Joint sitting of Pakistan parliament passes 3 FATF related bills
Sep 16, 2020
Islamabad [Pakistan], September 16 : A joint sitting of Pakistan's parliament on Wednesday passed amendments in three bills related to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as the opposition staged a walk out in protest.
According to a Geo News report, the opposition staged a walk out after most of their proposed amendments to the bills were rejected and they were not allowed to speak.
As per the report -- the three bills that were passed with amendments were --the Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill, 2020, Anti-Money Laundering (Second Amendment) Bill and the Anti-Terrorism Act (amendment) Bill, 2020.
In a last-ditch to clear the FATF related legislations that were blocked by the opposition last month, President Arif Alvi had summoned a joint sitting of parliament on Wednesday. Dawn reported citing sources.
Pakistan is making attempts to avoid a demotion from the FATF grey list to the blacklist during the upcoming October plenary meeting.
While Pakistan tries to showcase its "efforts" in combatting terrorism, there have been reports from Afghanistan giving ample evidence of the presence of Pakistani terrorists on its land.
In recent weeks, Pakistan has been trying to paint a picture that it has started the reforms including the passing of bills in order to prevent blacklisting by the FATF.
In late July, Pakistan Financial Monitoring Unit Director-General Lubna Farooq told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance that the country is yet to comply with 13 conditions out of the 27-point Action Plan of the FATF including curbing terror financing, enforcement of the laws against the proscribed organisations and improving the legal systems.
