June 04, 2006	Sunday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 7, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, June 3: Speakers including MNAs, senators and politicians from government and opposition parties on Saturday stressed the need for enhancing the role of parliamentarians in the budget-making process and called for holding a pre-budget debate in parliament.

Speaking at a short course for parliamentarians on “How to make effective contribution in the parliamentary budget process”, organised by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency (Pildat), they regretted that at present there was no role of parliamentarians in the formulation of economic policy and budget-making process.

Information secretary of the People’s Party Parliamentarians Sherry Rehman, MNA, regretted that parliament was not empowered to formulate the economic policies and the MPs could only hold a debate on it. She declared the present parliament as a rubber stamp saying decisions were made somewhere else and not in the parliament.

She said there was a need to cut non-development expenditures to reduce poverty in the country. She public money was being spent on foreign trips and huge expenditures were incurred by the presidency and the prime minister’s house.

For parliamentarians, she said, the process of passing the federal budget was the most critical means of influencing the country’s economic policy. “It should be the most effective tool for parliamentarians to hold government accountable to ensure public oversight on the spending and to provide for transparency in transactions,” she said, adding parliamentarians should lobby for and represent the interest of their constituents in the committees as was done by members of the US Congress.

Senator Dilawar Abbas of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) stressed that MPs must create cohesion among themselves across party lines and rise above their ego in order to play a more effective role. He said parliamentary committees were a more effective tool but their effectiveness depended on the committee chair and the members.”