ISLAMABAD: The people of Pakistan can now raise their issues directly in the Senate and its committees by lodging complaints against any ministry or department on the official website of the upper house of parliament.

“In the next two to three days, a Public Petition System will be instituted. Any citizen of the country can raise any matter on the website,” Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani announced on Thursday.

Each post, he said, would have a tracking number through which the complainant would be able to get an update on the status of their complaint, thereby increasing public participation in the workings of parliament.

Mr Rabbani told Dawn the system would be operational sometime next week and people would be able to file their complaints on the official website, www.senate.gov.pk.

The Free and Fair Election Network welcomed the online petition system, saying: “Connecting citizens with their elected representatives on policy and legislative matters through a formal mechanism will yield transparency as well as greater public ownership of legislative decisions.”

According to the a global parliamentary report, several parliaments worldwide now have parliamentary committees dedicated to receiving, reviewing and following up on public petitions.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2015

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