Committee to oversee implementation

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said he will constitute on Tuesday a high powered parliamentary commission to oversee the implementation of the 18th constitutional amendment.

Speaking in the National Assembly here on Monday evening, Gilani said his government will make sure that the recommendations proposed in the amendment “are implemented at any cost.” The PM said: “We have given the nation the gift of the amendment and we will show our critics that we can implement it as well.” Gilani also defended the performance of his government and the parliament.

He was delivering the speech after members of opposition parties walked out of the house to protest what they called a failure of Gilani’s administration to provide people the basic necessities of life. Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, C h a u d h r y Nisar Ali Khan said the sufferings of people are worsening with every passing day and he did not see the government “exhibiting enough seriousness to 18 amendment address their problems.”

Nisar Ali Khan said “The performance is that which can be seen…we will have to change the way of governance.” Nisar made these comments before he led a walkout of members from his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and other opposition groups. Chaudhry Nisar’s hostile comments came after Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira laid in the house a detailed report encompassing what the present government had achieved in past two years after taking over in 2008. Officials told The Express Tribune that the commission Gilani had announced to constitute would have nine members— one each from almost all parliamentary parties.

There would, however, be one parliamentarian to represent all the groups from Balochistan because most parties from the province have only one member in the parliament. Gilani’s advisor Senator Raza Rabbani would lead the commission that would be working through 14 months till the recommendations of the amendment are implemented by June 2011, according to a tentative schedule the government has already announced.