Sindh Assembly Booklet English
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The Assembly in Brief Provincial Assembly of Sindh (PIPS) PAKISTAN INSTITUTE FOR PARLIAMENTARY SERVICES - PIPS P A R L I A M E N T I N B R I E F y y VICES - PIPS SER Y AR ARLIAMENT of Sindh in Brief vincial Assembl o The Assembl Pr AN INSTITUTE FOR P AKIST P ....You are now a sovereign legislative body and you have got all the powers. It, therefore, places on you the gravest responsibility as to how you should take your decisions. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah's address to the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, August 11, 1947 Table of Contents Nisar Ahmed Khuhro Speaker Preface i Constitutional Authority 01 Brief History 03 Parliamentarian as Legislator 05 Business of the House: Legislative Calendar and Sessions 09 Syeda Shehla Raza Business of the House: Motions and Deputy Speaker Points of Order 12 Legislative Process 15 Budget: Role of the Provincial Assembly 20 Question Hour 24 Committee Effectiveness 27 Parliamentary Privilege 30 Hadi Bux Buriro Secretary Assembly Constituency Relations Management 33 Research Support 37 Glossary of Parliamentary Terms 40 P F fundamental rights. Constitutional Authority A E The Parliament scrutinizes public spending and of Parliament R I exercises control of expenditure incurred by the government through the work of the relevant L R The Constitution, which was passed Standing Committees. The Public Accounts unanimously by the National Assembly in April Committee has a special role to review the report I B 1973, provides a federal parliamentary system of the Auditor General. A of government, with the President as the head of N the state and an elected Prime Minister as the Senate, the Upper House of the Parliament, has equal representation from the federating units M I head of the government. balancing the provincial inequality in the E National Assembly, where the number of T Under Article 50 of the Constitution, the federal legislature is a bicameral Majlis-e-Shoora Members is based on population of the N N (Parliament), which comprises the President provinces. The Senate’s role is to promote and the two Houses, the National Assembly and national cohesion and harmony, and work as a T E the Senate. stabilizing factor of the federation. I M The National Assembly, Pakistan’s sovereign The Senate numbers a total of 100 Members who serve six-year terms which are alternated legislative body, makes laws for the Federation N A under powers spelled out in the Federal so that half the Senators are up for re-election by Legislative list and also for subjects in the the Electoral College every three years. The B I Concurrent List and Federal List as given in the National Assembly consists of 342 Members. Fourth Schedule of the Constitution. R L The Constitution empowers the President to dissolve the National Assembly, but the Senate Through Debates, Adjournment Motions, I R Question Hour, and Standing Committees, the is not subject to dissolution. National Assembly keeps a check on the E A government. It ensures the government Only the Parliament can amend the Constitution by two-thirds majority vote separately in each F P functions within the parameters set out in the Constitution, and does not violate the people’s House. 01 02 T H E A S S E M B LY I N B R I E F T H E A S S E M B LY I N B R I E F P F on 4 February 1948, 38 Members took oath of Brief History of Sindh A E allegiance to the new state of Pakistan. Assembly R I The two-storey building of the Sindh Assembly consists of the camp office of the Chief Minister, L R In 1890 for the first time four Members offices of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, represented Sindh in the Bombay Legislative ministers, Leader of the Opposition, Secretariat, I B Assembly. Law Department of the Government of Sindh, A and Library. N More than four decades later Sindh was The building’s foundation stone was laid by Sir M I separated from the Bombay Presidency on 1 April 1936, paving way for the province to have Lancelot Graham, the Governor of Sindh, on 11 E March 1940. The construction – declared open T its own Legislative Assembly, which was elected on the basis of communal and minorities’ by Sir Hugh Dow, the Governor of Sindh, on 4 N N representation. March 1942 – was completed in two years. T E The first elections, held on 7 February 1937, led In 1971, after the one unit system was abolished, to a 60-Member Sindh Legislative Assembly. On it was again declared as the Sindh Assembly I M 27 April 1937 the first Sindh Legislative building. Assembly met in the Assembly Hall of the Sindh N A Chief Court Karachi (the present