The government on Monday withdrew an ordinance which the PPP alleged was promulgated without the approval of President Asif Ali Zardari, hours after the latter staged a walkout from the National Assembly to express its displeasure.
Sources told Dawn that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had forwarded a summary advising President Zardari to withdraw the Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026.
In his remarks during the year’s first NA session, PPP’s Naveed Qamar had not specified which ordinance was promulgated without the president’s approval when he led a walkout by the party, saying it would not participate in proceedings until the situation was addressed.
Sources in the PPP, however, had confirmed to Dawn he was referring to an ordinance related to special economic zones.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, meanwhile, said that nowadays there was an e-office through which files were approved online. “This ordinance was also approved. Staff to staff, it was considered approved,” he said in a statement.
The minister acknowledged that when the ordinance’s file was received, it did not bear the president’s signature.
“It had already been printed. A mistake was made which has been rectified,” he stated. “As a goodwill gesture, these bills were not notified because the president did not approve them,” he said.
He noted that the president had 10 days to give his assent to bills passed by a joint sitting of Parliament.
“As a goodwill gesture, these bills were not notified because the president did not approve them,” he said.
“The PPP and the PML-N have a good relationship and because of this relationship, the ordinance has been withdrawn,” the minister said. “In the future, we will approach these matters with understanding,” he concluded.
After the withdrawal of the ordinance, PPP’s Shazia Marri said the party would now attend Tuesday’s NA session.
PPP stages walkout in NA, calls move ‘shameful’
Speaking on the floor of the NA earlier in the day on a point of order, PPP’s Qamar said, “There is a very serious constitutional anomaly taking place.”
He highlighted that Parliament’s primary responsibility was to legislate. “Without the assemblies, there is only one way of legislating, which is if the president promulgates an ordinance under Article 89(1) of the Constitution,” he said.
“For the first time in Pakistan’s black legislative history, an ordinance has been promulgated without the approval or the signature of the president, which is shameful and against the Constitution,“ he alleged, without specifying what the ordinance was.
He said that for the first time, the government was “deviating from the Constitution”.
“How can you promulgate an ordinance and put it into effect without getting the president’s approval on it?” he asked. The PPP leader said that the party had not seen such a practice even during military dictatorships.
“I do not know what the government’s excuse is for doing this,” he remarked. He made it clear that the law would have no standing anywhere, including in a court of law and Parliament.
Declaring that the PPP would not participate in proceedings until the situation was addressed, he announced a walkout along with other members of his party.
For his part, Law Minister Tarar had attempted to call the PPP members back to no avail.
