The Legislative Support Group (LSG) of the Punjab Assembly met on Friday and endorsed Free and Fair Election Network's recommendations for improvement in legislatures' effectiveness. The first meeting of the LSG, attended by 24 members of the Punjab Assembly, vowed to review and reform the Punjab Assembly Rules of Procedure framed almost two decades ago in 1997.
The LSG comprises lawmakers belonging to all parties in the Punjab Assembly and is supported by Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability-Free and Fair Election Network (TDEA-FAFEN). The FAFEN shared set of recommendations with the members of LSG for enhancing the role of the standing committees, ensuring implementation of Assembly's recommendations, developing mechanism to track government assurances and improving transparency of Assembly business, participation and attendance of the legislators.
PML-N provincial lawmaker Ayesha Javed said the Punjab Assembly had recently adopted some amendments to Rules of Procedure but still there is a need for further reforms. She said lawmakers from all parties should cooperate with each other to get the much-needed reforms approved. She appreciated the FAFEN's efforts to improve parliamentary transparency and effectiveness.
PTI legislator Asif Mahmood urged the LSG members to make concerted efforts for improvement in legislature's effectiveness. He said the democratic culture was yet to take roots in Pakistan and there was much room for improvements in the Assembly's rules and procedures.
PML lawmaker Sardar Vikas Hassan Moakal observed that the Rules of Procedure were often overlooked during the proceedings of the Assembly. He was of the opinion that there was also a need for enforcement of existing rules besides the reforms. Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Dr Wasim Akhtar stated that the Assembly should make the parliamentary functionaries' attendance public. Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Mian Mehmood-ur-Rashid, Chairman Committee on Privileges Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal, senior leader of Jamaat-e-Islami Farid Ahmad Paracha and lawmakers from PML-N, PTI, PML and JI also participated in the meeting. The proposals presented before the LSG have been prepared after five years' observation of Assembly proceedings and consultations with lawmakers, political parties and Assembly Secretariats.
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