Team Republic Policy__ Think Tank

A legislator of a legislative assembly is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative body with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or state. However, in bicameral legislatures, a legislator can be elected indirectly. In Pakistan, members of the National Assembly are elected directly, but the electoral college of federal and provincial legislators elects the members of the Senate. The role of a legislator in a parliament may vary depending on the type and structure of the parliament, but generally, it includes:

Legislation: 

Legislators propose, debate, amend, and vote on bills that become laws if passed by the parliament and approved by the executive. Legislators may initiate bills or respond to bills proposed by the executive or other sources. Legislators may also participate in constitutional amendments or referendums.

Committees: 

Legislators may serve on various committees that specialize in certain policy areas or functions of the parliament, such as finance, foreign affairs, defence, education, health, etc. Committees may conduct hearings, investigations, oversight, or research on relevant issues and prepare reports or recommendations for the parliament.

Accountability: 

Legislators may hold the executive branch accountable for its policies, actions, and spending by asking questions, requesting information, conducting inquiries, or initiating motions of no-confidence or impeachment. Legislators may also scrutinize the budget and audit the public accounts.

Representation:

Legislators represent the interests and views of their constituents and communicate with them through various channels such as media, social media, newsletters, town halls, etc. Legislators may also advocate for their constituents’ needs and grievances and provide assistance or referrals to them. Furthermore, the legislators represent the people’s will and highlight their issues to reform governance, service delivery and economy.

In the Pakistani parliament, which is a bicameral legislature consisting of the National Assembly (lower house) and the Senate (upper house), legislators can contribute to these roles in different ways depending on which house they belong to. The National Assembly has more power in legislation and budgeting than the Senate, while the Senate has more power in representing the provinces and protecting their rights. Both houses have various standing committees that deal with different subjects and functions. Both houses can also hold the executive accountable through questions, adjournment motions, calling attention notices, privilege motions, etc. Both houses can also represent their constituents and communicate with them through various means.

Please, visit republicpolicy.com and subscribe the premier content to have access to English and Urdu magazines

Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan is a Pakistani politician of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan who is a Member of the Senate of Pakistan representing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the tenure of March 2018 to March 2024. He is also the former President of Jamaat-e-Islami Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from October 2021 to April 2022. He has a master’s degree in physics from the University of Peshawar and was an active student leader in the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba.

As a senator, he has been a member of at least six sub-committees of the house, including Devolution (Chairperson Committee), Select Committee on The Islamabad Capital Territory Trust (Amendment) Bill,2020, Cabinet Secretariat, House Business Advisory Committee, Defence, Inter-Provincial Coordination, Federal Education and Professional Training, and Parliamentary Committee to Protect Minorities from Forced Conversions. He has also spoken on the floor of the Senate on various issues, such as child abuse, corruption, foreign policy, education, and minority rights. In February 2022, he was declared among the top 5 senators that spoke on the floor of the Senate.

In December 2018, as part of the Senate’s special committee against child abuse, he said around 25 million children weren’t even attending school, but the government kept boasting of good performance. He claimed that children were being smuggled across the border with Iran.

He has highlighted the performance of the judiciary in the Senate. He is the only legislator most vocal about the judiciary’s performance. 

In April 2021, he introduced a bill to amend the Constitution of Pakistan to make Urdu the official language of the country and to promote regional languages.

In June 2021, he raised the issue of forced conversions of minorities in Pakistan and demanded that the government take strict action against those involved in such crimes. In August 2021, he criticized the government for failing to implement the National Action Plan against terrorism and extremism and urged the Prime Minister to take notice of the rising incidents of sectarian violence in the country.

In October 2021, he expressed his solidarity with the people of Kashmir and condemned the Indian atrocities in the occupied territory. He also urged the international community to intervene and resolve the Kashmir dispute according to the UN resolutions.

Based on these facts, Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan has performed well as a parliamentarian by highlighting different legislative, executive, administrative and judicial issues. He has also shown his commitment to his party’s ideology and principles. However, this is only one perspective; others might have different opinions or evaluations of his performance.

Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan belongs to JI; therefore, he is not a part of the executive as JI is not in the government. Interestingly, JI and PTI are the parties not in the government. Despite that, the legislative performance of Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan is contributory. A legislator’s primary obligation is to contribute to the legislative business. Apart from legislative, administrative and executive contributions, Senator has contributed to highlighting the socio-political issues of the nation. Therefore, his speeches and remarks are often circulated on social media and other platforms. He remains well-prepared and presents cases and issues with legislative command.

Lastly, it is significant that legislators in Pakistan contribute more to legislative business. The executive remains answerable to the legislature in a parliamentary form of governance. Therefore, it is critical that the legislature takes responsibility and make the executive accountable for performing, executing, amending and operationalizing the governmental business. Then, legislation is a specialized business. Accordingly, only expert and specialized legislators in law-making, governance, legislation and administration can contribute. Therefore, people and political parties should bring specialized legislators into the parliament. Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan is such an example whom other legislators can replicate in contributing to the legislative business.

Pl subscribe the YouTube channel of republicpolicy.com