Parliamentary affairs: Motion seeking to strengthen PA committees held up

Amendments seek suo motu powers for standing committees.

LAHORE: A notice motion submitted in the provincial assembly last year seeking amendments to the Rules of Procedures 1997 in order to empower standing committees is yet to be approved by the law and parliamentary affairs committee.

The motion carrying signatures of 185 Members of the Assembly party to the proposal has not yet been placed on the agenda of proceedings and has neither been discussed during meetings of the committee.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, MPA Ayesha Javed said she had submitted the motion to give standing committees suo motu powers. She said this would help increase accountability of bureaucrats.

Javed said the motion proposes that departments submit quarterly reports to committees as they [the committees] had to be empowered to strengthen democracy.

She said under the present rules, committees were unable to take notice of issues at their own prerogative. She said they could only address issues raised on points of order, privilege motions, call attention notices and during question hour. She said some bureaucrats did not want to be held accountable by lawmakers.

An official of the Environment Protection Department, speaking to The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity, said there was opposition from the bureaucracy because officers were not keen on briefing lawmakers on topics they [the MPAs] were not authorities on.

Proposed amendments

Some of the salient amendments proposed to the Rules of Procedures, 1997, procedure included amending three rules and introducing a new; the introduction of a Zero Hour; and the issuance of a tentative calendar for the parliamentary year.

The amendments seek to ensure that at least 14 days are devoted to pre-budget discussions and a minimum of 21 days are allotted for budget discussions.

The motion seeks to amend a rule to ensure that standing committee members are elected within 30 days after ascertaining the leader of the house; and allowing committee members to hold in-camera sessions after a vote if the need arises.

The new rule, the motion seeks to introduce, aims to allow committee chairmen to summon experts to hear their opinion on matters discussed in the committees, and convene public hearings.

The amendments propose issuance of a tentative calendar detailing dates for assembly sessions during the parliamentary year.

They also seek the introduction of a Zero Hour to discuss urgent matters. Under the amendments, the last 30 minutes of sittings would be allocated for the hour. Any member could raise a matter after notifying the secretary an hour before the commencement of proceedings. The issue under discussion should pertain to the government and the person raising the issue would have two minutes to speak. The relevant minister could respond to the issue. In the absence of the minister, the speaker could notify the minister to reply to the question on a fixed date.

Opinions on the matter

Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed said the amendments would empower the assembly and provide lawmakers ample time to review the budget.

Rasheed appreciated the proposal to create a Zero Hour. He said he was concerned about the deteriorating state of democracy in the Punjab. He said the present set-up had led to concentration of power in a few hands. This prevented lawmakers from contributing to the assembly’s business, he said.

Rasheed said they were not consulted during budgetary preparations. He said their microphones were turned off during pre-budget sessions and their suggestions were ignored.

Standing Committee on Law and Parliamentary Affairs chairman Azma Bokhari said a bill had already been drafted to address the issue during the assembly’s last tenure. She said that bill took precedence over Javed’s motion. Bokhari said the issue would be raised in the next session and bill would be passed during the present parliamentary year. Bokhari, however, refused to provide The Express Tribune with a copy of the bill. She said it was currently with the Law Department.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, former law minister Rana Sanaullah said the motion had not been taken up as it had not been approved by the law and parliamentary affairs committee. He said the motion would be addressed after the committee forwarded it to the assembly.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2014.