok stars in the ministry office. The government will not hold accountability of its own ministers, he alleged.

Meanwhile, foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said it has been proved today that personal interests are being prioritized over national interests. All the political parties should extend felicitation to each other over approval of bills, he added.

Qureshi said that we are trying hard to add Pakistan into white list from grey list.

It is to be mentioned here that a total of six ordinances, The International Court of Justice (Review and Re-consideration) Ordinance, 2020, The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, The Public Private Partnership Authority (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, The Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, The Corporate Restructuring Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, and The Companies (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, were tabled before the House on July 29 for approval.

Law Minister Farogh Naseem had asserted that being a responsible nation state, Pakistan has to comply with the decisions of the International Court of Justice and the requirements of the FATF.