Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly had passed a total of 62 bills, including 47 government and 15 private member (bills) during the year 2022, said an official of the Assembly Secretariat.

He said that of the total bills passed, 38 became Act of Parliament as the National Assembly Secretariat had performed extraordinarily in the field of legislation.

He said, “The prominent legislation passed by the National Assembly include Election Bill, Rahmat ul Alameen Authority Bill, National Highway Safety Bill, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Bill, Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, Export and Import of Pakistan Bill, National Accountability (Second Amendment) Bill, Pakistan Tobacco Bill, Anti-Dumping Duties Bill, Capital Development Authority Bill, Martyrdom Bill, Petroleum Bill, Foreign Investment Bill and Local Government Elections Bill.”

Some 25 resolutions were passed in the House on various issues. Apart from this, the National Assembly Secretariat received 3,751 questions from the members, out of which 1,004 questions were answered. In the year 2022, a total of 183 calling attention notices were received out of which 71 were tabled in the House and 43 were discussed.

A total of 82 privilege motions were received last year, out of which 45 were sent to the relevant committee. Furthermore, 124 motions were received under Rule 259 of 2007 Rules and Procedures in the House out of which 32 were tabled in the House.

“Apart from this, the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament, Standing Committees and Parliamentary Committees remained extraordinarily active in supporting the House to perform its legislative role. These committees also remained active to enhance parliamentary oversight and to ensure accountability.

The committees also ensured to take up the issues of public importance on priority basis”, the official said. He said the year 2022 would always be remembered as it was the first time in the history of the Parliament that the doors of national assembly were opened for three days to the marginalized segments of the society, including women, children, minorities and transgender, to celebrate the diamond jubilee of the House.

The first ever parliamentary caucus on Children was also formed on the directions of National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. Parliamentary diplomacy has been the chief hall mark to highlight the challenges of climate change as the House hosted Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) seminar to fight the case of climate justice for the country which culminated as the world adopted ‘loss and damage fund’ in COP-27.

“Furthermore, 2022 remains prominent year in the history of politics when record number of legislation were enacted for the welfare of common people. It was also the first time that social media of the National Assembly was made proactive to fill the space between people and their representatives”, he added.

The year 2022 has been the first year in the history of Pakistan during which it crossed important milestones, as on the occasion of Diamond Jubilee celebrations the doors of the parliament were opened for the first time for the public, in which women, children, and minorities, former and current members of Parliament participated.

He said that people belonging to the most downtrodden sections of the society were invited to the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and were seated in the seats reserved for the members of Parliament.

These Diamond Jubilee celebrations were well praised by the public and it was a child’s speech in Parliament which was viewed by 6 million people on Twitter and for the first time Parliament’s Twitter account remained top trending.

A two-day seminar of the member countries of the IPU Asia Pacific Region on the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was also held on September 13 and 14, last year here at the Parliament House. In the seminar, the delegates of the member countries were made aware of the worst flood disaster in Pakistan.

IPU Asia-Pacific region countries were asked to present an emergency resolution at the IPU General Assembly in Rwanda. With the efforts of Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, a resolution was presented in the IPU General Assembly meeting held in Rwanda to establish a fund for countries affected by climate change, the official said.

The social media of the National Assembly has been at the forefront and proactive in its outreach. It was ensured that all parliamentary news were made promptly accessible. It also played its role to cull the trend of fake news culture in society.