Pakistan's political and governance mosaic is tainted, and is taking a toll on national institutions. The controversial outcome of the February 8, 2024 ballot and the defiance with which the mandate of the masses was trampled is now impacting broader aspects of national unity.
A report from Pildat, a premier think-tank that covers governance and legislative matters, has stated the obvious by penning its utter dissatisfaction over the one-year performance of the Senate, and pointing out the discrepancies with which this chamber of bicameral was run in ultra vires to stipulated rules of business and the Constitution.
The first and foremost flaw is that the Senate is incomplete by law to this day, as it lacks due representation from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. This daredevil noncompliance is meant to penalise the opposition-led majority of PTI in the restive province and to deny its lawmakers their due in the national mainstream. While the Senate is the custodian of the Federation of Pakistan, keeping the 11 seats from K-P vacant is uncalled for and could adversely impact the national psyche.
The Pildat goes on to point out the damage done to the constitutionally-ordained distribution of powers through the 26th amendment, which has made judiciary literally subservient to the executive through 'court-packing' and fractured the civil-military balance. Likewise, the non-seriousness with which legislative business is bulldozed raises eyebrows on democratic fairness.
Lack of private bills, soaring ordinances and non-production of detained opposition legislators are other errant cases in point. Last but not least is the incapacity of the Senate Chairman to perform in a non-partisan manner, raising concerns over procedural transparency and representative effectiveness of the Senate.
The way forward is to go back to the spirit of the Constitution and ensure that all units of the federation are on board without any political bias, parliamentary committees are functional and legislative transparency is upheld. Completing the Senate by embracing the K-P representation is the minimum desired for damage control.
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