All-party ownership: ‘Parliamentary oversight key to NAP execution’
Senate chairman says it will give political ownership
Rabbani also highlighted salient features of the internship programme, saying that the initiative was conceived after detailed deliberations to give the youth a practical exposure of the working of the parliament, its practical significance and the role it played in the oversight of the executive, thus promoting good governance. PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
The implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) requires parliamentary oversight, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani said in an address at the Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Studies (PIPS) on Thursday.
“In the recent past, the federal government indicated that the issues relating to the provinces in the NAP have not been fully implemented and similar complaints have been made about the federal ministries,” he maintained.
He said that parliament was a forum where all stakeholders could be held accountable.
“This has (already) been done in the past under the parliamentary committee on national security and that was a very successful experience. This will also give political and all-party ownership.”
He was addressing the inaugural ceremony of the second internship batch of Senate internship programme at PIPS.
The senate chairman said that unfortunately in Pakistan parliament was never allowed to grow and democracy was never allowed to take roots.
“The institution of parliament,” he went on to say, “was treated as secondary in the affairs of the state.”
He also urged young interns to have a look at the “true picture of its history and understand the real spirit and true perspective of historical constitutional developments”.
Rabbani also highlighted salient features of the internship programme, saying that the initiative was conceived after detailed deliberations to give the youth a practical exposure of the working of the parliament, its practical significance and the role it played in the oversight of the executive, thus promoting good governance.
Earlier, Amjad Pervez Malik, the Secretary of Senate, highlighted the objectives of the internship programme and said that internship opportunity “will aim at addressing misconceptions about political institutions among the general public, especially Pakistan’s youth”.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 19th, 2016.
The implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) requires parliamentary oversight, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani said in an address at the Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Studies (PIPS) on Thursday.
“In the recent past, the federal government indicated that the issues relating to the provinces in the NAP have not been fully implemented and similar complaints have been made about the federal ministries,” he maintained.
He said that parliament was a forum where all stakeholders could be held accountable.
“This has (already) been done in the past under the parliamentary committee on national security and that was a very successful experience. This will also give political and all-party ownership.”
He was addressing the inaugural ceremony of the second internship batch of Senate internship programme at PIPS.
The senate chairman said that unfortunately in Pakistan parliament was never allowed to grow and democracy was never allowed to take roots.
“The institution of parliament,” he went on to say, “was treated as secondary in the affairs of the state.”
He also urged young interns to have a look at the “true picture of its history and understand the real spirit and true perspective of historical constitutional developments”.
Rabbani also highlighted salient features of the internship programme, saying that the initiative was conceived after detailed deliberations to give the youth a practical exposure of the working of the parliament, its practical significance and the role it played in the oversight of the executive, thus promoting good governance.
Earlier, Amjad Pervez Malik, the Secretary of Senate, highlighted the objectives of the internship programme and said that internship opportunity “will aim at addressing misconceptions about political institutions among the general public, especially Pakistan’s youth”.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 19th, 2016.