ISLAMABAD, Nov 15: Chief Coordinator of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday said the performance of General Pervez Musharraf’s parliament was the worst in the parliamentary history of the country, as it had passed only two bills in a calendar year.
In a fact sheet released to the press on the performance of the government, the PML-N leader said the parliament during the first year of its life spanning November 16, 2002 to Nov 15, 2003, passed only two bills. One of the two bills passed during the year was finance bill (budget).
He said the finance bill was passed in record five days contrary to the tradition of a month-long budget session. This, he added, showed that the rulers were not serious about democracy.
The PML-N leader said during the first year of its government, the PML-N government passed 24 laws followed by the all time high 47 laws in the second year. He said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government passed 13 and 33 laws during the first year of its two tenures.
During Junejo period, Mr Iqbal said, the parliament approved 23 laws in the first year, making it abundantly clear that the performance of Musharraf parliament had been worst in the country’s parliamentary history.
He said it was an absurd argument that the opposition’s agitation in the parliament hindered the legislative work. The opposition, he added, boycotted the session soon after agitation over the LFO after which the treasury benches carried out their work freely.
“The fact of the matter is that neither the government has any vision nor agenda. It has experienced highest number of quorum breaks in the history of our parliament.
“General Musharraf has held the parliament hostage. By undermining parliament’s supremacy through the LFO, he is sabotaging his own setup.
He has failed to address the parliament during the first year, which is a glaring violation of the constitution, as it is mandatory upon the president to open the parliamentary year with his address to the parliament.”
