KARACHI, November 17, 2016: As many as 37 amendments to the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Sindh Assembly are awaiting the consideration of the House, said Members of the Sindh Assembly at a meeting organized by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) here on Thursday.

At the meeting of the Legislative Support Group (LSG) that has been formed and facilitated by FAFEN in an effort to advocate for parliamentary reforms, the MPAs stressed the need for strict enforcement of existing rules, complaining that their proposed amendments are not taken up by the provincial assembly.

The meeting was attended by members belonging to PPPP, MQM, PML-F, PML-N and PTI. The legislators appreciated FAFEN’s proposed online agenda management portal and expressed the hope that they would now start getting answers to their questions. They also called for introducing a separate parliamentary channel of the assembly to broadcast live proceedings of the House.

The lawmakers also stressed the need for improving the rules of procedure of the legislative assembly and vowed to take up FAFEN’s recommendations on the floor of the House. FAFEN has developed Model Rules of Procedure for the provincial assemblies based on best practices of national and other provincial legislatures. The purpose of drafting these recommendations is to bring all legislatures of the country at par with each other and remove bottlenecks in the smooth running of House.

FAFEN representatives briefed the LSG meeting on proposed Model Rules of Procedure which seek to optimize transparency, representation, responsiveness, participation and oversight. The legislators expressed keen interest in the development of Model Rules of Procedure which could benefit all provincial legislatures to a great extent.