Short-cutting the Lawmaking

On Thursday, Prime Minister Imran Khan stayed put in his chamber, but kept watching the National Assembly proceedings. His party members didn't disappoint him - they passed as many as 11 bills at supersonic speed of one bill per 150 seconds! No debate, no point of order and no reference to the committees - the chair, Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, would brook no disruption by the opposition to the quick passage of presidential ordinances. If anybody thought our parliament is non-productive and the government is left with no option but to go for presidential ordinances, he should think again. Given the prime minister's belated decision to lend relevance to parliament more such legislations are expected in coming days and weeks. But to all of it there is the blighter - 'the hurrier I go the behinder I get'. According to our Constitution, a bill passed by the National Assembly - excepting the money bills - will become an act of parliament, and therefore enforceable, only if it is also passed by Senate and vice versa. Given Opposition's solid majority in the Upper House their passage is uncertain.

Why the government went for the hurried legislation; there is no answer yet. To a non-partisan mind a fuller debate on these bills and/or their reference to relevant committees was certainly a better option. Barring one or two bills, the rest have no political edge; they are of general public interest, particularly the one which gives protection to women's property rights, and the other which calls for prompt issuance of succession certificates. And as for the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill 2019, the only intention behind it seems to be the PTI-led government's mindset to further humiliate the bigwigs of political opposition by keeping them incarcerated in C-class prison cells. The Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority Bill 2019 too is bad, as it is likely to dispossess the poor farmers of their land. And the conversion of PMDC into the Pakistan Medical Commission has earned blame of paving the way for induction of cronies into lucrative positions.

In today's world, there are functioning democracies and democratic dictatorships. Which side of that division stands Pakistan it is no more anybody's guess. What preceded this exercise in the National Assembly and what happened on its floor on Thursday leaves one with the unmistakable impression that today's Pakistan is hostage to majoritarian rule. Imran Khan, who is the prime minister courtesy this very National Assembly, did come to the parliament building, presided over the party's pre-session conclave, but did not attend the session. The same Khan as candidate for this post had cried hoarse committing he would not only attend every session of parliament but also entertain the 'Question Hour'. How come he didn't know that elected houses are rowdy arenas where opposition opposes everything and proposes nothing? But the government has to persevere to keep it going. In a functional democracy, though bereft of power to legislate the opposition is treated as equal stakeholder, for it too represents the people and should be heard. The discussion and debate in elected houses enrich the quality of legislation, and thereby enhance its acceptance by the people. Even during the dictatorial eras of Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf, lawmaking was never a one-sided affair, as it is now. The whole political scenario is grossly disheartening. As one scans coverage of this particular session of the National Assembly what comes to mind is an observation by Arab intellectual Hichem Djait: "I feel humiliated to belong to a state with no outlook for future nor ambition, a state that is authoritarian if not despotic, in which there is neither science, nor reason, nor beauty of life, nor real culture. I suffer being governed by uneducated and ignorant leaders".