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Parliaments must develop indigenously-developed strategic plans and revive internal decision-making forums to make development conducive

Islamabad: March 29, 2018; Secretary Senate of Pakistan Amjed Pervez Malik has said that indigenously developed strategic plans and internal decision making forums have to be developed by Parliaments across the world in order to make development conducive. He observed that internal reforms in Parliaments must not be quantified in terms of number of projects. It is a paradigm shift towards strengthening internal mechanisms, amending rules of procedures and utilizing internal resources of stability.

Secretary Senate made these remarks while giving a presentation at the second expert roundtable of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on the common principles for support to parliaments. The roundtable conference taking place at IPU Headquarters in Geneva is aimed at exploring good practices and discussing the lessons in how Parliaments govern their own development.

 During his presentation on the theme of proactive Parliaments and bolstering self-development, Secretary Senate presented Senate of Pakistan as a special case study of change which is pivoted on a newly-developed and progressive reformation model that is self-governed, self-conceived and productive. He briefed the participants about the 2013 strategic plan adopted by Senate Secretariat which was the first step towards governing own development. This roadmap of Secretariat was given complete political ownership by the leadership in 2015 and brought forth a multilayered Parliamentary governance and development matrix.


Amjed Pervez Malik said that political will for change and synergy between leadership and Secretariat administration are a key to Parliamentary reformation process. He remarked during his presentation that self-reliance, futuristic planning and judicious use of available resources should be the guiding principles of parliamentary governance.

The self-development model developed by Senate was explicated upon by the Secretary Senate which includes a vibrant and active House Business Advisory Committee, an efficient Finance Committee and new initiatives like Council of Committee Chairman, Committee on Ethics, Committee of the whole and linkages academia.

The Common Principles for Support to Parliaments aim to enhance the quality and effectiveness of Parliamentary support programmes. They were adopted by the 131st IPU Assembly in October 2014 and have since received the endorsement of over 115 parliaments and organizations. They were adopted by the 131st IPU Assembly in October 2014 and have since received the endorsement of over 115 parliaments and organizations. Secretary Senate of Pakistan has been contributing in finalisation of these Principles. His earlier interventions were aimed at underlining the importance of Parliament demanded or identified reforms and development which have been included as a principle and the Roundtable being held at IPU HQ in Geneva is showcasing Senate of Pakistan as a case study of successful achievement of self development in recent years. At this occasion the book of Mr Amjed Pervez Malik was launched as a base document for the Guide  for parliaments and partners that will help enable more proactive engagement by parliaments. It will map out suggestions for the infrastructure and processes needed to this end and provide parliaments and support partners with a transparent set of criteria on which to build support relationships, resulting in stronger partnerships and more effective and sustainable outcomes.

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