Contact among provinces: Call for coordination among MPAs

Summit discusses civil and political rights of women, youth and minorities

QUETTA: Participants of Balochistan Multiparty Summit have urged the need for coordination between legislators of all provincial assemblies in Pakistan. The two-day summit was jointly organised by the Democracy Reporting International (DRI) and Balochistan Assembly.

The multiparty summits, which will be held in all four provinces, are part of the DRI’s initiative to facilitate inter-provincial and multiparty dialogue on civil and political rights of women, youth and minorities.

The concluding session of Balochistan Multiparty Summit was held on Tuesday in the committee room of the Balochistan Assembly under the chair of Speaker Rahila Durrani.

The session was attended by Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri, sixteen members of provincial assembles from Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as lawmakers from Balochistan Assembly.

The speakers agreed that coordination of the MPAs of all four provinces on legislative matters was the need of the hour and that a mechanism should be developed to make it possible. Addressing the participants, Durrrani said it is the responsibility of all four provincial assemblies to hold such multiparty summits.

“Exchange visits of the MPAs should continue as they provide opportunity to the parliamentarians to get exposure of parliamentary business of sister assemblies and strengthen inter-provincial harmony,” the speaker said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2016.