A lot of uproar, walk-outs, boycotts and protests over issues of load shedding of gas and electricity and ministers’ absence remained hallmark of parliament in 2011, which also passed around 30 bills during the same period leaving 41 bills, including 31 private members and 10 government bills, under consideration.
The most important bills passed by parliament include the Prevention of Anti-Women Practices (Criminal Law Amendment) Act, 2011, Islamabad High Court (Amendment) Act, 2011, the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2011, the Recognition and Enforcement (Arbitration Agreements and Foreign Arbitral Awards) Act, 2010, the Finance Act, 2011 and the National Commission for Women Bill 2011. The total number of bills and ordinances tabled in both the house was 107.
National Assembly: Around 31 bills were passed, but the total number of items related to legislative business in the National Assembly was 86 in 2011 and around 55 were still pending before the Lower House. In legislative items, 10 bills were tabled by the government, 27 by members as private member bills and five ordinances.
Senate: The total numbers of bills tabled in the Senate in 2011 were 21, including five government and 16 private member bills. The bills still pending before the Senate were 14, one bill passed by the National Assembly and 13 private member bills of senators.
Process of Devolution completed: Another significant achievement of parliament was that the devolution process under the 18th Amendment was completed which had been started in 2010. The federal government had to devolve 18 ministries to provinces in three phases and the last phase was completed in June by giving seven more ministries… Women Development, Minorities, Environment, Health, Food and Agriculture, Sports and Labour and Manpower … to provinces in the third and last phase while ministries of Special Initiatives, Zakat and Ushr, Population Welfare, Youth Affairs and Local Government and Rural Development were devolved in December 2010 in the first phase and ministries of Education, Social Welfare and Special Education, Culture, Tourism and Livestock and Dairy Development were devolved to provinces in second phase in April 2011.
Joint sitting of parliament and resolution passed unanimously: The joint session of parliament was convened on May 14 against the US unilateral action in Abbottabad in which Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed. Parliament condemned the US action terming it a violation of international norms and Pakistan’s sovereignty and airspace and passed a resolution unanimously in this regard calling upon the government to ensure independent foreign policy by strict adherence to Article 40 of the constitution, the UN Charter and observance of international laws. The government constituted the Abbottabad Inquiry Commission in light of the resolution.
Public Accounts Committee became dysfunctional
Accountability bill: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Justice could not evolve a consensus on the important accountability bill. The bill is before the committee for the last two years and it was not sent back to the National Assembly for passage owing to serious difference between the government and opposition. The PML-N wanted that an institution for accountability should be headed by a Supreme Court judge to ensure complete independence of the commission from political influence and the process of accountability should begin from 1947 whereas the treasury members wanted the institution to be headed either by a judge of the apex court or a person who is qualified to the judge of the apex court. The treasury benches also want that accountability should start from 1985 instead of 1947 as cases from 1947 would include many persons who had died and massively increase the workload of the institution. The bill is still under consideration of the standing committee.
In-camera meetings: The mushroom growth of in-camera meetings of standing committees and special parliamentary committees was witnessed this year. The standing committees of both houses on foreign affairs, defence and the Parliamentary Committee on National Security held all of its meetings in-camera. This increase in in-camera meetings by a democratic government was criticised by civil society terming them undemocratic.
Walk-outs, protests against loadshedding, minister’s absence: In 2011, parliament witnessed a number of walk-outs, boycotts and protests within and outside parliament in which sometimes even members from the treasury benches took part in exposing the fragility of the government coalition.
Minister’s absence from both the Houses remained a big issue this year and led to walk-outs in the Senate and National Assembly. The ministers are supposed to be accountable to parliament and answer questions of parliamentarians during question hours. No such business could be held in ministers’ absence. Although, the ratio of ministers’ absence from the National Assembly was comparatively less than in the Senate but members of the Upper House made uproar on a number of occasions, staging a number of walk-outs even sometimes two or three times a day or even everyday during the session. The Senate chairman once gave a ruling and directed the leader of the house in the Upper House to ensure ministers’ presence during the question hour at least. But nothing made ministers’ fulfill their parliamentary responsibility.
Senators’ helplessness reached its peak and a member proposed to march from the Senate to the Prime Minister’s House against ministers’ absence but the problem remained chronic which could not be tackled.
The other issue which caused most walk-outs or protests was the issue of gas and power load shedding in the country and treasury members also joined the opposition on certain occasions. PML-N members and PPP MNA from Quetta Nasir Shah joined the opposition in a protest against the federal government and President Asif Ali Zardari outside the Presidency. Nasir Shah also boycotted the whole session once and staged a sit-in outside the Parliament House.
