ISLAMABAD, Jan 26: The induction of 74 women members in the parliament is a harbinger of change and, significantly, women are leading the way in redefining the relation between parliamentarians and national interest.

This declaration, which constitutes the resolve to restore public confidence in the legislature and politicians, was made by a women MNA from Sindh province, belonging to People’s Party Parliamentarians, Sherry Rahman.

She made the declaration at the plenary session of the Jinnah Institute, a non-profit organization, which arranged an orientation workshop for women parliamentarians on Sunday.

Ms Rahman said it was time for parliamentarians to redefine national interest, particularly the situation related to the foreign policy. “It is also time to decide who goes to war with whom, and women parliamentarians are destined to play a key role in the defining process.”

Reference to the sanctity of national interest was raised by member and a life peer of the House of Lords, the upper house of the UK Parliament, Lord Nazir Ahmad, the chief guest at the plenary session.

He congratulated women members on their election to the parliament, and said women parliamentarians constituted the element of change and must engineer a change, besides demanding the right to make the change transparent. “The people expect that their representatives will deliver, and you must fulfil their expectations,” he said.

Lord Nazir said when all people were treated equally, and no one was perceived to be above the law, it meant that the change was coming. In this process, the opposition benches have the duty of concentrating on issues, and ensuring that laws passed by the parliament are “in the best interest of Pakistan”.

The first step in this direction was to restrain ministers from making statements inside the parliament and outside to bypass the House, he said.

The issue (national interest) was also raised by the chief executive of Dawn Publications, Hameed Haroon. He said the increased number of women parliamentarians not only registered a demographic change, but also reinforced the role of women as agents for moving new values forward.

He said, in that context, the relations between press and women parliamentarians was of fundamental importance.

Talking about the Freedom of Information Act, he said it was a Disinformation Law. He said, it precluded army from public scrutiny.

Mr Haroon looked up to women parliamentarians for survival of the press. “These 74 women parliamentarians must remove the law when it came to the parliament,” he said.

The Jinnah Institute is working with a mission to create public space for liberal discourse, critical to Pakistan’s history, politics and culture. It has received support of the Westminster Foundation of the UK.

The plenary session was attended by a significant number of women MNAs, including Dr Nur Jahan Panezai, Dr Donia Aziz, Shabana Talat, Shameem Akhtar, Rukhsana Bangash, Dr Nafees Raja, Tahmina Daultana, Firdaus Ashiq, Bushra Rahman, Tahira Dasti, Fauzia Habib, Shahida, Nayyer Sultana, Farhana Khalid, Ambreen, Razia Taufiq and Fauzia Naqvi.

Former speaker Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, French ambassador Yanick Gerard, Dr Tariq Rahman, Gen Talat Masud (retired) and MNA Ali Amjad Malhi were present in the meeting, which was conducted by Prof Waseem.

Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and former Senate chairman Waseem Sajjad will preside over the working sessions of the workshop on Monday. Eleven sessions will be held from Monday to Wednesday.

Legislative process, the role of the opposition, constitutional change, functioning and networking of the parliament, consensus building, law and justice commission, domestic and foreign policy and a survey of women politics will be discussed during the three days of the seminar. — Jonaid Iqbal