Analysing Parliament’s role

Present parliament of Pakistan, which was elected in February 2008, has entered its fifth and final year. The fact that despite no political party having a clear majority in either of the House, this parliament has completed four years in a country like Pakistan whose history is replete with dismissal of the elected governments and impositions of martial laws, is not a small achievement in itself.

Four years is a period good enough  to review the performance of the current parliament vis-à-vis the challenges it has had to contend with and identify a pattern in the context of Pakistan’s brush with democracy.

In a parliamentary form of government, traditionally speaking, parliament performs two important functions: Firstly, it legislates as the authority to do law-making rests with this august institution as it represents the will of the people. Secondly, it holds the executive accountable for its actions or their lack thereof through various instruments. The most effective mechanism by which parliament conducts accountability of the government departments is the presence of a score of standing committees, which are composed of members of parliament belonging to all political parties. Public Accounts Committee is the most important committee of parliament which keeps a check on the financial transactions of the government. Ideally speaking, the parliamentarians, being the representatives of the people elected in a free and transparent franchise, are expected to work in a bipartisan manner on issues of national importance. However, reality is contrary to this as strong party divide characterizes the doings of parliamentarians.

Coming back to our topic, it is natural to begin with the recent adoption of a consensual resolution by parliament in its joint sitting which recommended the new terms of engagement with the US, NATO and ISAF. The very fact that the passage of the recommendations was marred by inordinate delay. Political bickering and lack of meaningful debate does not undermine the symbolism of this historic initiative.

It is pertinent to mention here that starting from SEATO and CENTO in 1950s, when Pakistan joined the US-led western alliances, the country’s foreign policy has been in the exclusive domain of establishment. There have been little public debates on the pros and cons of any proposed policy action. Despite democratic dispensations in power during different times, it is a small but privileged club which has had monopoly on formulating the country’s foreign relations with the world.

The narrow definition of the country’s foreign interests has often been in clash with popular perception.

Thus by endeavouring to work out broad policy parameters in the form of new terms of engagement with the US, the incumbent parliament has set a trend whose importance must not be lost on the rest of the world. Irrespective of various objections raised against parliamentary review and imperfections that supposedly accompanied the resolution, the effort was still worth it whose consequences would become clearer and more pronounced with the passage of time. Parliament has set a tradition, which will be followed by the coming parliaments with greater involvement and engagement. It will not only make the entire process of transactions more transparent with nothing secretively concluded but also inject ownership of the people.

The passage of historic amendments in the constitution such as the 18th, 19th and 20th constitutional amendments and a host of other legislative measures not only brought the constitution at par with the modern-day realities and developments but also addressed the long-standing demand of provincial autonomy, institutionalization, system of checks and balances and empowerment of the state institutions. The 18th amendment marks a watershed in this respect, which besides striking down the undemocratic insertions which disfigured the face and scheme of constitution of 1973, was instrumental in strengthening the federation of Pakistan as a result of devolution of power to the provinces. The deletion of concurrent list from the constitution, which was supposed to have been done away with ten years after the promulgation of the constitution, devolved political, administrative and financial powers to the provinces.

The 19th constitutional amendment prescribed a system for selection of superior court judges by providing for a high-powered judicial commission and a parliamentary committee. The new mechanism has left little scope for opportunism, favourtism and cronyism during the selection process as it involves multi-layered fool-proof system of screening out candidates for top jobs in the superior judiciary.

The 20th amendment has empowered the Election Commission of Pakistan by conferment of financial and administrative autonomy on it. It has also prescribed the methodology of setting up care-taker governments at federal and provincial levels thereby making the process more bipartisan and transfer of power smooth.

Another area on which present Parliament can take pride is legislation for the empowerment and emancipation of womenfolk. The enactments of various legislative measures such as ‘Anti-Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2010 and Anti-Women Practices Act etc. are landmark achievements which will go a long way in empowering women and enabling them to take charge of their lives in a meaningful manner. The autonomy granted to National Commission on Status of Women would help synchronize efforts for greater women participation in public life.

While most of the standing committees of both National Assembly and Senate remained obscure in performing their role, the Public Accounts Committee headed by the opposition leader did make important contributions. Not only did it hold its meetings regularly, it also made sure that the decisions taken by the committee were implemented.

On the other side, parliament failed to evolve any mechanism for implementation of joint parliamentary resolution on national security. On matters of domestic governance, it has had little role and relevance often playing a second fiddle to the government.

As Parliament nears its fifth year, debate would certainly intensify on its role in meeting the challenges facing the nation and strengthening democracy. It, however, needs to be remembered that democracy is still nascent and it needs time and support to nurture. For the moment, good beginning has been made.