Government must pay heed to opposition's criticism: National Assembly Speaker

Speaker National Assembly Chaudhry Amir Hussain on Thursday expressed satisfaction over the performance of the National Assembly that passed 42 laws during the past four years.
He said this in his presidential remarks at a function hosted by the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) where he launched three books: 'Four Years Performance of the National Assembly of Pakistan,' Handbook for Members, and 'Procedural Manual'.
Dressed in designer suit and sporting a beautiful tie he appeared to be in happy mood in giving a rather optimistic report of the past four years performance of the National Assembly. 'It had been 'peaceful', and the lower house would complete the term while the life of previous assemblies had been full of crises.
Had the Speaker closed his eyes to the remarks expressed by the head of the supreme full court, one day earlier that the reference against the chief justice had created crisis in the country?
At the same time the Speaker also gave credit to the Opposition that helped the Assembly to take roots within these four-and-half-years. Criticism from the opposition provides opportunities for the government to see variety of perspectives instead of looking the picture one-sided. 'The government should pay heed to Opposition's criticism.'
He also praised the President, the Prime Minister and the government, patting them for their forbearance in listening to Opposition criticism. He remarked the [published] books should be available to the members of Parliament and general public to help them understand working of the Parliament, although he noted a few shortcomings.
Details of the Bills sent to the standing committees as well as those rejected by the committees were not there, and the next edition should be amended. IPU secretary general Anders Johnson referred to the linkages established between his organisation and the United Nations.
For too long the UN is generally pictured as having a role only for the diplomats, but the IPU has worked to displace this idea and 'liaised with the world organisation to include inputs from the people of the world'.
Johnson justified the new IPU strategy. The UN represented governments that are elected by people and hence voice of the general public should be reflected in UN agenda. 'And this was already happening since UN agenda had inputs of common people's concerns.'
Deputy Speaker Sardar Yaqoob Khan, responsible for parliamentarians' welfare and housekeeping, observed on this occasion that as an engineer he was uninitiated to parliamentary work, but he had learnt the rope from House proceedings and wise prodding from his Speaker.
The pilot of the publication project NA secretary Ziaul Haq said he had emphasised management of human resources within the secretariat, and arranged training on computer handling, English learning skills and short duration on hand practical drills for capacity building of the staff.
After the function the Speaker met with the media people, who asked if the Assembly had been peaceful he should have allowed PML-N leader Javed Hashmi to come to the Assembly. In reply the Speaker said he enjoyed privilege of deciding the matter but had felt that things were not very smooth at that time.
An activist Haris Khalique, present at the function, in an interview to the media said people should have access to basic rights and they should be free to express their opinion in elections. Those conditions were missing; and moreover the strength of the Parliament was lost due to the strangulation of standing committees.
It must be recorded that at least the book on the performance evaluation was behind schedule since the Assembly completed its fourth year in October-November last year.
BOOK ON FOUR YEAR PERFORMANCE: This is a glossy book containing chapters on Brief History of Parliament Houses, Parliamentary History of Pakistan, and description of the Assembly, its constitutional role. We learn that in four years the Assembly passed 42 legislative acts, including four annual budgets as well as the 17th Constitutional Amendment and Women Protection Acts.
Handbook of Members provides repetition of a number of information given in the Performance. It is meant as a guidebook for members, who come to the Assembly for the first time after general election.
PROCEDURAL MANUAL: This book informs about House Procedures, and details of motions, resolutions, quorum, and other house business. The above three books, published by the UNDP have been written by Alauddin Masood, retired Joint Secretary in the Senate, with the approval of NA Secretary Ziaul Haq, with input from NA research team led by Razia Sultana.