NA performance in 2022: 47 government, 15 private member bills were passed

ISLAMABAD: The year 2022 would be remembered in the parliamentary history as it was for the first time a prime minister was voted out through the vote of no-confidence. In April, Prime Minister Imran Khan was voted out through a no-trust motion and Shehbaz Sharif was elected as prime minister by the National Assembly.

The Assembly also elected Raja Pervez Ashraf as Speaker and Zahid Akram Durrani Deputy Speaker after the resignation of Asad Qaisar from the office of Speaker and Qasim Suri as Deputy Speaker.

According to the National Assembly performance report of calendar year 2022, 47 government bills and 15 private member bills were passed from January 2022 to December 2022. So far, 38 bills have become Acts of Parliament.

Prominent legislation done by National Assembly include Election Bill, Rahmatul Alameen Authority Bill, National Highway Safety Bill, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Bill, Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, Export and Import of Pakistan Bill, National Accountability (Second Amendment) Bill, Pakistan Tobacco Bill, Anti-Dumping Duties Bill, Capital Development Authority Bill, Martyrdom Bill, Petroleum Bill, Foreign Investment and Local Government Elections Bill in Islamabad. Some 25 resolutions on various issues were also passed in the House.

Apart from this, the National Assembly Secretariat received 3,751 questions from the members out of which 1,004 were answered. A total of 183 attention notices were received out of which 71 were tabled in the House and 43 were discussed. Some 82 privilege motions were received out of which 45 were sent to the relevant committees.

Furthermore, 124 motions were received under Rule 259 of 2007 Rules and Procedures in the House out of which 32 were tabled in the House. The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, Standing Committees and Parliamentary Committees remained active for supporting the House in its legislative role. These committees also remained active to enhance the parliamentary oversight and to ensure accountability. It was for the first time the doors of National Assembly were opened for three days to marginalised segments of the society like women, children, minorities and transgenders to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the House. These celebrations were praised by the public, and it was a child’s speech in Parliament which was viewed by six million people on Twitter. The first-ever parliamentary caucus on children was also formed.

The House hosted an IPU seminar to fight the case of climate justice for the country which culminated with the world adopting “loss and damage fund” in COP-27. According to the report, a two-day seminar of the member countries of IPU Asia-Pacific Region on the achievements of SDGs was held on September 13-14 at the Parliament House. In the seminar, the delegates were apprised of the effects of flood disaster in Pakistan.

IPU Asia-Pacific region countries were asked to present an emergency resolution at the IPU General Assembly in Rwanda. With the efforts of Speaker Pervez Ashraf, a resolution was presented in the meeting to establish a fund for countries affected by climate change.

In order to fill the gap between the common people and Parliament, the social media of National Assembly remained at the forefront. It was ensured all the parliamentary news remain accessible to the people. It also played a role in ending the trend of fake news culture in society.