Legislative bodies: PPP finalises formation of standing committees

The heads of these panels will be nominated from among sitting MPAs.

KARACHI: After long deliberation with the opposition members, the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has finalised the formation of standing committees in the Sindh Assembly on Monday. 

Out of a total of 35 committees, 19 will be headed by the PPP, 10 by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), three by the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), two by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and one by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Meanwhile, the decision regarding the chairperson and members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has yet to be made.

The formation of the committees had been due after the first session of Sindh Assembly. After this decision, the chairperson of the committees and their members will be nominated from among the sitting MPAs by the political parties which have been allotted the respective committees. “This process will be resolved by the next session of the assembly which may be summoned in the first week of October,” said Dr Sikandar Mandhro, the minister for parliamentary affairs.



Responding to a query regarding the chairperson of the PAC, he said, “The chief minister will consult the opposition leader for the slot of the PAC chairperson and its members. I hope this issue will also be resolved amicably,” he added.

According to the opposition parties, the PAC, which is the provincial watchdog, must be headed by a member of the opposition parties to keep a watchful eye over the government’s accounts. “The PPP, in the charter of democracy singed with PML-N in London, had decided that the slot of public accounts committees in the national and provincial assemblies would be given to the opposition parties. I think it is high time they implement it,” said PML-F MPA Jam Madad Ali.

MQM to move amendment in LG system

Meanwhile, the MQM has decided to propose amendments to the local government system. Talking to the media after presiding over his parliamentary party meeting at the Sindh Assembly, Syed Sardar Ahmed, parliamentary leader of the party, said that they would move the amendment in the upcoming session of the assembly.  “We have deliberated on this issue and will convene another meeting on Thursday to finalise our amendments,” he said.

According to Sardar Ahmed, the new law passed by the PPP government was based on the draconian system and offered nothing new to give relief to the masses. “This is a copy of the 1979 system promulgated during General Zia’s tenure. We will try to bring a few amendments so that people can benefit from it at the grass root level,” he said.

Welcoming the proposal, Dr Mandhro said that no drastic changes would be made to the law. “The law, passed by the government, will prevail but we will consider adopting any suggestions if it favours the people,” he remarked.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2013.