Rare win for PTI: Walkout stalls passage of key bill in National Assembly

The federal government found itself in an awkward spot in the National Assembly (NA) on Thursday after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led opposition stalled the passage of a key money bill right in the middle of proceedings.

According to reports, during the session, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb moved a motion to formally present the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2024. However, things didn’t go according to plan as the motion was unexpectedly defeated in a 67-32 vote. 

The defeat quickly made the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf (PTI) lawmakers realize that the treasury didn’t have the numbers to maintain quorum. For reference, quorum refers to the minimum number of members that should be present for a meeting's proceedings to be considered valid, which in this case required at least 84 members to be present in the 336-member assembly.

As per reports, PTI members staged a walkout just after deputy speaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah announced the voting result. Aamir Dogar stayed behind to point out the missing quorum which was a strategic ploy that brought the session to a halt. This happened despite the chair reportedly approving two out of three clauses of the bill through a quick voice vote.

Following the walkout, the deputy speaker called for an urgent headcount and was left with no choice but to suspend the session until quorum could be completed. However, reports indicate that instead of gaining numbers, the government actually lost more members, dropping below the 67 it had earlier.

After a short break, when proceedings resumed, it was clear that the house still lacked enough members to continue and with no other option left, the chair wrapped up the sitting till Friday morning. This reportedly resulted in the assembly remaining unable to go ahead with the planned agenda for Thursday, which also included the approval of five other bills.

The Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2024 is already active, as it had first been introduced through an ordinance last year. However, details from reports suggest that the ordinance is about to expire after completing its constitutional term, meaning the government now needs to pass the bill in the National Assembly to keep it in force.

According to the explanation attached to the bill, it aims to fix certain issues faced by taxpayers, especially those affected by the increased tax rates on income from federal government securities. It also looks to adjust and standardize the tax rate on the overall business income of banks.