President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday granted his assent to several bills passed by Parliament as well as approving various related summaries, according to a statement issued by the President’s Secretariat.
According to the statement, the president has approved the Virtual Assets Bill, 2026, providing for the establishment of the Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority. The autonomous body would be empowered to license, regulate and supervise virtual asset service providers and issuers in the country.
Additionally, Zardari approved the Islamabad Capital Territory Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which seeks to bring clarity to the existing legislation, particularly with respect to the exercise of authority by the federation. He also approved the Privatization Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which grants the prime minister the powers to appoint, remove and fix the tenure of members of the Privatization Commission Board.
Also on Thursday, the president granted his assent to the Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which shifts the authority of approving licenses for industrial and medicinal cannabis directly to the prime minister rather than the “federal government.” Its objective is to streamline administrative processes, reduce the burden on the federal cabinet regarding minor or non-policy matters, and improve efficiency.
Finally, Zardari approved the NAB (Amendment) Bill, 2026, mere hours after it was passed by both houses of Parliament amid outcry from opposition lawmakers. The legislation allows for an extension in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairperson’s term by another three years; previously there was no provision for the extension or reappointment of the chairperson of the anti-graft body. Further, the amended law seeks to link corruption with inflation, annually revising the threshold for NAB cases from the previously fixed Rs. 500 million.
The law also allows empowers both accountability courts and the relevant high courts to grant bail or order the release of accused individuals and provides for a second appeal to the Federal Constitutional Court against decisions of a high court within 30 days.
President Zardari, per the Secretariat’s statement, also approved amendments to the Federal Constitutional Court Judges (Leave, Pension & Privileges) Order, 2025 and endorsed the reconstitution of the Islamabad Subordinate Judiciary Service Tribunal. Additionally, he approved the establishment of branch registries of the Federal Constitutional Court in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta.