| July 10; In
an unprecedented triumph for democracy and parliamentary openness
in Pakistan, the President of Pakistan upheld PILDAT’s
request for attendance record of MNAs, directing the National
Assembly of Pakistan to provide the information to PILDAT
in 15 days.
The Presidential
verdict No. 441/WM/2013 dated 6th July 2015 on ‘Mr.
Ahmed Bilal Mehboob Versus National Assembly Secretariat’
case has been made on July 6 rejecting the appeal of the National
Assembly Secretariat that it had made in October 2013 against
the Federal Ombudsman’s ‘recommendation’
to the National Assembly of Pakistan to provide the attendance
records of individual members to PILDAT.
The President’s
Order states that the “information requested [attendance
records of MNAs] does not either fall in the exclusion clause
or the exempted clause of the relevant law ...and the impugned
decision of the Wafaqi Mohtasib is unexceptionable. ..and
calls for no interference.”
Following the
President’s Order, it remains crucial for Pakistan’s
citizens and media to ensure that the National Assembly Secretariat
provides the requested attendance record of Honourable Members
of the National Assembly within a fortnight, as instructed.
PILDAT, which
has been struggling for greater transparency in Parliament
and Provincial Assemblies for years, believes that public
records of attendance of honourable public representatives
is one of the basic requirements of democracy.
Flouting all
standards of transparency, openness and public access, the
National Assembly has continued to maintain that attendance
records of MNAs should not be made publicly available. This
position of the National Assembly belies both regional and
international good parliamentary practices where attendance
records of public representatives, such as Lok Sabha in India,
are openly available on their websites.
Taking a leaf
out of standards of openness and transparency, one of Pakistan’s
own provincial legislatures, the Provincial Assembly of the
Punjab, has begun to make attendance records of MPAs available
online on its website. The regressive stance taken by the
National Assembly, therefore, is both unfathomable and without
legitimate ground, as upheld by the Presidential decree of
July 6.
The Orders
of the Honourable President maintain that the “contention
of the Agency [National Assembly] is misconceived in nature”
and that the Assembly’s representation is rejected on
the following grounds:
-
“Article 66
and 67 of the Constitution do not apply to the facts….for
the reasons that the Article 66 primarily gives the
immunity and privileges to a Parliamentarian for speeches
on the floor of the House and Article 67 pertains to
framing the Rules of Procedure with regard to proceedings
in the House. Rules 28 and 283 of the ….Assembly
Rules do not apply at all ….in view of Article
19-A of the Constitution of Pakistan, which significantly
supplements the Information Law.”
-
The “other
reason for not accepting the stance of the Agency [National
Assembly Secretariat] is that it is also a matter of
record that on electronic media proceedings of the National
Assembly is televised…Even under Rule 282 of
the Assembly Rule 2007, Secretary of the National Assembly
Secretariat/ the Agency is required to prepare a full
report of the proceedings at each of the sittings and
to publish the same, (Emphasis added), meaning
thereby, that all the information available with documents
and record maintained at the Agency [National Assembly
Secretariat] is not confidential and secret.”
Consider, however,
how tedious it is for citizens to actually access information,
that, in the first place, should be publicly available. The
journey from seeking attendance records of MNAs to rejection
of National Assembly’s position by the President spans
nearly two and a half years. This, in itself, speaks volumes
about the standards of openness, lack of ease of access and
flaws in the existing Right to Information legal regime in
Pakistan.
Tedious
Timeline Against Transparency
March
2013:
-
PILDAT sought from the
National Assembly of Pakistan the complete record of
attendance of each Member of the National Assembly for
the 2008-2013 term in March 2013.
-
The National Assembly
secretariat declined to share the required information.
-
PILDAT sought the information
invoking the Freedom of Information Ordinance, 2002
-
The request was again
turned down by the Assembly, maintaining that the attendance
record of MNAs “does not constitute a public
record under section 7 of the Freedom of Information
Ordinance, 2002.”
-
PILDAT filed a complaint
before the Ombudsman of Pakistan maintaining that attendance
of Parliamentarians does not constitute ‘excluded
information’ under section 15-18 of the FOI 2002
and that PILDAT, as an indigenous organisation by Pakistani
citizens, has the right to know the commitment and dedication
of the Members of the Parliament towards their legislative
duties for which they were elected through an electoral
process.
October
2013
-
Federal Ombudsman upholds
PILDAT’s perspective asking the National Assembly
of Pakistan to provide attendance records of MNAs to
PILDAT.
-
The National Assembly
files an appeal to the President of Pakistan against
the Federal Ombudsman’s decision
July
2015
PILDAT awaits
the National Assembly Secretariat abiding by the President’s
Orders and sharing of the attendance records within the allotted
time. It is also hoped that the remaining Provincial Legislatures,
in the light of the President’s Orders and the initiative
taken by the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, replicate
the same spirit of transparency and parliamentary openness.
The complete
text of the President's Order can be downloaded at
the following links:
1. President's
Order (English) 060715
2. President's
Order (Urdu) 060715
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