June 24; Speakers at the Roundtable discussing National Assembly’s Performance in second Parliamentary year believed that the growing culture of holding All Parties Conferences is undermining the majesty and centrality of the Parliament as a representative institution.

The Roundtable was addressed by a series of speakers including Syed Fakhar Imam, Former Speaker, National Assembly; Syed Naveed Qamar, MNA PPPP, Former Federal Minister; Mr. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, MNA PTI, former Federal Minister; Mr. Muhammad Tallal Chaudhry, MNA PML-N; Dr. Arif Alvi, MNA PTI; and Hafiz Tahir Khalil, Bureau Chief, Daily Jang Islamabad; along with Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, President, PILDAT.

Performance of the 14th National Assembly of Pakistan has declined in its second year, compared to the first year. The Assembly has seen a 12% decrease in Sittings; 13% decrease in Working Hours; 27% decrease in Bills and 50% Decrease in Questions Answered. This analysis was shared by PILDAT at the Roundtable organized to share Score Card on the Performance of the Second Year of the 14th National Assembly.

Syed Fakhar Imam, Former Speaker, National Assembly of Pakistan, said that the number of days and the working hours of the Parliament are crucial factors of performance. He lamented the fact that the 17, 18 and 19th Amendments to the Constitution were passed after just two days of debate. On such major issues, the Parliament is expected to work day and night. What makes a Parliament successful is its freedom of speech, therefore, all the Parliamentarians including women and minorities, must be given a fair chance to contribute and in fact be encouraged to participate. The work of modern Parliaments is to hold the Government to account, therefore Question Hour is crucial. He was of the opinion that in order to improve the performance of the National Assembly, Pakistan must learn from the example of similar Parliamentary democracies such as the United Kingdom.  

Syed Naveed Qamar, MNA (PPPP), was of the opinion that the two most crucial aspects of the Parliament’s performance are the Question Hour, and the Legislative activity. During the 2nd Parliamentary year, both aspects were very weak. The declining interest by Parliamentarians in the Question Hour is due to lack of availability of Ministers. Often even with a Minister present, they will not answer Questions and instead defer it to their staff members which is a violation of rules. Frequently replies are not even received to very crucial Questions. As a result it is not a surprise that there has been a weakening interest by members in the Question Hour. Along the lines of PILDAT Score Card, Syed Naveed Qamar also recommended amending the Rules of Procedure and having an allotted time for a Prime Minister’s Question Hour. He said that similar efforts in the past have been scuttled by bureaucratic mindset in the staff of the Prime Minister. The Government of the day blames lack of majority in the Senate for a drop in legislation. However, in the previous Assembly almost all laws were passed in consultation with the opposition. He also agreed that the APCs dilute the importance of the Parliament.

Mr. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, MNA (PTI), said that the performance of the National Assembly is determined by the attitude of the ruling party. It is a common perception that major decisions are made outside the Parliament, which reduces the Assembly’s credibility and role. He regretted that the ruling party did not take into account the Opposition’s opinion regarding the budget despite 8 days of debate. Similarly, he said, that the views of the opposition were not taken into account regarding rigging in General Election until they were forced to take the issue on the streets.

Dr. Arif Alvi, MNA (PTI), believed that the rules must be amended to allow for increase in Question time as well as introduction of Prime Minister’s Question Hour. Research support for MNAs is seriously lacking in the National Assembly of Pakistan. He said while PILDAT praised improvements in the National Assembly website, without the search facility by which citizens can see which MNAs proposed what legislation or posed question, improvements in the website remain limited.

Mr. Muhammad Tallal Chaudhry, MNA (PML-N), argued that the APCs serve an important purpose of achieving political consensus. He said that PILDAT report seems to be reviewing the performance of the Government but instead it should have focused on the role of the opposition as well. He highlighted that initiatives such as the new Human Resource policy, appointments of staff through FPSC, etc., are major reforms undertaken by the current leadership of the Assembly.

Hafiz Tahir Khalil, Bureau Chief, Daily Jang Islamabad, lauded the performance of the Assembly during the second Parliamentary year especially the role by the Honourable Speaker in parliamentary democracy and bilateral initiatives. Due to that, Pakistan will now be hosting the next CPA Assembly in October 2015. He believed that the Parliament was not successful in devising a consistent and effective policy regarding operation Zarb-e-Azab. In fact it is unfortunate for democracy in Pakistan that during this period the army was called in to protect the Parliament. Mr. Khalil reasserted the importance of the Parliament, stating that the Prime Minister and remaining MNAs must be reminded that in a Parliamentary Democracy the source of the power is not the majority, but the Parliament itself.

In his presentation, Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob said that the Assembly was only able to discuss 3 out of 5 issues of public importance but in a reactive rather than proactive way. The Assembly failed to discuss issues such as unemployment and poverty, etc. Out of the 8 Government Bills passed during the year, 4 were directly related to strengthening the security apparatus of the country. He said that the Parliamentary leadership must assert their role to guard against the unhealthy culture of APCs undermining Parliament. The Assembly must also guard against the culture of hasty legislation as key legislations including 21st Constitutional Amendment and Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2015, etc., were passed after only a day’s debate. The Assembly has seen a decreasing trend in the number of Private Members’ Bills and Questions asked indicating the need for reforms in method of submission of Questions and response time by the Government. Outlining the reform proposals, he said that there should be a weekly Question Hour of the Prime Minister. The Assembly must have a Parliamentary Calendar and adhere to it. Standing Committees should develop and abide by a Work Plan for every year. The Assembly should introduce the system of a Register of Members’ Interests. Members’ Voting Record should be registered and made public. He also asked that now that the Punjab Assembly has made its members’ attendance publicly available, the Assembly must also make public the attendance Record of MNAs.

The Roundtable was attended by a large number of legislators and civil society representatives alongside the media.

The Roundtable and the Score Card by PILDAT are part of a programme to assess the performance of the National and Provincial Legislatures of Pakistan. PILDAT has undertaken this assessment under its programme of Democracy and Governance Programme for which it has received financial support from the Danish International Development Agency - DANIDA, Government of Denmark.