You helped elect him/her to the parliament in July, 2018. Now, as lawmakers what are they doing for you?
Remember, the members of the national assembly, all 342 of them, work for you - the people, the voters. They represent you and the constituency. And, yes, this includes the prime minister.
Each member of the parliament has a clearly chalked out responsibility, defined in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly 2007.
What are they? And, how should you be keeping track? We understand that parliamentary jargon can be confusing. But Geo.tv has got you covered:
Lawmakers, ideally, should split their time between working in the parliament and in their constituency. While in the national assembly, they are required to attend debates, vote on legislation, table bills and raise the issues of their constituency.
The new laws the ruling party proposes are known as the government bills. However, the lower house made up of opposition leaders and independents, who are not part of the government, can introduce Private Members’ Bill to be considered for legislation.
Members can, and often do, call the attention of the government to a matter of urgent public importance. This is referred to as the Calling Attention Notice, done with prior permission from the speaker. The cabinet minister asked to respond may do so immediately or request more time.
Parliamentarians enjoy certain privileges in the assembly. If any of these are disregarded by a lawmaker, it is considered a breach of privilege. In such cases the mover, therefore the person who moves the Privilege Motion, will give notice in writing to the secretary, who will then present it to the speaker for consideration.
Similarly, a Point of Order can also be raised to highlight the violation of rules.
Attendance. If a parliamentarian is not attending the national assembly sessions regularly, then none of this can be achieved. As per the Rules, the business of the assembly is suspended if at least one-fourth of the house is not present.
The Islamabad-based Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) has a comprehensive and up-to-date list of all members of the NA and the number of times they came to the house, the bills voted in or introduced and the calling attention notices moved.
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You could question your MNA, the next time he/she visits.