ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Wednesday approved the draft of the 20th Constitutional Amendment Bill 2011, which has been prepared in accordance with the directions of the Supreme Court after the formation of the Election Commission (EC) and appointment of four new EC members.
Though the approval of the draft amendment was not on the agenda of the cabinet meeting, giving legal cover to by-elections held after the general elections of February 2008 was approved. Sources said the Election Commission officials briefed the cabinet on the need for the 20th Amendment to provide legal cover to the by-elections held in 29 constituencies.
The Election Commission was completed recently and its new members took oath last Monday. Sources said the government had already discussed the draft with the coalition partners, who have endorsed it but the PML-N has not given a positive response yet.
The cabinet examined in detail the Draft Counter Insurgency (In Aid of Civil Power) Regulations 2011 for FATA and PATA in terms of Article 247 (5) and Article 247(4) respectively and approved the draft regulations, which will provide a legal cover to action against terrorists.
It was observed that it was of paramount importance for the state to curb the terrorist activities and bring them to justice in counter insurgency operations. The cabinet also decided to reconsider and revisit the proposal on commercial import of non-prohibited bore arms and ammunition in consultation with all stakeholders. The proposal, it was mentioned, will be put before the cabinet accordingly.
The cabinet also approved the Delimitation of Constituencies (Amendment) Bill, 2011 and reviewed the implementation status of its decisions regarding ministries of industries, information technology and Telecom Division. The cabinet was informed that 95% decisions on the Ministry of Industries were implemented, while 80% decisions on the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom Division were implemented.
The cabinet was informed that pending decisions required further consultation among the stakeholders as well as negotiations with foreign countries in some cases. The prime minister called for early implementation of decisions after requisite consultations with stakeholders.
Acting secretary finance briefed the cabinet on the consumer price index and said prices of food items had generally remained stagnant while the prices of non-food items had showed some increase. Inflation, he mentioned, was likely to show downward trend in the coming months. Despite lower growth in the previous financial year (2010-11), the inflation rate was almost the same in all regional countries, which had high growth rates during the same period, he said. It was also mentioned that while international prices of sugar, wheat, rice, tea, cotton and oil had increased, the increase in prices of these commodities was comparatively less in Pakistan.
The cabinet ratified the Framework Economic Cooperation Agreement signed between the Government of Pakistan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It approved in principle the initiation of negotiations on the draft agreement on cooperation against illicit trafficking in narcotics drugs, psychotropic substances and their chemical precursors between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The cabinet also approved the initiation of negotiations to conclude an agreement between Pakistan and Tanzania for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.