Session 9: The failure of our Legislators

Parliaments are the debating chambers or the representative bodies, the surrogate for the people.  Pakistan has a bicameral parliamentary system with a upper house, the senate, and the lower house, the national assembly.

The function of the parliament is to legislate, represent, scrutinize, recruit and promote the legitimacy of the regime by encouraging the public to see the system as the rightful rule.

Is the parliament of Pakistan performing all these functions? Or can we consider it a failed parliament?

The passing of the bills such as the bill for the 21st amendment of the constitution that challenged the basic structure of our constitution, without being properly debated upon, and the passing of draconian laws such as the Protection of Pakistan bill shows that the parliament has failed to perform is functions adequately.

The constitution of Pakistan is based on the principle of the separation of powers between the legislative, the judiciary and the executive and the establishment of military courts under the 21st amendment challenges this notion.  A parliament, which makes laws against the basic structure of the fundamental law, the constitution, can never be considered a parliament performing its legislative functions properly.

The Protection of Pakistan bill (PPB) allows the suspension of the fundamental rights of the citizens, which have been enshrined in the constitution. How can we consider a parliament the true representative of the people, which enacts laws against their fundamental rights? One can argue that the constitution of Pakistan allows the suspension of rights for the integrity and safety of the country, but laws such as the PPB are too broad that such lines can be blurred.

The failure of the parliament in making laws for the protection of the minority communities also highlights that the parliament is unable to perform its functions properly.  What further adds to the case against our parliament is the enactment of laws, which exacerbate the issue of the minority rights. This was done in 1974, when the 2nd amendment to the constitution was passed that declared the Ahmadis non-Muslims.


Observing the past performance of the parliament shows that it has failed to legislate properly and act as a representative for the people. Hence, such parliament can never promote the legitimacy of a regime and it would not be wrong to consider this a failure of the legislators.