The Senate ended its eleventh parliamentary year 2013-14 on 11th March, 2014. The Senate annual year 2013-2014 bore testimony to some crucial political developments in the country. The caretaker set up was in place in early 2013 to oversee the general elections. The elections led to first ever transition from a democratically elected government to another with the continuity of the Senate in perpetuating democracy. A distinguishing feature of the National Assembly- Senate relationship after the General Elections 2013 is the dominance of opposition parties in the Senate. The Senate is in position to act as counter balance on legislative developments.
The report is divided into the thematic areas of terrorism/law and order; economic development and energy crisis; human rights and women rights; democracy, political development and strengthening the federation; governance; and foreign affairs. However, before going into the thematic details, we first present the overall legislative snap-shot of the Senate’s performance in its eleventh parliamentary year 2013-14.
Overall, 31 bills appeared on the agenda of Senate: government bills (six) and private bills (25) – in the eleventh parliamentary year 2013-14, of which seven were sent from National Assembly for the review and recommendations. Of the 31 bills that were on the agenda, 2 were passed, 24 were introduced but not passed and five were not taken up. Interestingly, while two private bills passed in the parliamentary year 2013-14, none of the government bills were passed. The two bills passed by the Senate in its eleventh parliamentary year 2013-14 were the Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill 2013 and the Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill 2014. They were both tabled on the Private Members’ Day. The Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill 2013 was tabled by Ilyas Ahmed Bilour of ANP and the Civil Servants (Amendment)Bill 2014 was tabled by Syeda Sughra Hussain Imam of PPPP.
Twenty-two bills that appeared on the agenda were moved by male members, six were sponsored by female members and three were jointly moved by male and female members. Senators of PPPP tabled most of the bills (13), followed by MQM (seven), PML-N (six), Independents (three) and ANP (two).
Syeda Sughra Hussain Imam of PPPP was the top performer as she tabled seven bills, followed by Col. (R) Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi of MQM (four). Mian Raza Rabbani of PPPP, Mr. Abdul Haseeb Khan of MQM and an Independent member Mr. Muhammad Mohsin Khan Leghari tabled one bill each.
Of the 31 bills that appeared on the Senate agenda, fifteen bills focused on governance issues, four on human rights, four on economic development, three on women rights, two on democracy, two on terrorism and one related to strengthening the federation. A total of 48 committee reports were on the list of business and 45 of them were presented on the floor. The Standing Committee on Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs presented nine reports.
Most of the Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Committee reports were recommendations on different bills. Rules of Procedures and Privileges Standing Committee presented eight reports. The Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs Standing Committee also presented seven reports. The remaining 20 reports were presented by various other committees.
The House adopted 26 out of the 50 submitted resolutions. Col. (R) Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi of MQM submitted the most resolutions (14) while four resolutions each were moved by Mr. Muhammad Talha Mahmood of JUI-F, Raja Muhammad Zafar-ul-Haq of PML-N, and Mian Raza Rabbani of PPPP. Other resolutions were submitted by various other members. In terms of thematic division, Senators tabled 19 resolutions on governance issues. Four resolutions were tabled on foreign affairs and six on democracy related issues. Other resolutions focused on various other themes such as human rights, women rights, law and order, terrorism, judiciary and economic development.
Twenty-three Senators tabled 23 calling attention notices in the eleventh parliamentary year of Senate. Of these notices, the House took up 16 and left seven un-addressed. Party wise analysis shows that PPPP Senators tabled most of the notices (15). The top five performers in CANs belonged to PPPP. Senators Raza Rabbani and Syeda Sughra Hussain Imam both tabled six notices each, followed by Mrs. Saeeda Iqbal with four notices, Mr. Saeed Ghani (three) and Mr. Farhatullah Baber (two).
ANP and Independent lawmakers tabled two notices each while PML-N Senator moved one notice. Three notices were multi-party – jointly moved by PPPP, ANP, PML, and MQM. Ten out of 23 notices were on governance issues, four each on economic development and terrorism, two on human rights and one each on better foreign relations, energy sector reforms and women rights. Four Motions under Rule 60 – two each by PPPP and ANP – were brought before the House.
However, the House debated only one motion of ANP on the projects launched by Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) in Hangu, KP. The other three motions were not taken up. Of the 38 tabled Motions under Rule 218, the House debated 17 and 21 were not taken up. Thirty-four of these motions were moved by male members, two by female Senators and two were tabled jointly by the male and female Senators.
PPPP Senators tabled the most motions (17), followed by MQM (nine), JUI-F (six), PML-N and ANP (two each) and Independent (one), multiparty (one). The mover of one multiparty motion belonged to ANP, PPPP, PML and BNP-A. MQM member Col. (R) Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi was the top performer as he tabled eight motions, followed by two PPPP Senators Mian Raza Rabbani and Farhatullah Baber tabling seven motions each. Mr. Muhammad Talha Mahmood of JUI-F tabled six motions while Mr. Saeed Ghani of PPPP moved three.
