Jamali for directly elected Senate with fiscal powers
By Asim Hussain

ISLAMABAD—Acting Chairman Senate, Jan Muhammad Jamali Tuesday expressed the view that the Upper House of the Parliament in the country should be directly elected and it must have fiscal powers.
He was addressing here the first of the joint workshop series of Pakistani and Afghan Parliamentarians on Parliamentary Practices organised by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT). The theme of the workshop was “Parliamentary Oversight of the Executive.” The Acting Chairman said that basic job of the Parliamentarians is legislation and “We must let them concentrate on this primary function. Let the local bodies do the job of providing electricity, gas and water, sanitation.
He said parliamentarians should not be dragged into this business, adding the journey of parliamentary supremacy begins with transparency and accountability. Jan Jamali further added that Parliament is the bridge between the Government and the people, but the parliamentarians must be trained and fully acquainted with the job they are supposed to perform including enacting laws and procedures.
The Acting Chairman Senate said the February 18 elections were a watershed in the country’s history. He said the workshop would go a long way in strengthening democracy and democratic institutions. He commended the idea that the Chairman PAC would be from the Opposition. He also mentioned the role of media which has lately acquired great depth and new dimensions in the country.
Jan Jamali said that Pakistan shares borders, history, culture and religion with Afghanistan and this is extremely crucial to have closer interaction between their respective parliaments and parliamentarians. Parliaments are regarded as the corner stone of democracy. “We must share our experiences and find out a way forward”, he maintained.
He termed the ‘Jirga’ as being ancient equivalent of parliament in this part of the world, which has the potential to resolve disputes at the doorstep and with mutual consultation and consensus. The first Deputy Chairman of the Afghan Upper House, Syed Hamid Gilani also addressed the workshop. He said “We are too willing to learn from you the democratic ways and means and we must share our experiences.”
He said their presence here is significant in the sense that Pakistan and Afghanistan are two brotherly and neighbouring countries, which have a stake in the region.
He said the Afghan Parliament is a young parliament. This body has the inherent right to oversee working of the Executive.
He thanked the Government of Pakistan and PILDAT for organizing the workshop and said that Afghan MPs would benefit greatly from the deliberations of this workshop and return home much better equipped to deal with the process of legislation.
Earlier, the Executive Director PILDAT informed that the workshop has been planned with the objective to enhance mutual understanding on parliamentary oversight prevailing in the two neighbor countries.
He also said that the workshop will help share lessons and learn from each other’s rules and practices and make comparisons with other parliaments such as those of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.