Legislative affairs: Depts criticised for slow response to MPAs’ queries

Opposition member says budget making is dominated by male members

LAHORE:

The time taken by a government department to respond to a question put forth by a legislator in the Punjab Assembly is between eight months and two years. The issue addressed in the question often becomes redundant by the time a response is received, Center for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) Executive Director Amer Ejaz said at a roundtable discussion on Tuesday.

He was referring to findings of a study conducted by his organisation on the assembly proceedings.

Ejaz said when in session the Assembly was required to work for five hours from 9am to 2pm. However, the average work day was no longer than 2.5 hours, he said. He said on average the number of days the PA met in a year was around 60 and 65. He said it was required under the rules to be in session for at least 100 days.

Amer said it was rare for the PA to enact a private-member bill. Treasury and opposition members also spoke at the roundtable discussion on Legislative Governance Reforms in Punjab.

Criticising the PA speaker, some opposition members of provincial assembly (MPAs) said he was not impartial in his conduct. PTI MPA Saadia Sohail said the person in charge of the speaker’s office should raise be above party politics.

Another PTI MPA Dr Nosheen Hamid complained that budget making was dominated by male members. She said the time given to members to study the budget document and make recommendations was not sufficient.

Treasury members suggested that instead of boycotting PA sessions the opposition should bring its criticisms to the floor of the House. PML-N MPA Malik Javed Awan said that by boycotting sessions the opposition made it easier for the government to pass laws.

PML-N MPA Ayesha Javed said with amendments to the rules of business most complains raised at the forum would be addressed. She said the amended draft had been sent to the chief minister for approval. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Director General Inayatullah Lak said while that the average annual work days of the PA were less than required under the law, these were better compared to the Sindh provincial assembly. He said PA committees lacked suo motu powers so they could only discuss issues referred to them by the House. “This is why some committees don’t meet for long periods,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2015.