ISLAMABAD: Members of a parliamentary think-tank agreed at their first meeting on Tuesday on a one-year term for the Forum’s chairman and decided to defer the nomination till the new elections of Senate in March.

The Senate Forum for Policy Research (SFPR) asked Senate Chairman Nayyar Bokhari to continue to head the body till the formal election of its chairman.

PPP’s parliamentary leader Raza Rabbani was conspicuous by his absence from the meeting, since he was the head of the committee that had drafted the blueprint for the SFPR and new Senate rules which were approved by the house in October last year to pave the way for setting up the forum.

Talking to Dawn after the meeting, PML-Q Senator Mushahid Hussain said it was decided with a majority voice that the term of the chairman would be of one year. For that purpose, he said, the Senate rules would be amended.

According to an official handout, a majority of members, including Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq, Mushahid Hussain, Afrasiab Khattak and former senators Anwar Bhinder and Tariq Azeem, said that at least one-year tenure was required for the chairman to work efficiently.

The meeting discussed the proposed structure and functioning of the forum. It was informed that the forum would be reconstituted after renewal of the Senate membership in March.

The meeting sought proposals and recommendations from members of the forum for the way forward. The members were eager to submit recommendations on many key national issues, including security situation, electoral reforms, strengthening the local government system, energy shortage, mainstreaming the tribal areas and climate change.

Mushahid Hussain said it was agreed that the forum’s focus must be on the orientation of new senators to be elected for a six-year term in March. For this purpose, a committee comprising Anwar Bhinder, Mushahid Hussain and Afrasiab Khattak was constituted.

The members wanted the forum to be an institution to give solid support, concrete proposals and help in effective legislation.

The forum comprises eight sitting and eight former senators.

Published in Dawn January 14th , 2015

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