Benazir Bhutto inscribed into law by NA vote

ISLAMABAD: In a historic move, the National Assembly inscribed Benazir Bhutto’s name into law by its vote on Monday, unanimously passing a pro-poor bill after the main opposition party gave up a blocking amendment amid “long live” slogans for the assassinated leader.

However, the Benazir Income Support Programme Bill, based on a presidential ordinance already in operation, will need approval by Senate to become a permanent law.

An amendment in the name of the opposition PML-N’s 87 members had sought to rename the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) provided in the bill as Qaumi (national) Income Support Programme but was greeted with “no, no” chants and slogans of “long live Shaheed Benazir Bhutto” from members of the ruling PPP, and was withdrawn after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called for giving a legislative recognition to the former prime minister’s sacrifice for democracy.

The programme under the ordinance too was named after the former PPP leader and twice-prime minister who was assassinated in a gun-and-bomb attack on Dec 27, 2007, outside Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh park after she had addressed an election campaign rally there.

But the National Assembly’s was a rare legislative vote to inscribe a political leader’s name into a law.

PML-N member Zahid Hamid, who moved the amendment, said his party had “the greatest respect” for Ms Bhutto and her sacrifice and that her legacy should be honoured by good governance rather than by naming roads, hospitals and airports after her.

But his argument was opposed by Dr Donya Aziz of the PML-Q who saw “nothing wrong” in giving such posthumous honour to Ms Bhutto.

The prime minister said BISP was Ms Bhutto’s own idea and it was working well for the past two and half years without any fingers raised about its impartial functioning to provide financial help and other social and safety net measures to economically distressed persons and families.

“In view of the prime minister’s remarks, we withdraw the amendment,” Hamid said, paving the way for a unanimous passage of the bill when it was put to voice vote by Speaker Fehmida Mirza.

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