ISLAMABAD            -         National Assembly Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs on Wednesday said that the ministry provides window for coordination in law making process and coordinates with the President House, Parliament and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The 19th meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs was held at Parliament House under the chairpersonship of Muhammad Abu Bakar, MNA. The meeting was briefed on the working and performance of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. The committee was briefed by the Secretary Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs regarding objectives and assigned functions of the ministry. He said that the objective of the ministry is to expedite the legislation and smooth functioning of the Parliament. The function of the ministry is to liaison between the ministries/divisions and Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) in respect of official/non-official business, he added. The ministry also summons the Parliament sessions (National Assembly and the Senate), Joint Sitting and prorogation of the sessions. While briefing on the functions assigned to the ministry, the secretary informed that the ministry submits the bills passed by the National Assembly/Senate or by the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) to the President of Pakistan for assent. The ministry also deals with the legislation pertaining to privileges of the Parliament, parliamentarians, salaries and allowances of custodian of the Houses, Leader of the Houses and Leader of the Opposition. The secretary also briefed the committee regarding working of the Prime Minister Public Affairs and Grievances Wing of the Ministry. He said that the said wing receives manual as well as online complaints of public from all over Pakistan. He said that complaints are forwarded to the concerned federal, provincial and local government departments through PM Portal and after getting reply from concerned departments each complainant is telephonically asked about his/her satisfaction level. If the complainant is unsatisfied, he/she is asked to submit rebuttal and the case is re-opened, he added. The committee directed the ministry to provide details of the complaints received and actions taken so far to the committee before its next meeting. The committee deferred the legislative business (Private Members’ Bills), ie ‘The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2019’ (moved by Riaz Fatyana, MNA), ‘The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2020’ (moved by Ms Noreen Farooq Khan, MNA) and ‘The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2020’ (moved by Rai Muhammad Murtaza Iqbal, MNA) due to non-availability of the movers. Later, the ministry withdrew the Government Bills ie ‘The Elections (Third Amendment) Bill, 2021’ (Ord No XX of 2021) and ‘The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2022’ (Ord No I of 2022). Besides Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi, MNA, the meeting was attended by MNAs Mahesh Kumar Malani, Dr Qadir Khan Mandokhail, Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali and Ms Javairia Zafar Aheer. The senior officers from Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Law & Justice and ECP were also present in the meeting.