Performance of National Assembly body on foreign affairs unsatisfactory: Pildat report

Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat) analysis reveals that the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, charged with the responsibility to oversee foreign affairs in such turbulent times, does not have much preference or time to ponder over the foreign policy outlook and its challenges or nudge government to conduct its regional and international affairs in keeping with Pakistan's interests.
The analysis was presented in a Citizens Report on the Performance of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs during the past three years, released by Pildat on Friday.
The report said that Pakistan continues to face challenges, ranging from the ever-complex Pak-US relations to Pak-India relations in the aftermath of Mumbai attacks. The National Assembly Standing Committee only met for 17 times during the three years, 59 percent of times (10 out of 17) only to meet the visiting delegates.
It is of particular importance that the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs held no meeting related to the unilateral US operation into Pakistan on May 2 and the resultant stress into Pak-US relations. While the Committee did convene on June 6, 2011, after a gap of nearly six months in the all-important period in which both Raymond Davis issue and May 02 raids took place among others, the meeting was held just to meet with the British Ambassador to Afghanistan.
The main points of the report were:
i. National Assembly's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs held a total of 17 meetings from 2008-2011; corresponding committees in Indian and UK Parliaments held 52 and 82 meetings in the period respectively.
ii. Committee held only one meeting since US operation in Abbottabad on May 2 and that also to meet the British Ambassador to Afghanistan.
iii. More than half of the members did not attend committee meetings with average attendance of members at 38 percent.
iv. Chairman of the Committee, Asfandyar Wali Khan, MNA, (NA-9, Mardan-I, KP, ANP) chaired 07 out of 17 meetings with 41 percent attendance.
v. PPP MNA Fouzia Habib, (NA-296, Punjab-XXIV), the most regular member in committee meetings attending 15 (88%) out of 17 meetings.
vi. JUI-F leader Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, MNA, (NA-26, Bannu, KP) and Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, (NA-119, Lahore-II, Punjab, PML-N) tie for the lowest attendance of committee meetings having attended only one meeting (six percent) each in 3 years
vii. The average percentage attendance of the members of PPPP stood at 55 percent, followed by PML-N with an average percentage attendance of 36 percent and PML with 18 percent.
viii. National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee did not table any report in three years; in comparison Senate Foreign Affairs Committee presented and published three reports during 2010-2011 alone and corresponding committees in Indian and UK Parliament presented 12 and 32 reports respectively
ix. Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, held 11 meetings or 38 percent more meetings during 2010-2011 compared to eight meetings held by National Assembly Committee on Foreign Affairs
It is important to note that while committee membership includes political stalwarts including heads of political parties, their membership of the committee, whether sought by them or inducted by the parliament, should have been based on the understanding whether their other engagements would allow sufficient time for them to lead the committee in effective discharge of its functions.