LAHORE - Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) Demands thorough Review of Rules of Procedure of the Punjab Assembly.
Lawmakers from opposition as well as treasury benches are united to bring in reforms in the rules of procedures of Punjab assembly.
Punjab law makers have lauded the efforts of CPDI for bringing in the reforms in rules of procedures of Punjab assembly. MPAs, including the opposition leader Mian Mahmood ur Rasheed have endorsed the reforms proposed by CPDI in the rules of procedures of Punjab assembly.
Speakers, on the occasion, included Punjab Information Commissioner, Mukhtar Ahmed Ali, Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed, MPAs, Ayesha Javed, Waqas Hassan Mokal, Raheela Khadim Hussain, Dr Nausheen Hamid, Uzma Bukhari, Asif Mahmood, Sadia Suhail, and Mohsin Abbas Syed, Director Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Punjab.
Mukhtar Ahmed Ali, Punjab Information Commissioner said the law makers should debate the much needed reforms in the Punjab rules of procedures at the assembly floor.
“There are quite a few rules, laws which have become irrelevant and are needed to be reformed, on the priority basis. There is an urgent need to make some mechanism available to facilitate the law makers with research in order to make the law making process a quality one,” he added.
Mehmoodur Rasheed lauded the efforts of CPDI for proposing reforms in the rules of procedures of the Punjab Assembly. He demanded the increase in the 'working days' of the assembly to come up to the expectations of the people of Punjab.
The committees should be empowered to review the budget proposals, before finalising the same, by the govt. He emphasised that in order to solve the problems of common man, the govt should consult the peoples representatives in law making processes.
Waqas Hassan Mokal, demanded the efficient implementation of laws, which he emphasised is the big issue which needs to be resolved.
Uzma Bukhari said govt and opposition are two wheels of a vehicle. She recommended that the opposition should play its role more effectively in law making processes instead of isolating itself, boycotting the assembly proceeding.
Aysha Javed shared with the audience that she together with other law makers, from almost all parliamentary parties, have proposed reforms in the rules of procedures of Punjab assembly, which are lying with the Chief minister Punjab for approval.
The attendance of the MPAs in the assembly session has long been the classified information. With strong Right to Information legislation in the province, it has at last become possible to get such information.
CPDI has also proposed electing one speaker and 4 Deputy Speakers at the first sitting of the assembly after the general election. Two speakers should be from government side and the other two from opposition. The deputy speakers from opposition should be ready to take the chair if speakers and deputy speakers from government side are absent.
In this way, there will be a constant pressure on the government that in case of absence, opposition will get the chance to preside the session.
Rule 24 of rules of procedure clearly says that meeting time of the assembly is 9am to 2pm but this timing is seldom observed. The average meeting time per sitting is not more than 2.5 hours.
There are also serious issues of punctuality attached to our assemblies. Due to this, it is very common that all agenda items on order of the day cannot be taken up.
CPDI has also suggested increasing the working hours from 9am to 5pm. It will give sufficient time on the disposal of speaker to complete the agenda. At the same time, it is also suggested to increase the quorum of the house from 25 per cent to 50 per cent to make it truly representative.
Question hour is one of the most futile exercises of the Punjab Assembly. It is futile in the sense that a question submitted by a member can take 2 years to fetch the answer. One of the important functions of MPAs is the executive oversight; question hour is a very important tool for this oversight. CPDI has suggested that all questions submitted by MPAs should be answered at the floor of the house during the next session.
This is the only way to make this exercise meaningful. The Chief Minister Question Hour could not be started in our assemblies. All modern democracies have this practice where leader of the house answer the question once in a week about his/her recent engagement. The Punjab Assembly should take lead in this very important initiative.