Pildat report

The 40th session of the National Assembly from Jan 10 to 20, missed over two-thirds of the agenda items. According to the latest report that Pildat has compiled, the session was also marred by repeated lack of quorum resulting in the house suspension four times. This is no good news for democracy which calls for a commitment from all political parties and assembly members to regularly participate in sessions. The report highlights that over 68 percent agenda items on average were left over in nine sittings held during the last session. The details of the session proceedings are startling and deserve careful attention by parties and their leaders. In five out of nine sittings of the National Assembly session, quorum was pointed out and the speaker had to adjourn four sittings due to lack of required strength. At least 86 members have to be present in the assembly for the quorum to meet its minimum requirement.

In the entire 40th session the National Assembly met for less than 24 hours with an average of just two and a half hours per sitting. Even more disappointing is the lack of interest of the prime minister in the session as he attended only one out of nine sittings – and that sitting was absolutely necessary for him to cast his vote for various bills. The leader of the opposition showed better credentials by attending four sessions, though this number is also hardly impressive. Talking about the level of interest that all MNAs displayed, we notice that just 65 percent of them marked their attendance during the session. In terms of talking time, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari emerged as the most vocal with a recorded time of 93 minutes while opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif took up the floor for a total of 73 minutes.

The most disappointing day was January 17 when the house managed to take up just two of the 17 agenda items when quorum was pointed out and the house was adjourned for not being in order. These details show that our public representatives need to take up the task of legislation and discussion more seriously. The citizens of Pakistan have entrusted them with a huge responsibility of leading the nation that has a population of over 227 million. The country is facing challenges on various fronts – from economy to education, and from foreign policy to security. All these need productive debates and sound pieces of legislation that the country can utilise for its progress. If the current trend continues, the people of Pakistan will be in their right to ask the legislators about their commitments to democracy. All party heads must make sure that their parliamentarians do better in the assembly.