The dissolution of the National Assembly of Pakistan by President Arif Alvi earlier this week has left democracy “almost as vulnerable” as it was when it was elected on July 25, 2018, the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) concludes in its assessment of the 15th National Assembly.
According to the report, the Lower House of Parliament and elected lawmakers had allowed themselves to be used to weaken, instead of strengthening, democracy in their 5-year tenure. It said Parliament had passed 279 pieces of legislation over the past five years, with the “latest flurry of hasty legislation undermining basic tenets of constitutional scheme of democracy and human rights.” Overall, it said, legislative activity had increased by 45 percent over the 192 laws passed during the 14th National Assembly.
Noting the outgoing National Assembly had witnessed two governments—the first led by Imran Khan from Aug. 18, 2018 to April 10, 2022 and the second by Shehbaz Sharif from April 11, 2022 to Aug. 9, 2023—it said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s rule was marked by a heavy reliance on ordinances, promulgating 72 of the 75 ordinances laid in the NA over the past five years. For comparison, it said, the 14th National Assembly had promulgated 38 ordinances, showing a 97 percent increase. The think-tank further said the outgoing National Assembly had passed the largest number of laws compared to the previous three assemblies, starting from 2002. “Just during the last three weeks of the 15th National Assembly, 73 bills were passed,” it said, adding that 46 of these were not referred to relevant committees and rushed through the plenary without a meaningful debate.
Overall, read the report, the 15th National Assembly convened for 452 sittings, or an average of 90 sittings per year compared to 495 sittings of the 14th National Assembly, or on average of 99 sittings per year. It said it consumed 1,245 working hours in 5 years, or an average of 249 working hours per year, a 21% decrease in productivity compared to the previous NA, which spent 315 working hours per year on average. “It must be noted that average cost to taxpayers of each working hour in 5 years comes to Rs. 24.23 million/hour,” it added.
The 15th National Assembly, it said, had seen the first-ever successful passage of a vote of no-confidence against a prime minister, as well as the first rejection of the no-confidence motion using Article 5 of the Constitution, which was set aside by the Supreme Court as being contrary to the Constitution. “The 15th National Assembly also enjoyed a dubious distinction where the outgoing prime minister [Khan] claimed that he required and used the help of the country’s intelligence agencies to bring his own coalition MNAs to the House to pass legislation and even federal budgets,” it added.
Referring to the PTI’s decision to quit the National Assembly after Khan lost the vote of no-confidence as “akin to throwing toys out of the pram,” it said this had violated the very basis of democratic representation and was understood to be a colossal mistake by most. It also noted that the 3 years, 8 months of the PTI’s rule had seen the federal government ensuring there was little use for the opposition. “As prime minister, Imran Khan chose not to rise above his dislike for leading opposition figures and instead resorted to severely restricting the efficiency and effectiveness of the Assembly,” it said, adding this had hamstrung consensus-based legislation on national and international issues and compromised required and unified national positioning in the face of serious regional and security crises facing Pakistan.
“As inconceivable as it appeared at the time, he even opted to avoid fulfilling binding constitutional and legal obligations and did not hold formal consultation on statutory appointments such as membership of the ECP and promulgated an ordinance just to avoid consultation on appointment of NAB chairperson,” it said. The joint opposition of the time, it said, had also limited itself largely to agitation, sloganeering, walkouts, tearing up Assembly documents and shouting at ministers, the prime minister and even the president. “Basic reform such as constituting shadow cabinets in individual parties or the joint opposition in the National Assembly was not carried out and the Opposition remained mostly unprepared to take on the government on substantial policy and legislative issues,” it added.
“It can be argued that the tone set during the initial period of the 15th National Assembly severely undermined parliamentary decorum and democracy,” it said, impacting affairs of the state and polluting the overall national political climate, which resulted in unprecedented political polarization. “In the final analysis, the loss is not just that of one popular political leader and party but that of all political parties, the people, their unhindered freedom of choice to elect, continuity of the political process and long-term stability of the country possible only through democratic stability,” it stressed.
The report also regretted that the 15th National Assembly had not worked toward any institutional reform, including for the annual budget. “During 5 years of 15th National Assembly only 15 sittings were held on average yearly to discuss the most-important annual federal budgets. Only 173 members participated on average annually in budget sessions,” it said.
PILDAT said the 15th National Assembly was also the first to not allow the budget approved by the Assembly to be changed through a supplementary budget under Article 84 of the Constitution. It Article 84, which runs counter to the democratic spirit, would eventually be amended, as it currently gives unlimited power to the Executive to modify the budget approved by the National Assembly.
The report noted that Prime Minister’s Weekly Question Hour was not initiated despite several promises of the same by the PTI. It also criticized the functioning of Standing Committees, adding they had failed to even question and oversee the state’s key policy decisions and practices on critical crises. “Instead of thwarting overtures undermining democracy and democratic stability, it supported legislative steps and practices that hindered holding of timely and free and fair general election,” it added.
Of the 15 legislatures of Pakistan, the outgoing National Assembly was the 4th to complete its term. However, its performance statistics continued to lag. Imran Khan, as prime minister, only had 11% attendance, while Shehbaz Sharif had 17%. “It appears that successive prime ministers have attached limited importance to the very House that elects them,” it said, noting Nawaz Sharif had only attended 14% of sittings and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi 19%, compared to 76% of Yousuf Raza Gilani. Average attendance of MNAs, meanwhile was 61%, rising to 67% before the PTI quit the National Assembly.
“As the only representative national legislature based on the country’s population, the performance of the National Assembly leaves a lot to be desired,” it said, concluding it was “important to question, and to reform, what successive National Assemblies do and must accomplish in order to ensure an effective, functioning and stable democratic Pakistan.”