Pakistan - Opposition’s boycott

The government’s lack of interest in parliamentary affairs has forced opposition parties to boycott the National Assembly proceedings till the acceptance of their demands. A few treasury members present in the lower house on Tuesday last were embarrassed by the opposition leader for giving no importance to parliament. The government has levied an unprecedented 27 percent tax on Petrol, Oil and Lubricant (POL) products without the approval of parliament. The step was taken to meet the conditionalities of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of the sixth tranche of the Extended Fund Facility worth $ 518 million. In addition, the government wanted to offset a shortfall in revenue due to a massive decline in oil prices, which normally yield Rs 30-35 billion every year. Earlier, the government increased regulatory duty on more than 285 items without consulting the opposition. Being ambitious for its revenue generation targets, the government is repeatedly bypassing parliament and taking short-term budgetary measures in clear violation of the constitution. The government is busy ignoring the concerns of the opposition that had supported it in its time of crisis. It seems that the PML-N government is taking decisions on the advice of only a few favoured ones and handpicked bureaucrats. This irresponsible attitude is leading to political cleavages. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself has set a bad precedent by absenting himself from sessions of the Senate during the whole year. Following in the footsteps of the Leader of the House, the members of the National Assembly and Senators from the PML-N do not bother to attend the sessions of the lower and upper houses respectively. One of the essential constituents of a parliamentary democracy is its committee system, which has also become a victim of the government’s apathy. In a democratic set-up, the whole country looks towards parliament for the resolution of all problems, but currently this institution is persistently being ignored.

An inherently non-democratic attitude has been adopted by the government. It is critical that the government should revisit its attitude towards irreducible democratic norms. Without strengthening parliament, the system cannot deliver. The elected government must be conscious that only winning elections is not enough, rather it should adopt a serious approach in meeting the other norms of a democratic set-up. In the present highly centralised governance, the credit for all good deeds goes to the prime minister but at the same time he is held responsible for anything that goes wrong. The government must take the opposition into confidence over the issue of an increase in GST. It should bring back the angry opposition parties into the house and redress their grievances. Unless the government changes its approach towards parliament, a durable democratic system cannot be established.