Efforts should be made to convert legislative assembly into a representative body to ensure representation from all walks of life in the National Assembly. Chairman National Assembly Standing Committee on Law and Justice Riaz Fatyana, who is also a senior leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said this here on Tuesday.
"Our assembly does not have representation of professionals, growers, labourers, lawyers, special persons and the poor, while the current democracy in Pakistan is in control of aristocrats," he said.
While presiding over the meeting, he said the selection of professionals, growers, labourers, lawyers, special persons and the poor to represent their communities should be made by the bodies concerned, not by the political parties. "We need to consider steps for conversion of legislative assembly into representative body and I will present some proposals during the next meeting in this regard," he added.
On this Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Saad Rafique said that steps should also be taken for ending interference in general elections as well as 'making and breaking' of political parties. Due to external pressure, all political parties have been unable to work properly, he remarked.
The committee also considered the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2018 (amendment in articles 51 and 106), moved by Naveed Aamir Jeeva, seeking an increase in the representatives of non-Muslims in the national and provincial assemblies.
MNA Jeeva told the committee that the state was responsible for protection of non-Muslims' rights and interests, including their representation in legislature. The non-Muslims feel that they have under-representation, since no increase has been made in their seats when number of general seats was increased; therefore, their representation needs to be increased.
He said that last time number of general seats of the National Assembly had been increased up to 44 percent but no increase had been made in the seats of minorities. The number of minorities should be increased from 10 to 20, the way general seats of the National Assembly were increased, he added.
MNA Chaudhry Muhammad Bashir Virk said the number of minority seats should be increased at the same ratio the number of general seats had been increased last time.
Saad Rafiqu said that proper mechanism should be devised for increase in the number of the National Assembly seats. "The minorities should be given representation in the legislature according to their population," he said, adding that officials from Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should be summoned in the next meeting to inform the committee about the formula under which number of general seats was increased.
MNA Jeeva said the total population of non-Muslims was 2.7 million in 1981 and now it had increased up to 7.732 million.
A senior official of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) said the total number of computrised national identity card (CNIC) holders was 3.7 million. He further said that the Statistic Division and Survey of Pakistan were the right forums to inform the committee about the exact population of non-Muslims.
A senior official of Survey of Pakistan said that according to present census results, total population of Pakistan was 207.684 million. His department forwarded a summary to the Prime Minister Office to convene a meeting of Council of Common Interests (CCI) for approval of census results, he said, adding that figures regarding minorities' population were not approved by the CCI due to which they could not be shared.
On this Rafique asked the official of Survey of Pakistan to inform the committee about the exact number of population of minorities during the next meeting, the way he shared the figures about total population without seeking approval of the CCI.
MNA Sunila Ruth questioned, "What are the reasons behind the delay in releasing the data related to total number of minorities' population? The number of minorities' seats has not been increased for the last many years." She added that no rules and regulation were made for increasing the number of general seats but now there was a discussion for making proper formula when the issue regarding increase in number of minority seats had been taken up.