Sindh High Presently, the central portion of the building, the Assembly Hall, seats a capacity of 168 Court building). B I legislators. The session, which continued for four days, R L appointed Dewan Bahadur Hiranand Khemchand as Chairman to preside over the first I R session. Dewan Bahadur Bhoj Singh was E A elected as the Speaker and Khan Bahadur Allah Bux Gabol as Deputy Speaker. F P In the session of the Sindh Legislative Assembly 03 04 T H E A S S E M B LY I N B R I E F T H E A S S E M B LY I N B R I E F F Parliamentarian as power to transform problematic issues and E institutions. A Member must contribute towards enacting effective laws which influence the I Legislator behavior of government employees and citizens R at-large along desired paths. This requires a A parliamentarian is expected to play three law- Member to quickly become familiar with the B making roles: an enactor of effective legislation, Rules of Procedure regarding legislation. an overseer of its implementation, and a N communicator with constituents. Success in the B. Participate in Committees: three areas depends on a Member’s capacity to Committees play an important role in giving in- I undertake the following tasks: depth consideration to the Bills presented in a House. Through their specialization and T n To assess a Bill in the public interest; expertise, Members of committees assess Bills n To understand the role of Committees and drafted by a private Member or the government N actively contribute in the same; and advise the respective ministries and n To utilize research support to gather facts for divisions on various issues, as well as serve as E in-depth analysis of a Bill; and an effective vehicle to evaluate performance n To consistently maintain public input to the once a Bill is passed into law. Committees M legislative process so as to instigate desired empower Members to hold public hearings of social change. A experts outside government as well as A. Assess a Bill in the Public Interest: constituents and/or relevant communities I A Member serves as a "trustee for the public related to an issue and/or legislation under consideration. L interest" and assesses legislation on the basis of reason tempered by experience.1 To exercise R legislative power effectively, a Member must C. Utilize Research Support: answer a central question: Why do people Party position papers, ministerial and A behave as they do in the face of a rule of law? departmental institutional memory and Without laws, government cannot govern. expectations, along with constituency opinions, P Policymakers must determine how to use state provide a Member a foundation for reviewing specific legislation. A Member’s understanding 05 06 T H E A S S E M B LY I N B R I E F T H E A S S E M B LY I N B R I E F P F should depend appreciably on logic and facts legislative oversight and adequate public A E derived from public discussion at all levels. representation primarily rests on his proactive Obtaining the information necessary to conduct role as a legislator who transforms promises into R I such discussion requires research support policies, policies into effective laws and their L R through a review of existing literature, implementation that induce a purposeful social observation of international best practices and change felt by institutions as well as the people. I B laws, reviewing archives and websites, utilizing the research services with the Parliament and A N associated bodies such as the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS) as well as M I seeking opinions of academicians, think tanks E and other public policy resources. T D. Consistently Invite Public Input: N N Members must build and maintain two-way 2 communication channels with the public, T E including civil society organizations and a Member ’s constituents. Civil society I M organizations provide key background N A information, while one’s constituents provide a resource on how laws directly impact a B I community, providing a perspective necessary to formulate and to oversee legislation. R L Additionally, a Member must inform constituents I R of the implications of any new legislation. Consistent communication helps prioritize E A legislation for a Member. 1 Ann Siedman, Robert Seidman, and Nalin Abeysekere, Assessing Legislation - A Manual for Legislators, Boston, Massachusetts, F P February (2003), p.17. The success of a parliamentarian in ensuring 2 Ibid, p. 22 07 08 T H E A S S E M B LY I N B R I E F T H E A S S E M B LY I N B R I E F P Resolutions, Amendments and other Business of the House: A Motions introduced or initiated by private 4 Legislative Calendar and Members other than a Minister.