KARACHI, Jan 29: Legislators were blamed for not holding their respective governments accountable which resulted in military takeovers in the past.
Speaking at the inaugural session of a three-day orientation programme, organized by the Sindh Assembly secretariat for MPAs, in collaboration with the Asia Foundation and the USAID, Syed Fakhar Imam, former Speaker of National Assembly, traced the political history of Pakistan and said that democratic institutions were not allowed to function independently.
Most of the decisions, he said, were taken under pressure, as such the democratic institutions failed to leave any mark through their performance.
Fakhr Imam said formidable challenges and risks faced by the present assembly were not different from the one encountered by democratic institutions between 1985 and 1988 when the then army chief, Ziaul Haq, arbitrarily folded the whole democratic process.
Now when in post-election era, the constitution had been revived, some of its clauses pertaining to floor-crossing remained suspended with the objective of driving a mileage out of it, he said while speaking on the “role of legislators in a democratic society”.
He said: “Major national issues and problems facing legislators is revival of economy as lofty claims of the government pertaining to $10 billion foreign reserves have failed to ameliorate the miseries of the people who are more concerned in resolving their economic issues — inflated bills of power, gas, phone, fuel cost and price hike”.
Former Senator and federal Minister Javed Jabbar, highlighting the role of the legislators, said that their role primarily was to regulate the functioning of the government and monitor its performance.
He said a free press was an integral part of democracy and in Pakistan press had been playing its role but due to low literacy rate, (which could be imagine from 1.5 million circulation of all newspapers for the population of 140 million) only 10 per cent people had access to the print media while remaining 90 per cent did not have any such facility and there are only seven to eight million TV sets.
Stressing the need for declaring voting mandatory in the country, he said only then true representatives of the people could ensure their entry into the assemblies.
Besides a free press, a vibrant parliament and an independent and bold judiciary, there was also a need for a vigorous civil society, which was yet to be created at the masses level.
He also proposed that like in the US, the provincial assemblies be given a role in constitutional amendments which would ensure holding of detailed discussion before making any changes in the constitution.
In reply to a question, he said that until a strong political culture was developed in the country, we would continue to look outside for direction.
Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, in his presidential remarks, recalled that the Sindh Assembly had produced great parliamentarians from 1936-37 and onwards.
Pointing out that there was no substitute for a democratic order and that democracy was not possible without legislature, he said legislators could only contribute to smooth functioning of assembly and dispensation of democracy, if they were well-versed in the rules of business of the assembly.
He hoped that the provincial assembly would emerge as the most vibrant house in the coming days.
The US Consul-General John Bauman, who was also present, in his brief remarks hoped that the orientation programme for MPAs would help legislators deliver and strengthen the democratic order in the country.
Earlier, in his introductory remarks, the Asia Foundation Representative in Pakistan, Julio A. Andrews, gave a brief background of the foundation’s supportive role since 1954 in Pakistan in the field of governance, law and civil society strengthening, women’s political participation and legislative development.
He said that with the resumption of democratic process in Pakistan with the October 2002 elections, the foundation with support from the USAID had planned a series of orientation programmes for all parliamentarians which had been defined under the guidance of speakers, deputy speakers and leaders of parliamentary groups.
He hoped that the orientation programme would enable the members to rise to the challenge of meeting the hopes and aspirations that the electorate had placed in them.
The programme has been developed, in consultation with the secretariats of all legislatures and is aimed at acquainting the MPAs with legislative procedures and the role its members could play in strengthening the democratic culture in the country.
This is the first programme of a series of orientation for legislators to be conducted for the four provincial assemblies, the National Assembly and the Senate.
highlighting the importance of the programme, the speakers observed that the members of the assembly conscious of their role and equipped with the rules of business of the House could make the democratic system work in any polity.
“By raising public issues through motions, cut-motions, adjournment motions, resolutions, private bills and questions from the elected forum, the MPAs would not only be discharging their duties towards electorates but also be serving the cause of democratic institutions.
Second Day: The second day session was presided over by deputy speaker Sindh Assembly Rahila Tiwana. Former secretary of the National Assembly Khan Ahmed Goraya apprised the participants of the legislative procedure; he covered functions of the speaker and deputy speaker, types of bills and enactment.
He also spoke about points of order, resolutions, motions, privileges and immunities of the members and function of the secretariat. He said although there were powers of the speaker to discipline the House, they were rarely applied.
Rahila Tiwana in her concluding remarks expressed gratitude to the Asia foundation for providing the opportunity.