Most of the motions proposed discussion on good governance (16), whereas five focused on terrorism and four on economic development. The themes of other motions were foreign relations, democracy, energy sector reforms, human rights, judiciary and strengthening the federation.
Fifty-eight Senators submitted 1067 questions during the year, out of which 1022 were starred and 45 un-starred questions were put forward. Additionally 918 supplementary queries were raised on the floor. In terms of top performers, PPPP Senator Syeda Sughra Hussain Imam remained the top performer who submitted the most questions (131), followed by Muhammad Talha Mahmood of JUI-F (129), Col. (R) Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi of MQM (128), Haji Muhammad Adeel of ANP (48) and Mr. Karim Ahmed Khawaja of PPPP (47). In terms of the top themes, most of the questions were raised on the issues of governance (551), economic development and energy sector reforms (361), and terrorism (62).
Other themes of the questions were foreign relations, democracy, judiciary, strengthening the federation and human rights. Six Senators – PPPP (four), ANP (two) – submitted 12 questions of privilege. The members submitted six questions where they felt breach of House and six questions were on members’ personal privilege breach. The House referred nine QoP to the concerned committees, deferred two and one is still pending.
Three adjournment motions were debated by the House. These were regarding excessive load shedding of electricity in the country, Islamabad stand off by an armed person Sikandar and price hike of petroleum products.
To bring assembly business in line with the Senate’s Rules of Procedures, Senators can raise a point of order with the Speaker’s permission. However Senators erroneously speak about public issues on points of order, as was observed in the eleventh parliamentary year of Senate. As many as 588 points of orders were raised by the members, consuming 19% of the total session time, during the year. Most of the POs were regarding rules of business, law and order, terrorism, good governance, democracy and political development, energy sectors reforms, better foreign relations, economic development and media. The Senators belonging to PPPP raised maximum POs (219), followed by PML-N (115), ANP (79), MQM (49), JUI-F (35), PML (31) and PkMAP (22). Members of other political parties and independents also raised POs. Fifteen Senators out of 103 (15%) did not participate in the proceedings of the House.
Prominent amongst them are Mir Israr Ullah Khan Zehri (BNP-A), Syed Faisal Raza Abidi (PPPP), Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa (PML-N) and Muhammad Azam Khan Hoti (ANP). Others were Nawabzada Muhammad Akbar Magsi (Independent), Mir Muhammad Ali Rind (BNP-A), Gulzar Ahmed Khan (PPPP), Gul Muhammad Lot (PPPP), Almas Parveen (PPPP), Haji Khan Afridi (Independent), Malik Najmul Hassan (Independent), Mufti Abdul Sattar (JUI-F), Muhammad Yousaf (PPPP), Haji Saifullah Khan Bangash (PPPP) and Adnan Khan (PPPP). Mufti Sattar and Adnan Khan have been elected on Technocrat/Ulema seat.
The Senators participated in deliberations over socio-political issues facing the country. The tenacity of terrorist attacks increased across the country. The All Parties Conference on terrorism was held in September 2013. Senate vociferously debated terrorism related issues, yet no bill on terrorism was introduced or passed in the Senate during 2013-14 on terrorism. Two bills – the Antiterrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2014 and the Antiterrorism (Second Amendment) Bill, 2014 were sent to the Senate by the National Assembly and none of them has been passed yet. They have been referred to the relevant standing committee for review.
A resolution was passed over the murders of a police official in Karachi and a student in Hangu. Police official, Chaudhry Aslam, was killed by the Taliban and a student Aitzaz lost his life while trying to prevent a suicide attack in his school. Terrorist attack on a church in Peshawar was also strongly condemned by the Senate members. They also raised their concerns over the functioning of a “state within the state” and urged that government must establish its writ in FATA and other parts of the country. Overall, Senators brought 243 interventions particularly related to terrorism and law and order situation of the country before the House. Of these interventions, there were six resolutions, two bills, 62 questions, 163 points of order, five Motions under Rule 218, four calling attention notices and one adjournment motion. The sixty-two questions focused on issues of drone attacks, human rights abuses, killings in terrorism incidents, missing persons, death penalties, honour killings and de-weaponization etc.
Other crucial issues facing the country were the deteriorating law and order situation in Karachi and human rights violations resulting in “missing persons” from Balochistan. While, the Senators did not discuss the disappearances from Balochistan in detail, they were still critical of the Frontier Constabulary (FC)’s way of trampling over rights of the Balochs. The sectarian clashes during the Muharram were another flashpoint. Sectarian violence and Shia murders in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan were also discussed in the Senate.
The deepening energy crisis pushed the economy into circular debt while decline in industrial output kept the growth at a stagnant level. This contributed to dependency on foreign loans which was evident when the new administration approached International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Senators discussed these concerns during the eleventh parliamentary year of the Senate. A total of 447 interventions addressed issues pertaining to economic development and energy crisis during 2013-14. The Upper House makes recommendations on the annual budget. However, generally, the National Assembly does not take them into account. For the 2013-14 annual budget, the Senate made 113 recommendations and 21 of them were incorporated by the National Assembly. It is initiation of a new democratic tradition. The Upper House does not directly approve the annual budget. However, for the first time, its recommendations have been incorporated. One earnestly hopes that such democratic traditions will be strengthened in the future as the Senate is most effective representation of federation in Pakistan.
