Senate unanimously passes Elections Amendment Bill 2017

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – After National Assembly, the Senate has on Friday unanimously passed the Elections Amendment Bill 2017 which pertains to restoring the finality of the Prophethood clause to its original form. The Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid presented Election (Amendment) Act 2017 in the Senate pertaining to restoring the finality of the Prophethood clause to its original form which was unanimously passed. The Minister for Law said that the Clauses 7B and 7C have also been included following which the old status of Ahmadi, Qadiani and Lahori Group as non-Muslim would remain same as per 7-B, while under 7-C, the Qadiani and Ahmadi will have to mention or add themselves in the voter lists as non-Muslim. Section 7-B says that the status of Ahmedis remains as stated in the Constitution of Pakistan, while section 7-C states that if an enrolled voter’s belief in the finality of the prophethood is contended, they shall have to sign a declaration stating so, failing which their “name shall be deleted from the joint electoral rolls and added to a supplementary list of voters in the same electoral area as non-Muslim.” Speaking on the occasion, Senator Aitzaz Ahsan said that the sit-in of the religious parties was underway in the twin cities but the government was nowhere. He said that the bill has been passed by putting pressure on the government. On the other hand, Senate Deputy Chairman Abdul Ghafoor Haidri felicitated the nation and said that the law minister has fulfilled one promise and credit of this goes to the parliament.