NA passes two key bills

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Wednesday passed the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2026, allowing lawmakers to withhold the disclosure of their assets and liabilities if making them public could seriously threaten the life or safety of the member or their family. This development came at a crucial time, as Pakistan has agreed to conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to make the asset declarations of high-level officials publicly available. The government had pledged to make these declarations accessible online by December 2026. The National Assembly also passed “The Corporate Social Responsibility Bill, 2026”, bringing the banking sector and state-owned enterprises under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which requires large and profitable companies to spend one percent of their profits on CSR activities. Shazia Atta Marri and Dr Nafisa Shah of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) separately tabled the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Corporate Social Responsibility Bill, 2026, as private members’ bills in the House. The House passed the both bills with majority votes. According to clause six of the bill which amends the section 138 of “The Elections Act, 2017,” “Provided that the Speaker of the concerned Assembly or, as the case may be, the chairman of the senate, on an application made by a member and for reasons to be recorded in writing, by a ruling delivered in the chamber, determine that the statement of assets and liabilities of that member shall not be published publicly by the Commission if such publication pose a serious threat to the life or safety of the members or, as the case may be, his family, for a period not exceeding one year at a time and subject to the condition that a complete and true statement of assets and liabilities shall be submitted confidentially to the Election Commission. According to the bill, the role of election disputes is being given to the Federal Constitutional Court. Under the approved amendments, several sections of the Elections Act, 2017 have been revised to replace the term “Supreme Court” with “Federal Constitutional Court”. Section 9 has been amended to include the Federal Constitutional Court. Section 66 now formally brings the court within the jurisdiction framework. Section 104 and 104A have been amended to assign election dispute matters to the Federal Constitutional Court. As a result, election-related appeals, disputes, and legal interpretation under election laws will now fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Constitutional Court, which was established under the 27th Constitutional Amendment. The bill now needs approval from the Senate and the President’s assent before it becomes law. However, the opposition opposed the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2026. During the debate, Acting Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Barrister Gohar opposed the bill, arguing that routine election matters were being shifted from the Supreme Court to the Constitutional Court unnecessarily. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026