ISLAMABAD (National Times) The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf registered its protest after a National Assembly committee approved a bill which would change the election law by not giving a political party the reserved seats in case of its failure to submit a list of candidates.

The bill states that a political party should not be given seats designated for women and non-Muslim candidates if it does not submit its list of candidates for the reserved seats within the allotted time.

After the bill was introduced in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar proposed that the bill be forwarded to a committee for feedback from all political parties.

In another proposed amendment in the bill, a candidate shall be regarded as an independent legislator if they had not declared their connection with a political party to the returning officer prior to requesting the assignment of a poll symbol.

The changes in sections 66 and 104 also mentioned that the proposed amendments would take precedence over court orders, including the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, a few political pundits have labelled the bill as a move to overturn the apex court judgement on July 12, which had declared the PTI eligible for reserved seats in the National Assembly and provincial assemblies.

On Wednesday (today), the National Assembly Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs called its meeting and approved the bill by a vote of eight against four.

“Parliament is the legislative body. Courts only interpret. Parliament has the power to legislate where it feels its powers are being interfered with or the Constitution is being rewritten. It is the power of Parliament to make constitutions and laws,” the law minister said.

A day ago, the PML-N tabled the Election Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024 in the National Assembly.

The ruling PML-N lawmaker Bilal Azhar Kayani presented the bill and it was handed over to the relevant standing committee.