A little more than three months have passed since the inauguration of the 15th National Assembly in mid of August and yet it has not taken up the vital legislative business in right earnest. The lower chamber of parliament is caught up in a sort of legislative logjam, in large part because Speaker Asad Qaiser has failed to form house committees, so very essential to the functioning of the assembly. With the exception of the Finance (Supplementary) Bill, 2018, the NA during its four sessions since August 13 has not passed any piece of legislation.
This shows the ruling party in poor light because the Speaker belongs to the PTI and he has been dragging his feet on setting up of the committees for two chief reasons. One is that the government and the opposition are at loggerheads over the appointment to the lucrative post of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chair. The former is not amenable to the idea of Shehbaz Sharif, the leader of opposition, filling the all-important slot. The second is that the opposition has threatened boycott of house committees if its man is not picked for the PAC job. This stalemate has, for all intents and purposes, paralyzed the National Assembly and reduced it to a talking shop.
With no serious business to handle, the lawmakers indulge in their favourite pastime: giving their rivals thorough tongue-lashing. With the PTI government about to complete its 100 days at the helm, this unremarkable work on the legislative front will attract negative attention as it prepares to show off its performance on reaching the first milestone. In the given political climate, and with the government’s lack of clear majority in either chamber of parliament, a retreat from hard posturing and a recourse to give-and-take could well break the deadlock.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2018.
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