ISLAMABAD - The newly-elected lower house of the Parliament has failed to elect members of its standing committees in the given timeframe as a deadline provided in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in National Assembly expired on September 18.

According to the rules, members of the committees are to be elected by the assembly within 30 days after election of the Leader of the House (Prime Minister). In case of the incumbent assembly, the election for the Leader of the House was held on August 17, so the deadline of 30 days provided in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business expired on August 18.

Sources said that the National Assembly secretariat had recently written letters to the Leader of the House, Prime Minister Imran Khan, and Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif for nomination of their lawmakers as members of these committees.

When contacted, Director Public Relations National Assembly Mohsin Iqbal said that Speaker Asad Qaiser had arranged a meeting between the treasury and opposition benches to give the names of their respective lawmakers for nomination as members of the standing committees.

He however said that composition of the standing committees was delayed because the names of the members from opposition and government had not been received to the NA Secretariat so far.

Standing Committees are considered as eyes, ears, hands and even brain of the Parliament in parliamentary democracy and it is a matter of common observation that these committees play an important and vital oversight role even in Pakistan.

There are a standing committee for each ministry in addition to the standing committee on public accounts, standing committee on rules of procedure and privileges, standing committee on house and library and standing committee on government assurance and business advisory.

Rules provide that each committee shall comprise of not more than 20 members to be elected by the Assembly while a lawmaker can become a member of multiple committees. The Minister concerned act as ex-officio member in respective committee; however he is not entitled to vote unless he is a member of the assembly.  

In addition to the standing committees, the NA can constitute, in accordance with provisions of rule 244, Select Committees on Bills and Special Committees to carry out functions specified in the motion.     

Senior officers in NA Secretariat while sharing their views about delay in the composition of the standing committees said that though the rules should be followed by legislators in letter and spirit, but usually such delay occurs due to lack of interest by lawmakers towards legislation.

They said that the previous assembly had also taken several months to complete the process and same is expected in present routine of doing the things.

Meanwhile, according to numerical strength in National Assembly, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is likely to lead the standing committees followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples’ Party Parliamentarian.