Daily Times

Blair had real steel to him in the Commons, in particular, during the Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). The journey of Blair and New Labour owes much to his showmanship at the Commons. Earlier, the UK had reserved fifteen minutes on each Tuesday and Thursday for the PMQs.

Later, they changed it to thirty minutes on Wednesdays, and on the day, Blair would arrive, head and shoulders above the rest and for the fun of it; “generally making jokes and delivering put-downs that entertained the crowd”. He thought Cameron was a “flip-flop” based on his observation of the young emerging leader at the time during the PMQs. No wonder Conservatives still hate him!

“PMQs was the most nerve-racking, discombobulating, nail-biting, bowel moving, terror-inspiring, courage-draining experience in my prime ministerial life, without question. You know that scene in Marathon Man where the evil Nazi doctor played by Laurence Olivier drills through Dustin Hoffman’s teeth? At around 11.45 on Wednesday mornings, I would have swapped thirty minutes of PMQs for thirty minutes of that.” This is how Blair described his experience of the PMQs.

Prime Minister Imran Khan alluded to bringing PMQs or some variance of it to our Parliamentary culture. Excellent initiative. Despite the current administration being the third democratic government to assume office without military intervention, our Parliamentary culture is still tribal. Sharif, when he addressed the Parliament on Panama Leaks, did not take questions from the opposition benches that day. The best speeches by Imran as Prime Minister have been on TV and not on the floor of the House. The images of his address in the Parliament and that of the President are embarrassing for all of us — to say the least.

According to FAFEN, the average attendance per sitting of National Assembly legislators declined by 13 percent over the last five years. The annual average attendance per sitting declined from 222 (65 percent) legislators during the first year to 193 (56 percent) legislators during the fifth year. More fines for the dam[n] fund?

The PMQs would improve the quality of debate in the Parliament, giving it a lot of credence. It is highly unlikely that after a jarring PMQs’ session, a PM would then submit to the apex Court that what he said on the floor of the House was merely a political statement. To put it another way, it is all right to mislead the people in the Parliament. With televised PMQs, Parliament could become relevant for the first time on issues of policy. Greater interest in the leaders and their performance at the session of PMQs could also force better attendance and preparation for the Parliamentarians.

It is disheartening to see a consistent low turn-out in the Parliamentary sessions. According to FAFEN, the average attendance per sitting of National Assembly (NA) legislators declined by 13 percent over the last five years. The annual average attendance per sitting declined from 222 (65 percent) legislators during the first year to 193 (56 percent) legislators during the fifth year. More fines for the dam[n] fund?

The idea that Imran Khan and Shahbaz Sharif would engage every week in a non-physical duel… hopefully — with words as weapon is fascinating. Leaders would be expected to talk issues and spell out policies. The unpredictability of the duel would be keenly followed, with both sides constantly looking for some verbal faux pas or tactical blunder in the debate that the back benchers could pounce on. Perhaps we will be treated with more of Jalib’s iconic poetry too!

PMQs would also keep the Prime Minister and his team on their toes. It will serve as the most lethal tool to hold the cabinet accountable. Despite the gruelling routine of Blair to prepare for the PMQs, he had his bad days. A lot many! He recalls: “When I had had a bad PMQs, the walk back to the room from the Chamber was almost as bad as the walk to it. We would always have a few minutes afterwards to deal with any consequential issues. For the poor old team, it was always tough when I messed up. The disappointment would be written large on their faces, even as they struggled to contain it. Jonathan Powell was usually the only one to voice the truth. ‘Thank God there’s no more of that for a week…”.

Pursuant to Article 67 of the Constitution, the Parliament can make rules for regulating its procedure and the conduct of its business. The government should push for amendment in Chapter IX of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly that deals with questions in the House and add PMQs for at least thirty minutes once a week, every week.

In addition, Chapter XX of the Rules should also be amended. All the hearings of the Standing Committees of each Ministry of the Government pertaining to matters of public importance and sessions of Public Accounts Committee should mandatorily be broadcast live on television. Parliament, among other things, is also an important check on the executive. People need to see if it’s functioning as the well-oiled machine that was envisaged in the Constitution.

We have not paid much attention to developing the Parliamentary culture in our country. It’s about time we cultivated Parliamentary values. It will help build public trust in our democratic institutions. More importantly, the debates in the parliament would also improve political discourse in the country, which at present, has been hijacked by the electronic media; repository of all that is irrational.

The writer attended Berkeley and is a Barrister of Lincoln’s Inn

Published in Daily Times, September 27^th 2018.