LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution with majority vote seeking establishment of a bicameral legislature in the province for what it says to ensure representation of all segments of society in the provincial decision-making process.

The resolution moved jointly by the lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, said: “This House is of the opinion that according to official statistics, the population of Punjab province is 124 million. In terms of population, Punjab is a province larger than 171 countries of the world, while the population of only 11 countries of the world is larger than that of Punjab.

“In the management and consultation of such a large population, it is extremely important to have representatives and experts from every sector of society who can play their role in the efficient management of the province and make it a prosperous and developed province in the light of their experience and expertise. There is no scope for this in the current constitutional structure of Pakistan.

“Therefore, this House recommends to the federal government that a bicameral system be introduced in the province of Punjab through necessary amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan. Along with the lower house of the Punjab Assembly, an upper house (on the lines of the Senate) should be established in Punjab, in which representatives of different walks of life should be nominated.

The movers of the resolution included Ahmed Iqbal, Samiullah Khan, Amjad Ali Javed, Iftikhar Chachar, PPP’s Ali Haider Gilani, PTI’s Ahmer Bhatti, Hassaan Riaz, Noorul Amin Wattoo, Arif Gill, Sardar Mansab Ali Dogar, Ashraf Rasool, Habibur Rehman, Raja Abdul Hanif, Rao Kashif Raheem, and Ziaur Rehman.

Only some provinces in a couple of countries, including neighbouring India, have bicameral legislatures at sub-national level.

In India, only six out of 36 states – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh,while out of 24 provinces of Argentina eight, Nebraska in the United States and a couple of states of Australia also have bicameral legislatures.

Mr Iqbal says that in a federal parliamentary system all federating units should have similar bicameral legislatures to ensure representation of those segments of society too in the decision-making process that cannot come forward through the traditional single-member constituencies.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2025