ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to delegate the federal cabinet’s powers to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to comply with international obligations and the Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases has been asked to grant necessary approval in this regard, Pakistan Today has learnt.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sought CCLC’s approval over the above proposed to comply with international obligations under United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions as well as certain Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations on short notice.
The Ministry of Law and Justice has already vetted a draft notification for the delegation of powers to the MoFA for issuing the Statutory Regulatory Orders under the UNSC Act 1948 with effect from July 30, 2020.
The MoFA has seen and authorized the submission of the summary to the CCLC.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan has been on the FATF’s grey list since June 2018. The grey list comprises countries being monitored by the watchdog.
The FATF, while reviewing Pakistan’s progress on the 27-point action plan for addressing anti-money laundering and terror financing, had found that Pakistan has successfully complied with 21 out of 27 points and decided to keep the country on its ‘grey list’ until February 2021.
The FATF had strongly urged Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan by February 2021, adding that Pakistan needed to work on four areas to address its strategic deficiencies.
Earlier, the government – amid mounting global pressure to rein in terror groups – had promulgated a law to streamline the procedure for the implementation of the United Nations (UN) sanctions against individuals and organisations.
The new law was expected to help the Pakistan government fulfil its obligations towards the UNSC by expediting the seizure of properties of banned groups and individuals. Furthermore, the government had taken action against the proscribed organisations, including Jaish-e-Mohammed, in the past and any future action against them will be taken in the light of the National Action Plan (NAP).
