Sanctity of parliament

The parliamentarians are at a failure in asserting their writ. That aspect has rendered the elected house to a lame duck status, throwing it open to undesired interventions from extra-parliamentary forces. That lacuna was rightly spotted out by National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, as he called for galvanising a Charter of Parliament, making sure that the sacrosanct nature of the elected house is held in high esteem and the aspirations of the people are rightly channelised in due legislative spirit in unison. There can be no two opinions over such a desire, and it necessitates unity of thought and unflinching political will from parties across the board.

The exigency of such an idea is borne out of an evasive attempt on the part of some elements that thronged the parliament house on Monday and arrested its members from inside the premises. This is untenable and tantamount to an attack on the sovereignty of the people and its elected house. Many of the PTI legislators were roughed and rounded up by police and other law-enforcing members in civvies, at the pretext of a new law that had come into force days ago with the explicit intent of cracking down on the opposition. While the Speaker in his good judgment had tried to prevail over the situation by demanding production of members in the house, and making sure that due retribution is done, it is yet to come full circle to the dignity of the august house.

Though there is no dearth of laws and rules of business to uphold the decorum of the bicameral, the intent of writing down an exclusive charter on responsibilities and module of interaction among parliamentarians is highly felt. This is so because members irrespective of their party inclination and policy, or being part of treasury or opposition, should come to enforce the sanctity of legislature, inviolability of its members, as well as the right to express their opinion without any hindrance. The role of executive, administration and law-enforcement should be secondary to the will of the parliamentarians, as they are the voice of the nation. That is the way to put an end to intrusions on parliament's supremacy.