ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani on Tuesday said Article 6 of the Constitution had become “virtually redundant” to prevent the derailment of democracy in future, adding that “laws and constitutional amendments provide no guarantee in this regard either.”

“The parliamentary history of Pakistan remained unpleasant due to derailment of democracy which contributed to the alienation of the people from their representatives,” the chairman remarked.

Article 6 of the constitution deals with matters of “high treason” and states that “any person who abrogates or subverts or suspends or holds in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate or subvert or suspend or hold in abeyance the Constitution by use of force or show of force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason.”

Rabbani expressed these views at a ceremony held in connection with the launch of a revamped Senate website and the updated status of the “Restoration of the Majesty and Transparency in the Parliament (RMTP)” project initiated this year.

He said the poor and the working class of the country would never stand up to defend parliamentary democracy unless they maintain a feeling of ownership of the Parliament and are convinced it will stand up to defend them.

“The downtrodden segment of the society is not prepared to defend the Parliament at this point,” he said.

Informing the audience about the newly-introduced features of the Senate website, Rabbani said the purpose of this exercise was to enhance connectivity, give more accessibility to people and to make the house more open and transparent.

He said details of salaries, allowances and privileges of the chairman, deputy chairman, leader of the house, leader of the opposition and all senators had also been placed on the website.

Members' attendance records and information on committees would also be placed on the website for transparency, added Rabbani.

The Senate chairman said implementation of decisions of the Upper House had always remained an area of concern.

Senate rules have been amended to ensure that concerned ministers appear before the House and report all matters referred by it, including recommendations made by the committees, he said.

Chairman Rabbani observed that the 18th Amendment introduced a system of participatory federalism and the Senate, which represents the federation, needed more powers to take the journey of federalism forward.

Among those attending the ceremony were Senators Mushahid Hussain Syed, Mohsin Khan Laghari, Senate Secretary Amjed Pervez Malik and a large number of parliamentary journalists.