Under the wing: G-B lawmakers to receive legislative training

G-B Council elections to be held this year.

GILGIT: Lawmakers from Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly will be provided training in parliamentary affairs in Islamabad.

The training will be conducted by Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS) and is expected to take place in the last week of January.



An official privy to the development told The Express Tribune on Wednesday, “This training will be conducted in two parts. Legislative Assembly Speaker Fida Muhammad Nashad is coordinating the training with PIPS in Islamabad.”

According to a press release issued from the speaker’s office, Nashad held a meeting with Rashid Zaka, a PIPS executive director.

“It has been agreed the training will be organised in the last week of this month,” the document quoted him
as saying.

The need

The G-B Legislative Assembly consists of 33 members, including five women lawmakers elected on reserved seats. It was formed in July 2015 – a month after elections were held in the region. Most of the incumbent lawmakers are new and have no previous experience of dealing with official matters in the assembly.

“This would be an amazing opportunity for us,” Barkat Jamil, a lawmaker from Astore district, told The Express Tribune.

“We will learn new things from experts and hope to gain benefits from this [training] opportunity,” he added.

G-B Council elections

An ordinance has been issued to hold elections for G-B Council this year.

According to a press release issued from the governor’s office on Wednesday, the Gilgit-Baltistan Council Election Ordinance 2015 has been promulgated by G-B Governor Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan.

The G-B Council, which is chaired by the prime minister, has 12 members who will be nominated after elections this year.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2016.