148 bills passed in four years: PA performance report issued

• 1720 adjournment motions, 118 privilege motions adopted in Punjab Assembly
• 189 resolutions of general public interest also passed in last four years

LAHORE: As many as 148 bills were passed by the provincial assembly of Punjab during last four years, the performance report issued by the Punjab Assembly (PA) revealed on Monday.

As per details, a total 162 bills were introduced in the PA from June 2013 to May 2017 of which 148 were passed in the house that is the largest assembly of Pakistan having 369 members.

As the assemblies in Pakistan are going to complete their mandatory five-year tenures by the end of next month, Punjab Assembly has issued its report of last four years to apprise the voters what their elected representatives have done for them as Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA).

The breakdown further shows that 31 bills were passed in the first parliamentary year while 37, 46 and 34 bills were adopted during the second, third and fourth parliamentary years respectively.

The issuance of the said report is the project funded by the European Union (EU) through its initiative ‘Strengthening Subai Assemblies Pakistan’. Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan said on the launch of the report that it was the first of its kind of report ever published in which the performance of the assembly during last four years was narrated in detail because the elected house of Punjab is the largest assembly of the country and, therefore, people had elevated expectations associated with the house.

“As 2018 is the election year and it is the right of the people of Punjab to know what their elected representatives have done for them to whom they have sent to the assembly. This report will equally help the general public, researchers, and scholars as it has detailed performance charts of last four years,” the speaker added.

Moreover, 4,631 starred questions and 1451 unstarred questions were answered in the house during last four years. The breakdown shows that 1,210 starred questions were answered during the first parliamentary year while 1263, 1088 and 1070 starred questions were answered in the second, third and fourth parliamentary years. Not a single unstarred question was answered in the first parliamentary year while 234, 561 and 656 unstarred questions were provided answers during the second, third and fourth year respectively.

A member may raise a matter of public importance regarding the law and order situation while submitting a Call Attention Notice that was first introduced in the Punjab Assembly in 1991 and the current government of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) has answered 148 such notices during last four years. As many as 1,720 adjournment motions and 118 privilege motions were adopted by the house in the last four years while 189 resolutions of general public interest were passed by the Punjab Assembly during this period.

Donna Bugby Smith, the team leader of the project said on the launch that the report would highlight the transparency and accountability of the parliamentarians of the largest assembly of Pakistan. “Punjab is my second home and it is really an honour working with the elected assembly of this province,” said Smith, who was the member of EU delegation who also contributed in publishing the report.