Lazy Sindh Assembly has yet to pass a single private bill in two and a half years

MPAs annoyed at the delays, say the government does not care.

KARACHI: If the Sindh Assembly’s performance were to be gauged by the number of private bills it passed, the results would be a glaring red F. Also, in the past two-and-a-half years, the assembly has been unable to pass any of the resolutions into law, which has riled several of the MPAs who have tried to have their ideas converted into legislation.

Dozens of private resolutions, motions of public importance submitted by treasury and opposition members have been pending for more than a year.

More than a few disgruntled MPAs claimed that the government made it hard to pass a private bill simply because it was not interested in laws that were not pro-government. Private bills are those that a member of the assembly brings to the government’s notice on his or her own account. They are submitted in the form of a proposal to the assembly for scrutiny and discussion before they can be passed into legislation.

Tuesdays are reserved for discussing these private bills, but more often than not, the assembly never comes around to it. Most of the time is passed on point-of-order resolutions and other discussions, which, according to lawmakers, are necessary.

While many of the MPAs seem generally bored by the sessions, the ones who do take an active part are discouraged by the way the government treats their efforts. “There are big salaries and allowances for the legislators but unfortunately they attend the assembly just to kill time,” a female MPA of the ruling party said on condition of anonymity. All members get a monthly salary of Rs40,975. Their additional travel allowances are around Rs30,000 per year and they also get an unlimited medical allowance.

Arif Mustafa Jatoi, of the National Peoples Party (NPP), considers himself one of the more active legislators. He has submitted more bills than any other member. However, none of these bills have been passed so far. “I submitted around 12 bills in 2009 but none of them were discussed or taken up for legislation,” he told The Express Tribune.

These bills include the Sindh Civil Servants Amendment Bill, which is an effort to prevent the government from making unjust promotions, the Restriction on Re-Employment Bill, to stop the government from rehiring people on contract after they have retired so that young people can get a chance, the Sindh Local Government Ordinance Amendment Bill to appoint the leader of opposition to the provincial finance commission and the Sindh Advisers Appointments, Powers, Functions, Salaries, Allowances and Privileges Bill to bring down the limit of advisers to the chief minister from 16 to five according to the 18th Amendment.

“On one hand the government is talking about a severe shortage of resources but on the other hand it has appointed 16 advisers,” said Jatoi. Each adviser gets Rs20,000 to Rs22,000 in house rent and Rs100,000 in discretionary grants per year. They have free medical allowances for the whole family, a limitless official telephone allowance and a 2,000-call limit on their residential phone as well as an official car. “All at the government’s expense,” Jatoi pointed out. “I think the government should look into the matter before the CJ of the Supreme Court takes notice of it,” he said.

Referring to private member days (Tuesday), Jatoi said that according to official procedure, that day should be reserved for private bills. “I always point it out during the session but it seems that legislation is just not a priority for the government,” he accused.

Jatoi is definitely not alone in his resentment of the government’s carefree attitude towards private resolutions. Humera Alwani, of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), has submitted two bills, one regarding the elimination of ‘copy culture’ and cheating in examinations and the other on control of the addictive and cancer-causing mainpuri and gutka. Both of her bills are still pending.

Talking to The Express Tribune, she said that during every session she expects that her bills will be taken up but all in vain.

According to Heer Ismail Soho, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) parliamentarian, submitting a private bill is no easy task. It requires a lot of time to prepare a resolution. “We need resources, we have to refer to different books, consult experts as well as technical people to get their viewpoint. It takes at least one to two months to prepare. But unfortunately, even after submitting the resolution we have to wait for a long time to have it passed,” she said.

Soho said when she went to the US, the legislators of different states told her that their houses passed 300 to 400 private bills every parliamentary year. “I wonder how they managed to do that,” she said. She submitted two bills around a year back, against domestic violence and violation of human rights. Neither of the bills has been introduced in the assembly.

However, PPP’s MPA Haji Munawar Ali Abbasi, who is a senior parliamentarian and the chairperson of Sindh Assembly’s standing committee on local government, dismisses these accusations and complaints. He believed that the present government has made “landmark achievements in legislation” as compared to previous regimes. The speaker has to follow the schedule and business of the day is carried out as per rules of procedure. “The main problem is that MPAs don’t come to the sessions on time and after the question-and-answer session, the chair has to take up resolutions and other business, which consumes too much time,” he said. Two bills have been introduced in the House and will be passed as per rules and procedure very soon, he added.

Pakistan Muslim League-Functional’s MPA Rafique Banbhan does not agree. He is the deputy opposition leader and believes that “rules can be relaxed” for the sake of public welfare. “Whenever the government wants, all rules are relaxed and a bill is passed within hours,” he accused.

Hadi Bux Buriro, Sindh Assembly Secretary, said that several MPAs forward their applications and resolutions to them. Out of the hundreds, a few are selected through balloting. He said that under article 115 of the constitution, the mover of any bill has to move a motion 15 days before the session to introduce the bill. Later, the assembly examines whether the relevant department has the required resources to implement the bill and then the bill is sent to that department for approval. “It is very easy to level allegations but the procedure is not easy,” he added.

Bills MPA Arif Jatoi wants passed:

Sindh Civil Servants Amendment Bill to prevent the government from making unjust promotions

Restriction on Re-Employment Bill, to stop the government from rehiring people on contract after they have retired so that young people can get a chance

Sindh Local Government Ordinance Amendment Bill to appoint the leader of opposition to the provincial finance commission

Sindh Advisers Appointments, Powers, Functions, Salaries, Allowances and Privileges Bill to bring down the limit of advisers to the CM from 16 to five

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2010.