The parliamentary performance of the incumbent government remains dubitable in both houses of parliament, raising questions over the seriousness of lawmakers about the legislative work.
According to the official figures submitted to NA by government last week, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz led government presented 18 bills in Lower House and nine bills in Senate since it came to power following the May 11, 2013, general elections. The government got 15 bills passed through NA while all nine bills were cleared by Upper House, revealed the figures.
The previous government of Pakistan Peoples Party had set a record by passing 116 bills with an average of more than 23 bills per parliamentary year.
Interestingly, not a single private bill has been passed by NA during PML-N government, which received 62 private bills in the past 19 months, revealed the figures.
Similarly, 26 private bills were tabled in Senate, according to figures collected by the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen), of which only four were given final nod by Senate, added the figures.
Only two important documents — The Protection of Pakistan Bill, 2014 and The Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Act, 2014 — could sail through both the houses during these two parliamentary years, revealed the data.
About poor parliamentary performance, Fafen CEO Muddassar Rizvi said the government was confronting many challenges in the passage of new legislation. PML-N government, perhaps, could not present more bills in the National Assembly as it does not enjoy majority in the Senate, he added.
The PML-N government, despite enjoying a near-absolute majority [188 seats out of 342] in Lower House, introduced only five bills in current parliamentary year, though a bill requires a simple majority of 125 votes, the report maintains.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s MNA Kishwar Zehra, who introduced seven bills, expressed concern over poor parliamentary performance of the incumbent government. “NA didn’t pass a single bill presented by me, despite the fact that all bills truly represented people’s interest,” she told The Express Tribune.
Similar views were presented by an independent Senator, Mohsin Leghari, whose Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2013, is ready for passage but could not be presented before the Senate as he has not got enough numbers to get it passed.
“Legislation is our prime job and yes our parliamentary committees should also clear bills quickly,” he added.
Some key bills like The Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Amendment Bill), 2014, and Torture, Custodial Death and Custodial Rape (Prevention and Prevent) Bill, 2014, moved by Senator Farahatullah Babar; HIV/AIDS (Safety and Control) Bill, 2013, moved by MNAs Dr Azra Fazl and Dr Nafisa Shah and Ratification of International Treaties Bill, 2013, moved by Shireen Mazari are pending with the relevant Senate and National Assembly Standing Committees, the figures revealed.
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