Things always happen to those who try. US-AID Projector Eleanor Valentine has tried since 1994 to succeed in the legislative capacity-building and research development and has acquired a world-wide reputation in the field.
Deputy Speaker Sardar Yaqoob Khan and Ellie Vallentine, Ellie, as she likes to be addressed, has been in Pakistan since October 2005 to head the $7.5 million USAID Pakistan Legislative Strengthening Project that would enable it to function in a more professional mode.
She has made so much impact in the Pakistan's parliament that one finds Senators and Members of the National Assembly coming to her to discuss strategies how to improve the institution's role in a society and their performance as lawmakers.
In two years, Ellie's team has translated Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain's vision of a permanent Parliamentary Legislative Service into a functioning "Institute" and an interim facility of the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS) was inaugurated by the Speaker in February. PIPS will be established by an Act of Parliament as an autonomous body accountable to parliament.
Establishment throes of the new organisation, such as the recruitment of the executive director and a corps of subject-specialist research scholars are now on course. In addition, the CDA has earmarked a piece of land for the PIPS building]= and architectural design is now in the works.
Chaudhry Amir Husain's wants to leave behind an infrastructure to help proper understanding of the ways in which legislative houses function and work around the world, after he lays down the wig as the Speaker at the end of this fifth parliamentary year.
This year National Assembly has functioned for five years the longest in the country- except for the first Constituent-cum-National Assembly that survived from August 10, 1947 until Governor General Ghulam Muhammad dissolved it in October 1954.
During the last two years Ellie's project has conducted a number of workshops, seminars, and training projects. Some of these are Budget Analysis and Processes; Legislative Drafting; Parliamentary Privileges and Codes of Conduct; Non-Legislative business of the House; Rules of Procedure; Legislative Research and Information Services; English for Legislative Communication, Effective Legislative Committees; Parliament and the Media; Political Parties and the Parliament; History of Parliamentary Practices; Inter-Parliamentary Relations; Parliamentary Office Management as well as Interpersonal Communication and Computer Skills. Ellie talked to Business Recorder about some features of the PLSP project.
Q: Result of two years' work in members performance?
A: I can see evidence of real improvement in the House Business, and believe there is a better understanding among members of crucial elements of legislative work. It is specially noticed in the quality of the questions that members ask.
We've done some hard work in organising research and information support for committees, especially by encouraging public participation through assessment of a variety of perspectives.
We facilitated a meeting of Committee Chairs (Chairmen/ Chairpersons) where they have identified ways to make the Standing Committees more effective and we have urged that Standing Committees need specialised staff to make that happen.
Q: Last December you organised a seminar on mid-term review of the budget, what effect you expect to see in the performance of the Members during the next week's general discussion?
A: Our seminars and analysis tools have hopefully contributed to an enhanced understanding about the Budget. Members have begun to see the budget as a policy document of economic performance. Not only that the budget has to be presented in the House, but they have authority to oversee the budget in its implementation, and whether the stated targets have been achieved. The Senate took a huge step in calling for a pre-budget session in February this year.
Q: During the past two months the National Assembly Standing Committees have remained engaged in reviewing the past year's performance of government departments in relation to the budget allocation made to them. Sometimes some of the departments come up with complaints that funds had not been made available in time, and that meant a sense of reduced urgency to claim the money.
Q: What has your project contributed in this regard?
A: Our work has been able to instil some kind of understanding of legislative oversight - not just about the work of Public Accounts Committee, but that each Standing Committee has the authority to review the financial performance of each department.
Q: You planned to set up live telecast of House proceedings in Islamabad, as well as from the provincial legislative houses in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta?
A: We believe that live telecast of House proceedings will establish personal rapport with the public, help voters perception and the electorate to judge the performance of their elected representative. We are ready to support the legislative institutions should the decision be made that sessions of parliament should be broadcast. However, this is still being discussed and ultimately is the decision of the legislatures.
Q: You initiated the parliamentary intern programme much before the government started it on a national scale.
A: Last week, Deputy Speaker Sardar Yaqoob Khan, distributed certificates to 28 successful interns who completed their six-month term in the Senate and the National Assembly. They had been recruited through a competitive process out of 450 applicants.
The interns were attached to a number of Committees and did excellent work. This might eventually lead to building a cadre of parliamentary staff equipped with the knowledge of parliamentary work, who could be recruited by the legislative houses after some time. When everything would be in place in the legislative houses they may need trained professionals for handling legislative work. The success may be gauged from the fact that a number of members and chairs have requested that the interns may be allowed to carry on the extension work for six more months.
Q: Your contract expires in September this year. Will the contract be reviewed?
A: We work under contract with USAID who has designed the current project in partnership with the Assemblies. I believe that USAID is committed to seeing the establishment of PIPS. DAI would be honoured to carry the work forward. We are currently planning that we might extend our work in Pakistan at least until spring 2008.
Q: You came here after working in Armenia and Ukraine. What has been your experience working in Pakistan?
A: Armenia and Ukraine had their own challenges, and they were very different projects, since electoral and parliamentary system of those countries are different. The Pakistan project is much more complex because of the bicameral system and we are also working with four provincial assemblies. However, legislatures the world over are facing reforms - because of technology and opportunities for better communication. In Ukraine and Armenia it is also because they have seen transformation to a House of great diversity of political representation, and this demands from members a different skills set. It has really been an exciting experience to be a part of that transition.