Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency has revealed a new report detailing the performance of members of the federal cabinet, ranking Azam Nazeer Tarar as the ‘most effective’. The report comes as the government completed one year in power.
The report, published on Monday, used two parameters to determine the performance of members of the cabinet: number of parliamentary sittings attended the number of hours spoken during parliamentary sessions.
According to the report, Tarar, who is the federal minister for law and justice, human rights and parliamentary affairs ranked first in both categories with 57% sessions attended and a total speaking time of over 17 hours.
In terms of sessions attended, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif was second with 44% attendance, Maritime Affairs Minister Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh attended 43% while Rana Tanveer Hussain, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, and Ali Pervaiz attended 42% sittings. Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting, National Heritage and Culture stood fifth with 40% sessions attended.
In terms of speaking time, Khawaja Asif stood second once again with speeches worth 5.5 hours. Attaullah Tarar fared better in this category by speaking for 4.5 hours despite being lower in attendance rankings.
The report attributed Ishaq Dar’s low attendance to the nature of his portfolio, foreign affairs, which requires him to travel extensively outside the country.
The report noted that Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb spoke for four hours despite attending only 22% of the parliament’s sessions. However, the report added that Aurangzeb ‘must be credited with accomplishing the government’s core agenda of economic stabilization through IMF negotiations and sound management.’
The report criticised Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi for only attending 6% sittings of the parliament and spoke for a mere 12 minutes.
“Arguably one of the most powerful ministers, he has been able to execute the government’s law-and-order agenda without any visibility or accountability in the Parliament. This underscores the diminished role of democratic institutions in key decision-making despite clear Constitutional decree,” the report said of Naqvi’s performance.
