President signs public order bill into law in ‘haste’

ISLAMABAD: Presi­dent Asif Ali Zardari has given assent to a controversial bill passed by the both houses of parliament to ‘regulate’ Public gatherings in Islamabad, making it a law within less than a week after it first landed in the

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The ‘Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill 2024’, which aims to empower the district magistrate to regulate and ban public gatherings in Islamabad, was tabled in the upper house on September 2, approved by the standing committee concerned on September 3, and passed by the Senate on September 5 after rules were suspended, in a move dubbed “tyranny of fake majority” by the opposition.

The law was subsequently hurried through the National Assembly on September 6 despite opposition protests, and the president gave his consent within hours.

According to the constitution, the president has 10 days to sign a measure enacted by parliament or send it back to parliament for reconsideration. Members of a “unlawful assembly” can face up to three years in prison or an undefined fine, according to the law.

“Whoever having been convicted by a court in Pakistan of an offence punishable under this Act with imprisonment for a term of three years or more shall for every subsequent offence be liable to imprisonment for a term that may extend to ten years,” according to the text.

The statute requires an assembly’s event coordinator to submit a written application to the district magistrate at least seven days before the event’s scheduled date. “Upon receipt of application, the district magistrate before granting permission shall examine prevailing law and order situation and obtain security clearance reports from law enforcement agencies,” according to legislation.

It also gives the government the authority to designate a specified section of the Islamabad capital territory as a’red zone’ or ‘high security zone,’ thus outlawing all sorts of gatherings in that region. It defines an assembly as “any public or political gathering, rally, sit-in, or procession of more than 15 people in or on any public road or any other public place or premises totally or partially open to the

‘Law aimed to fail PTI’s power show’

Opposition legislators in both chambers of parliament have previously rejected what they dub ‘PTI-specific law’ as a blatant attempt to precede the party’s power show in Islamabad on September 8.

Senator Shibli Faraz, leader of the opposition in the Senate, told Dawn that the bill’s fast passage through both chambers of parliament, as well as the President’s approval, indicate that the law was PTI-specific.

He claimed that the administration, which seized power by stealing the PTI’s mandate, was constantly using both chambers of parliament to preserve its political and personal interests.

He claimed that the law, which violated the fundamental rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, demonstrated the government’s fear of the growing popularity.