Senate members also actively took part in debate on policy issues. Energy crisis and the need to provide electricity to the citizens was taken up time and again. The devastating impact of the power shortages on the economic development of the country was also highlighted. The Senate members also cautioned the government regarding its embrace of all-out privatization policy.
A need was felt to emphasize a careful implementation of the privatization of the publicsector institutions. Four private members bills were submitted by the members. Three of them were introduced while a single law, the Financial Institutions (Recovery of Finances) (Amendment) Bill, 2014, was not taken up on the floor. A female member from PPPP introduced two laws; the Privatization Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2013 and the Privatization Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2014. The first bill seeks to disclose information of the members of the commission, in case of direct or indirect interest in any matter relating to privatization. The other law proposes five amendments for improving transparency and securing the national strategic assets of the country. MQM member sponsored the third law, the Trade Organizations (Amendment) Bill, 2014. The Bill is meant to promote industrial growth and ensure cooperation amongst all industrial organizations, associations, groups and bodies.
Three bills were introduced in the Senate relevant to democratic and political development, all three constitutional amendments. Two of the bills, tabled by independent Senator Muhammad Mohsin Khan Leghari, seek amendments to Articles 1 and 140A of the Constitution. The amendment to Article 1 will add a new clause giving Parliament the legal ability to carve out or create new provinces from the limits of an existing province or redraw provincial boundaries. It is designed to allow political parties who have committed to the creation of new provinces to follow through on their election manifestoes. The amendment to Article 140A would add a clause binding the Election Commission of Pakistan to hold the election of local government bodies within a period of 45 days of the dissolution of local government.
The Senators also took up the issue of dual nationality of judges and bureaucrats. The Senators were of the view that dual nationals should be barred from serving in the judiciary, army and bureaucracy just as they are barred from being elected as public representatives. Senators pressed on the need to make information regarding the dual national judges to be made available. The Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill,
2013 proposes amendments in section 9 of the Civil Servant Act, 1973. The bill, approved by the Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat prior to its passage, bars civil servants holding dual nationality from promotion to posts in Basic Pay Scale (BPS) 20 or above. The second passed bill – the Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2014 prohibits civil servants from serving in international organizations unless deputed on behalf of the government.
Some Senators also took the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) to task for not accepting DNA as primary evidence in the rape cases. The composition and politics of the CII were criticized by some Senate members. Some other Senators also defended the CII.
On foreign affairs, four resolutions were adopted during the year. In the first, the Senate condemned Indian aggression across the Line of Control, attacks on the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, the demonstration outside the PIA offices in New Delhi, efforts to prevent the “friendship bus” from proceeding to Pakistan, and public vilification of Pakistan in the Indian media. The House called upon the Government of Pakistan to clearly convey to the Government of India the necessity to respect and uphold the ceasefire agreement of 2003 in letter and spirit, and reiterated that Pakistan would continue to endorse the right of the Kashmiri population to self-determination. The second resolution adopted by the Senate condemned the bloody crackdown on protesters by Egypt’s military government. The third resolution paid tribute to former South African President Nelson Mandela, who passed away in December 2013. The fourth resolution calls upon the Government of Pakistan to include water disputes in Composite Dialogue with India or in any other talks or dialogue process that is revived or initiated with India.
Senators also took up issues of human rights with particular reference to women and children rights.
PPPP, the ruling party in the Senate did, however, introduce six bills on women and child rights, as well as domestic workers. Six resolutions, on child and women rights, as well as fundamental rights to a fair trial were adopted during the year. Calling attention notices (CANs) on the abduction of a Hindu school teacher, domiciles of Christian community in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and anti-women practices in parallel justice systems like jirgas were also presented and taken up by the House, in addition to questions put to various ministries.
The Senators expressed their extreme concern over the recurring incidents of rape of minor girls in the country. The House adopted PPPP sponsored resolution to amend laws to provide severe punishments to perpetrators of rape, expressing special concern over incidences involving minor girls. In addition, an MQM sponsored resolution against child labour was also adopted by the House. A resolution on women rights, sponsored by a female MQM legislator, urging the government not to compromise the rights of women and minorities in peace talks with the Taliban was also adopted by the House. Senators also urged to provide vocational training to prisoners in jails and make educational facilities available to children in jails.
Members of Senate also lashed out at the government for spiraling price hike. They were particularly concerned over increase in prices in petroleum products, gas, electricity and essential food items. Senators also expressed concerns over increasing incidents of cyber-crime in the country and urged the government to control them.
The Chairman Senate also gave ruling on issues of public importance such as the Right to Information and upholding the supremacy of Parliament.
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