ISLAMABAD: Amidst the flurry of internal and external security threats being faced by Pakistan, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman has submitted a petition to the Senate for the reconstitution of the National Security Committee of the parliament. The petition was signed by 11 opposition parties as well. “The government should harness the power of democracy and institutionalise a consultative mechanism by reconstituting the National Security Committee of Parliament,” Senator Sherry said. She said that the parliament was the heart of democracy and committees form the heart of the parliament. The National Security Committee which was in place during the last PPP government, “regularly debated, suggested and monitored policy options,” said Rehman. “This added a first layer of parliamentary oversight to a long and intense series of actions undertaken by civilian and military officials,” she further stated. “The National Action Plan remains subject to little parliamentary oversight or coordinated burden-share. Coordinating a national response to regional, external and internal threats can only be processed appropriately across the whole of government instruments such as a National Security Committee of Parliament,” reinforced Sherry in her petition. She appreciated how PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto pressed very hard for the reconstitution of the National Security Committee in the recent All Parties Conference. As a result, the government has made a commitment to reconstitute the top security committee. She has continuously urged the government to “find constructive ways to engage our national leadership in ways that are left under-utilised and unexplored.” Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani took up the petition with full support and said that the last committee had made 88 recommendations in the fight against terrorism which were very useful for the government and the military. Senator Sherry appreciated the prime minister’s consent to the move and the Senate chairman’s consistent support on this issue. According to her, “The principal motive of the National Security Committee was for the parliament to take ownership of the strategic and tactical policy agendas initiated by the government as a whole. The parliament must demonstrate at least a first layer of agency, interest and accountability to a battle that now stands at the heart of Pakistani citizenship.”