CPEC Authority ordinance extended for four months

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Thursday extended the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Ordinance 2019 for another 120 days.

Adviser to Prime Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan tabled CPEC Bill 2020 and 26th Amendment to Constitution in National Assembly. Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Khan Suri forwarded both bills to concerned standing committees, while the opposition lodged protest against not providing copies of the bills in the Lower House.

Babar Awan, while responding to protest by JUI-F’s Shahida Akhtar against the extension, said that under the Constitution of the country, Parliament can grant extension to ordinances.

Earlier, the PPP lawmaker Naveed Qamar said that the House is being paralysed as the work of Parliament was being taken from an ordinance factory.

According to bill, the CPEC Authority will have indemnity as no suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against the Authority, chairperson, member, executive director operations, executive director research, employees, officers, experts, consultants, or advisers of the Authority, in respect of anything done or purported to be done in good faith, under the provision of this Act or the rules and regulations.

According to the bill, the chairperson of the CPEC Authority shall be appointed for four years term and shall be eligible for re-appointment for one additional term of four years and no person shall be appointed as a chairperson for more than two terms.

The bill stated that the prime minister could remove chairperson, member, executive director operations, executive director research and any member from the office on the grounds of inefficiency, incapacity or misconduct and for the purpose of such recommendations, the Authority shall conduct an inquiry in such a manner as may be prescribed by regulations.

Clause 13 of the CPEC Authority Bill stated that no person shall be appointed as chairperson, member, executive director operations, executive director research if he or his dependents have any direct or indirect financial interest in or have any connection which might reasonably be viewed as giving rise to a conflict of interest with any person, institution or body involved in any CPEC project or initiative. No person should be appointed as a chairperson, member, executive director operations, executive director research shall during his or her term in office, have or maintain any direct and indirect financial interests with any person involved in any CPEC-related project or initiative. The chairperson, member, executive director operations, executive director research shall not at any time during their respective terms of office, engage themselves in any other service, business, vocation or employment.

The section 3 of the clause 13 stated that every person who knowingly contravenes any of provisions of sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall be guilty of misconduct.

The CPEC Authority would be responsible for planning, facilitating, coordinating, monitoring and evaluating to ensure implementation of all activities related to CPEC ensuring inter-provincial and inter-ministerial coordination, organising and coordinating meetings of Joint Cooperation Committee and joint working groups, conducting sectoral research for informed decision making and long-term planning, monitoring and evaluation and to ensure implementation besides narrative building and communication of CPEC and other related activities from time to time.