Parliament and the PTI

The PTI has finally relented, resolving the stalemate over the Public Accounts Committee. It has agreed to let the leader of the opposition, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, take the chair of the most powerful committee in parliament.

According to the ruling party’s own admission, it has submitted to blackmail from the opposition. Fawad Chaudhry, the minister of information, has stated: “In fact Shahbaz Sharif and his party are ‘blackmailers’, and we made him PAC chief because they are not letting the proceedings of the National Assembly run”.

Parliament has been the worst performing pillar of the state during the PTI’s first hundred days in government and it is not easy for the ruling party to shift the blame to the opposition. Like many things PTI, it is hard to understand the logic behind the attitude of the ruling party towards parliament and parliamentary opposition.

The PTI’s coalition government enjoys a wafer-thin majority in the lower house and no majority in the upper house. It has an ambitious agenda of reforms that requires legislation and, in some cases, amendment to the constitution. It needs the support of the opposition parties to legislate and also to mobilise public support for potentially unpopular but much-needed policy actions.

However, the party is unwilling to let go of its founding narrative of the whole of the political class being corrupt – with the exception of those who have been baptised by the purest man in the land of the pure. As a result, it is unwilling to follow democratic traditions and let the opposition play its role in parliament.

As a result of the stalemate over the office of the PAC chairperson, no parliamentary committee was formed in the National Assembly and effectively parliament remained dysfunctional. Not a single act was passed during this period and parliament failed to make the executive accountable.

Parliamentary committees are considered the “eyes, ears, hands and even brain of parliament”. While people often listen to speeches in when parliament is in session, the committees are the real parliament where much of the parliamentary work is done.

These committees play a crucial role in the process of legislation. In fact, no legislation is possible without the formation of such committees because every bill, other than the budget, is referred to the relevant Standing Committee after it is introduced in the house. The committee is then required to examine the bill and submit its report to parliament which can then adopt it as an act of parliament.

Alongside legislation, parliament carries out the oversight of the executive. This role is also played mainly through these parliamentary committees. According to the Rule of Procedures of the National Assembly, there is a Standing Committee of the Assembly for each ministry of the government. Each committee keeps an eye on the functioning of the relevant ministry and makes it accountable for its performance, and also provides it with policy direction.

The most powerful and the most important of these committees is the Public Accounts Committees, which is one of the statutory organs of the National Assembly of Pakistan. According to Article 171 of the constitution, this committee is mandated to review the report of the auditor general (AG) relating to the accounts of the federation. The committee is a powerful tool for the accountability of the government as it examines the report and its details regarding ministries, divisions, corporations and other independent and semi-autonomous bodies.

As a result of the Charter of Democracy, the opposition, for the first time, got a powerful role in the committee system. Opposition members were made heads of different committees and it was agreed that the Public Accounts Committee would be handed over to the opposition. This is a tradition that is in line with the parliamentary traditions in place in many established democracies.

However, this tradition does not sit well with the PTI. The ruling party is reluctant to recognise the role of the parliamentary opposition. It also appears inclined to keep the opposition under stress as a strategy of offensive defence. The aim is perhaps to maintain popularity and divert attention from extremely unpopular decisions on the economic front.

The PTI had challenged the legitimacy of the last parliament and Imran Khan at one point had called it a ‘laanati’ (cursed) parliament. While the PTI carried out all opposition activity on street, completely ignoring parliament, the PML-N tried to run the executive without any reference to parliament. Both Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan were amongst the worst performing parliamentarians with least attendance.

The performance of the last parliament does not compare well with the performance of the thirteenth parliament (2008-2013). Emerging as a strong institution, parliament during that period passed more legislation than any other in Pakistan’s recent history and revisited the whole constitution through the landmark 18th Amendment. In fact only the 1973 parliament, that gave us the constitution, performed better than the 13th parliament

During the last ten years, we have heard innumerable lectures from Imran Khan on the performance of the parliament and how parliaments in Western democracies function. It is time for the PTI to walk its talk and turn Pakistan’s parliament into a model of excellence. On the individual level, we have some of the best parliamentarians in the region. The weakness mainly lies in the parliamentary parties and their commitment to parliamentary procedures and systems.

Rather than ditching good traditions, which have been built straw by straw, the PTI should strive to reinforce them and set new traditions and values. For example, Imran Khan has promised to make himself accountable through Prime Minister’s Questions, a British tradition where the PM answers questions from members of parliament every week. While this promise was made on hundreds of occasions, the PTI does not appear in a hurry to implement it.

The ruling party needs to realise that democracy is not a great system because it is manned by angels. It is a great system because it works through a system of checks and balance. Parliament works in an environment of confrontation where the best interest of the opposition lies in making the executive accountable and constantly goading it to perform better and better.

Imran Khan may be an angel from the heavens descended upon us due to the prayers of Maulana Tariq Jameel, but we can’t hope to have him forever. Our future is tied to democracy, its norms and systems.

The writer is an anthropologist and development professional.

Email: zaighamkhan@yahoo.com

Twitter: @zaighamkhan