ISLAMABAD: A delegation of the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday to discuss data protection and prevention of electronic crimes in Pakistan, his office said, while his government continues to face criticism for banning social media platform X throughout the country. 

Pakistani authorities banned X on Feb. 17 after protests swept the country over rigging allegations in the general election held earlier this year. The government defended the “legitimate” ban in court, saying it was aimed at addressing the country’s national security concerns.

The AIC is a body that brings together major technology firms such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Apple, and others to collaborate on matters related to Internet regulations, data privacy, online content regulations, cybersecurity, and other policy areas that impact the digital economy.

A three-member delegation of the body, led by its Managing Director Jeff Paine, met PM Sharif in Islamabad. 

“In the meeting, strategy regarding data protection, code of conduct related to Internet content and prevention of electronic crimes was discussed,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. 

The delegation informed Sharif about AIC’s services in information technology in Pakistan. 

Sharif appreciated AIC’s role in promoting IT and Internet infrastructure in Pakistan and the Asia Pacific region. The premier said his government was taking strong steps to provide fast and uninterrupted Internet in the country.

Sharif stressed that his government was also working to promote an artificial intelligence-based infrastructure in Pakistan.

“We are determined to make Pakistan a prominent country in the region in terms of artificial intelligence infrastructure,” Sharif was quoted as saying by the PMO. “The entire system is being digitized under the Government’s Digital Pakistan Initiative.”

Digital rights activists have criticized Pakistani authorities for suspending Internet and telecommunication services frequently in the past. 

Pakistani authorities suspended mobile data services across the country minutes before voting began on Feb. 8. The move was seen by political experts and rights activists as an effort to keep opposition voters from getting information or coordinating activities. 

However, Pakistan’s interior ministry responded that it opted for the communication blockade as a security measure after at least 28 people were killed in two explosions in southwestern Pakistan on election eve. 

In June, Pakistan announced it was installing a national firewall to filter and block “propaganda and unwanted content” online, enhance its capacity to protect digital data from hackers and ensure cybersecurity. 

The government had emphasized the measure was not aimed at curtailing dissent on social media. However, rights experts warned that the Internet surveillance mechanism can become a threat to privacy and freedom of expression. 
 

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani parliamentary panel on Wednesday approved a bill suggesting that a political party should not be allocated reserved seats for women and minorities if it failed to submit its list of candidates for those seats within the prescribed time, a move being seen widely as an attempt by the government to hold on to its two-thirds majority in parliament. 
Pakistan’s top court this month delivered a landmark verdict saying the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan was eligible for reserved seats in parliament, mounting pressure on the fragile ruling coalition of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. His government stands to lose its two-thirds majority in parliament after the ruling. 
In Pakistan, parties are allocated 70 reserved seats — 60 for women, 10 for non-Muslims — in proportion to the number of seats won in general elections. This completes the National Assembly’s total 336 seats. A simple majority in Pakistan’s parliament is 169 out of 336 seats.
All candidates from Khan’s PTI party were forced to contest the February polls as independents after the party was stripped of its election symbol of the cricket bat by the country’s election regulator on the technical grounds that it did not hold intra-party elections, a prerequisite for any party to take part in polls. After the election, the PTI-backed candidates were forced to join the Sunni Ittehad Council, or SIC party, to claim a share of 70 reserved seats as independents are not eligible for the extra seats.
“The government wants to frustrate the Supreme Court judgment through this legislation but practically it will be of no effect,” Imran Shafique, a legal expert, told Arab News. “The Supreme Court has determined rights of the political parties as per existing laws which cannot be undone through a simple parliamentary legislation.”
Bilal Azhar Kayani, a lawmaker of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, tabled the bill in parliament on Tuesday. The bill includes a declaration that proposed amendments to the Elections Act 2017 would take precedence over court orders, including those of the Supreme Court.
The Parliamentary Affairs Committee approved the bill with a majority of 8-4 votes. The bill will now be presented in the National Assembly and Senate where it will be voted on. 
The draft law says that individuals who contested the general election as independent candidates cannot change their affidavit at a later stage to declare their affiliation with any political party.
“The amendment aims to provide clarity in the law according to the true spirit of the constitution,” Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told the committee.
The bill also states that any political party that fails to submit its list of reserved seats within the timeline defined by the election regulator shall “not be eligible for the quota in the reserved seats at a later stage.”
Shafique alleged that the draft bill was not a public interest legislation but was instead passed by the committee to serve the interests of certain political parties in parliament. 
“The Supreme Court can strike down this law if challenged and also its retrospective application is not possible,” he explained. 
Shafique said the government could gain time through this legislation and delay the process of allocating reserved seats to the PTI in the national and provincial assemblies. 
“The government may try to get political mileage from the law but it cannot stop the allocation of reserved seats to the PTI as per the top court’s ruling,” he added.