The PML-N government’s commitment for ensuring parliamentary supremacy could be gauged by the fact that the last date for election of members of 28 standing committees of the National Assembly, four non-ministerial committees and one special committee of parliament lapsed on Friday with no practical step being taken by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in this regard.
Parliamentary supremacy is all about holding the executive accountable by the legislature and the standing committees are the instrument to enforce a check on the conduct of the executive by parliament.
However, the failure of the executive to elect members and chairpersons of the standing committees is a slap on the face of those who claim the supremacy of parliament time and again as part of their political sloganeering.
Under the rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, the government must get members of all standing committees elected by the National Assembly within 30 days of the election of the leader of the House (prime minister).
Rule 200 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly 2007 (Amended up to December 2010) says, “(1) Except as otherwise provided in these rules, each Committee shall consist of not more than [twenty] members to be elected by the Assembly within thirty days after the ascertainment of the Leader of the House”.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was elected leader of the House on June 5 and the timeline of 30 days ended on Friday, July 5. However, the government has planned to get this legal anomaly condoned by the National Assembly as the government enjoys majority in the House. “If this happens to be the case, the delay in formation of committees will extend to another six weeks,” the source added.
A well-placed source in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs told Pakistan Today that the government was still in consultation with all political parties seeking their nominations no summary had been prepared in this regard.
“The summary would be formulised one the next session of the National Assembly would be summoned,” the source said.
The source added that the state minister for parliamentary affairs, Shaikh Aftab Ahmed, had completed his homework though and the nominations from almost all the political parties had been received for inclusion of their members in different committees and the chairpersons of the committees.
The source said the National Assembly would most likely meet in the second week of August and the election of all members and chairpersons would be finalised during the NA session. Another source in the PML-N said the ruling party wanted to allocate chairpersonship of four major committees, including standing committee on foreign affairs for its own members.
The chairmanship of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in line with the Charter of Democracy (CoD) is most likely to be given to the PPP, the second largest parliamentary party in the Lower House, and the PPP leadership has nominated Dr Azra Fazal Pehuho for the post. The source said a formula had also been devised for the allocation of chairpersonship of the standing committees of the NA among various parliamentary parties.
“Per the formula, the ruling party is likely to get the lion’s share and 70 percent of the members and chairpersons of committees will go to its nominees. Of the total 28 committees, the ruling party may win chairpersonship of 19 committees. Moreover, the chairpersons of other four important committees would also be named by the ruling party including standing committees on rules of business and privileges committee, government assurances; house and library and special committee of the parliament on Kashmir,” the source added.
The source added that being the second largest party in the National Assembly, the PPP might get hold of chairmanship of five standing committees. “The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) being the third largest party may be able to win the chairpersonship of four NA standing committees. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) may also win the chairmanship of two standing committees while the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) may get one,” the source added.
Despite repeated attempts, Ahmed could not be reached as his cell number was switched off until filing of this report.
