The People's Government believes in the supremacy of the Parliament as it represents the will of the people. Since 2008, the government has brought issues of national importance in the elected houses for debate, guidance and approval. The Prime Minister has established a new tradition of attending the National Assembly sittings more regularly than any Prime Minister in the recent history of Pakistan.
Despite heavy odds, the democratically elected Parliament stated its business with a sense of purpose, and has accomplished unprecedented success in just two years. The National Assembly passed 34 laws, against 19 by the previous Assembly, during its first two years: 30 laws were passed during the second year while four laws were passed in the first year.
The second parliamentary year witnessed an exceptionally dynamic National Assembly, which not only cleared the constitutional mess left behind by the last authoritarian regime, but also passed a record number of bills.
The National Assembly met for 344 hours and 27 minutes during the second parliamentary year, which is 24 percent more time than the first parliamentary year. The Acts to Ordinance Ratio improved in the second year: 29 Acts vs 27 Ordinances were passed compared to four Acts vs 17 Ordinances in the first parliamentary year.
"...The people of Pakistan want change. Change of system, change of programs, change from a climate of threat to one of stability and prosperity."
Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto
Building national consensus
During authoritarian regimes, control mechanism and 'working through ordinances' was the order of the day for legislation. Now the 'order of the day' of the Senate and the National Assembly has procedure over everything else.
The National Assembly passed 34 laws during two years of the People's Government. These laws were finalised through a long, consultative process involving general public, Parliament and its committees. It is the beauty of democracy that members representing different political parties passed many of these laws unanimously in the Parliament, thus displaying the will and the possibility of building national consensus on important national issues, and working with diverse opinions.
The 26-member bipartisan Constitutional Reforms Committee comprising representatives from all political parties has reviewed the Constitution article by article, and has developed a consensus legislative agenda to undo the complications, and deformities created during authoritarian regimes. With these amendments, sovereignty has returned to the people of Pakistan and the federal structure of the State is now being reinforced in the true sense.
But we have to be patient. The Constitution is not a concept paper that any number of experts could finalise among themselves. It is a social contract between the people and the State, and it has to be reflective of the wishes and will of the people of Pakistan. The PPP gave a unanimous Constitution to the nation in 1973 that is still the only acceptable document among the federating units. In the same spirit, the PPP has involved all political parties in the process of constitutional reforms so that the basic law has the backing of the whole nation.
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