The PML-N must strengthen the system
Parliamentary democracy usually works under a protocol. The parliamentarians are elected through public elections, they in turn elect a government, a majority party, to mind the affairs of the state, which then appoints various parliamentary and cabinet officials, including the important committee system which is designed to discuss everything legislation related between the members of a particular committee before it is brought to the floor of the house for open discussion. This committee system is mandated under the constitution and a failure to implement it is a failure on the part of the government. That incidentally is something the incumbent government is guilty of.
The constitution states that within a month of the new government, committees have to be formed but the present dispensation let the issue linger on for more than four months, mainly because the prime minister was not available to decide who would chair each committee, and because the PML-N wanted to keep the chair of important committees with itself. While there is nothing wrong with this approach, delaying the decision, and letting the committees be non-functional for over six months in total, is not something that a mature democratic political party would do. It shows a lack of trust in the parliamentary democratic system, or at least in how it functions. They are not merely jobs to hand to their favourites. Here is why these committees are important. They discuss every legislation, every bill before it is tabled in the house, thus removing most of the objections and loopholes, and make sure that a thoroughly discussed bill is presented to the legislators in the house. The committees also work closely with respective ministries to make sure that they have every tool at their disposal before they mark a bill passable or not. These committees also help legislators gain valuable experience without which the supremacy of the civilian authority over armed forces and bureaucracy cannot be ensured.
Out of the 28 committees of the National Assembly, the government intends to offer nine to the opposition, and keep the rest with itself. Even if this figure is appropriate (which it may not be, for the opposition deserves better than a mere 33 per cent allocation), delay in activating this vital system will only create problems for the treasury as it cannot, in all likelihood, manage to handle the load of legislation on its own. The Committees are think tanks, but for the government and of course for the parliament. Despite the delay, the PML-N leadership is expected to make the committee system stronger which would help assert democracy its hold over the country’s fate.
