Article Type

Article

Description

In a democratic system of government, some checks and balances are placed under the constitution of a country. In Pakistan, the executive branch has dominated the scene historically with the judiciary asserting itself in recent years. The parliament has so far remained subdued in many aspects of its work, particularly in the case of economic visioning, long-term planning, oversight of policymaking, the monitoring of implementation and accountability of the executive. Had the parliament been more active, it is possible that the judiciary would not have taken suo motu cognisance of many cases linked to economic governance. It is a pity, that though the major political parties do not differ much on the content of the policies and programmes, those that would have proved beneficial to the economy at large have not been allowed to complete their natural life cycle. This track record of discontinuity, patchwork, postponement or cancellation of key projects, sudden reversals of otherwise sensible initiatives and weak implementation has caused enormous losses to the economy. One way to avoid our past mistakes is to strengthen the role of the parliament and its committees. After all, the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee has proved to be quite effective. How can this be achieved?

Publication Source

The Express tribune

Publication Date

12-5-2011

Pages

1-3

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