Islamabad: Amidst vociferous protests from Pakistan’s religious parties, the Parliament has approved a third Bill related to the tough conditions set by the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog FATF.
The legislation is part of the efforts by Pakistan to move from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list to the white list. The FATF put Pakistan on the grey list in June 2018 and asked Islamabad to implement a plan of action by the end of 2019 but the deadline was extended later due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The Mutual Legal Assistance (Criminal Matter) Bill, 2020 — which calls for exchange of information and criminals with countries — was passed late Thursday evening in a joint sitting of Parliament after a hectic two-day consultation with the two major Opposition parties — Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
The Bill was passed after the government agreed to include over two dozen Opposition-proposed amendments with a majority vote amidst noisy protest by the religious and nationalist parties, the Dawn News reported.
The draft legislation was approved in the presence of Opposition Leader and PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif and PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
The talks started on Wednesday evening, continued almost throughout the night and lasted till a delayed start of the joint sitting on Thursday evening.
As soon as Interior Minister retired Brig Ijaz Shah moved the motion to take up the Bill for consideration, members belonging to Muttahida Majlis e Amal (MMA), Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), National Party and independent members from the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas stood up and started raising slogans against it. (PTI)
