Rs 3,000
The 16th Provincial Assembly of the Punjab has been voted in through Pakistan’s 10 General Election on May 11, 2013 while it officially held its first sitting, the official start of its 5-year term, on June 01, 2013. While democratic and legislative reform continues even in developed democracies, the case for required reform is considered to be much stronger in Pakistan owing to almost regular disruption of democracy throughout the past 6 decades. That Pakistan’s elected Legislatures should be truly representative of the people of Pakistan, be accessible to the public, reflect public aspirations in legislation and safeguard public’s interests through overseeing the elected Government are the key roles and responsibilities of all 6 National and Provincial Legislatures of Pakistan. Citizens, veteran members of the Punjab Assembly, returning members, newly elected members as well as secretariat believe that in order to effectively carry out the Constitutional responsibilities of representation, legislation and oversight, certain key reforms are needed in the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab. Now that the new Assembly is in place, this is considered the most opportune time to highlight and work for institution of required reforms so as to improve the performance of the 16th Provincial Assembly of the Punjab. As an independent Pakistani organisation, PILDAT, alongside providing legislative strengthening support to the successive Provincial Assemblies of the Punjab, has also been monitoring the performance of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab. This paper outlines the performance analysis of 5 years of the outgoing 15th Provincial Assembly of the Punjab leading to Recommendations for Reform for the 16th Provincial Assembly of the Punjab.