In his farewell speech on Thursday, the outgoing Deputy Chairman Senate Jan Mohammad Jamali proposed holding of direct elections for the upper chamber of parliament.
“Holding direct elections for Senate is imperative for better representation of the public’s interests,” he stressed, adding that a quota of 33% must be reserved for women in these elections.
Jamali, due to retire next week after a six-year stint in policy-making in the upper house, admitted that many issues still needed to be addressed.
“The Senate took a number of significant decisions for the welfare of the general public but some areas still merit attention,” he remarked.
At the same time, the re-elected Senator Abdul Hafeez Shaikh highlighted that the body’s decisions shall have a significant impact on the country’s future development.
“The current Senate was part of a Parliament that made historic decisions for advancing the democratic cause,” highlighted Hafeez.
Other speakers included Senators Muhammad Ismail Buledi, Naeem Hussain Chattha, Shirala Malik, Raja Zafarul Haq, Muhammad Jahangir Badr, Mir Mohabbat Khan Marri, S M Zafar, Maulana Gul Naseeb, Saeeda Iqbal and Almas Parveen.
Two bills passed
In the proceedings, the House also passed two bills on Thursday, concerned with delimitation of constituencies as well as establishing special economic zones.
The Delimitation of Constituencies (Amendment) Bill 2011 was moved by Law Minister Maula Bukhsh Chandio.
It seeks to introduce further amendments to the Delimitation of Constituencies Act of 1974, according to which constituencies for elections to the national and provincial assemblies are to be demarcated after a census.
The 2011 bill proposes amendments to Sections 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 of the 1974 act.
It asks for 17 seats, including 14 general and 3 women, to be allocated to Balochistan in the National Assembly on the basis of population.
Similarly, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) is to be allotted 43 seats, including 35 general and 8 women seats, Punjab 183 including 148 general and 35 women, Sindh 75 including 61 general and 14 women, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) 12 and the Federal Capital 2 seats in the National Assembly.
The Special Economic Zones Bill 2012 was moved by the Leader of the House Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, which proposes setting up of special economic zones throughout the country.
After 24 years
The upper house also approved the Revised Rules of Procedures and Conduct of Business in the Senate after 24 years, seeking to make the Upper House of Parliament more powerful.
Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi from Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) moved the revised rules.
Under these, there would be a Prime Minister’s Question Hour in every session that exceeds seven days in which the premier would respond to questions of the members.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 9th, 2012.
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