Business of legislation

Presidential ordinances promulgated by govt during its second year outnumbered the laws passed by NA

That the business of legislation, during the past two parliamentary years, only ran by fits and starts has no two opinions. While for the first five months, the parliament remained a complete non-starter as to its core function of legislation due to a lack of consensus between the government and the opposition on the formation of House committees, the persistent acrimony between the two sides ensured that the parliament only moved at a snail’s pace ever later. Pandemonium was quite a frequent sight in both the National Assembly and the Senate, with legislators hardly seemed to have any business other than slinging mud at their rivals on one issue or the other. In the National Assembly, in particular, the treasury and opposition members appearing to be locked in a duel of who can shout louder, and who can come up with a wittier jaw-breaking reply — completely neglecting that it is the legislation that is the only sufferer of a non-stop war of words between them.

No wonder the PTI government depended heavily on ordinances for legislation purpose. So much so that the presidential ordinances promulgated by the government during its second parliamentary year, ending on August 12, outnumbered the laws passed by the National Assembly. The situation was more or less the same in the first parliamentary year that witnessed seven presidential ordinances having been issued by the government as against 10 legislative bills sail through the National Assembly. As the two sides continue to tread the collision course, it is unlikely that the new parliamentary year will be any different, and that the parliament — a key state institution of in a democratic system of governance — will cease to play a second fiddle to the Office of the President. While it is the responsibility of both sides to side-foot their egos for the sake of a fully functional parliament, the government must realise that it has a majority stake in the business of legislation.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2020.

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