Assistance has been provided to private members in drafting bills. PHOTO: EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD: As the 12th parliamentary year of the Senate comes to a close, the Senate has prepared a list of its achievements that includes the rulings of Chairman Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari on issues regarding law and order and right to information. The list mentions steps taken during the year and those that must be implemented soon.
The establishment of “Senate Forum for Policy Research (SFPR)” the first-ever parliamentary think tank to study issues of public importance and to recommend policy options and solutions to senators, is one such achievement the list has mentioned.
In October last year, the Senate amended the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate 2012 to pave the way for setting up the think-tank.
The digitization of database and its successful installation at Senate Library tops the list of the achievements. And the “merger of questions and supplementary questions both in hard copies and electronically” is mentioned as the last achievement.
The rulings of the chairman on issues of public importance including law and order, provision of basic necessities, right to information, issues of water scarcity or drought in Cholistan and the supremacy of parliament, were also included in the list.
The establishment of a member legislative drafting and research services is also mentioned in the list. The secretariat has started providing assistance to private members in drafting the bills and providing research facilities.
A senior official told The Express Tribune that an experienced draftsman would be assisting the senators to draft a private member bill soon. Sources said a proposal for an FM station and webcasting has been sent to the Senate Finance Committee for approval. In addition, the proposal to have a TV channel for uninterrupted telecast of Senate proceedings, with the view of taking parliament to the people, is also under consideration.
The establishment of the provisional secretariat of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly at Parliament House Islamabad, after the transfer of the presidency to Pakistan in 2013, has also been mentioned in the achievements.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 30th, 2015.
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Only yesterday all these thugs stood united in lodging FIR against Arjumand for protesting against their peer thugs on a PIA flight.