August 8th, 2024, Thursday, Islamabad: Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS) organized a capacity building seminar on the “Working of the Parliament” for officers of National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) on Thursday, August 08, 2024.
The seminar was attended by around 31 participants including the worthy Director General NACTA, Ms. Saleha Zakir Shah. Ms. Tehseen Khalid, Director Research, moderated the event. Mr. Muhammad Rashid Mafzool Zaka, Executive Director, PIPS welcomed the participants on behalf of the President PIPS BoG / Speaker National Assembly of Pakistan, Honourable Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and PIPS Team. He praised NACTA officials for their sense of duty, dedication and eagerness for learning. The Director General NACTA, Ms. Saleha Zakir Shah thanked PIPS for offering an exceptional learning opportunity and emphasized on the importance of collective efforts in combating the menace of terrorism.
Mr. Muhammad Rashid Mafzool Zaka during his session explained the concept of sovereignty, as described in the constitution. He further elaborated on how democracy in Pakistan has evolved from the Islamic concept of socialist democracy and provided insights into the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. In the end, he shed light on some important articles of constitution that specifically deal with the functions of the parliament.
In the panel discussion, Jam Mohammed Aslam, Additional Draftsman/Joint Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, focused on the “Legislative Tools in the Parliament”. He explained the law-making process in the Parliament and illustrated various types of bills. He also briefly explained about the important non-legislative tools such as bills, resolutions, questions, adjournment motions and calling attention notices, which are useful tools for NACTA officials.
Mr. Afzal Soomro, Deputy Secretary Legislation National Assembly of Pakistan, discussed the “Non Legislative Tools in Parliament, with special focus on ‘Question Hour’. He discussed how Parliament utilizes questions to oversee government activities, beginning with the difference between starred and unstarred questions. Then, he detailed the process for submission of questions on the floor of the house and described how it helps the parliamentarians to securitize the governmental actions.Top of FormBottom of Form
At the end, there was a brief question and answer session. The head of the delegation extended his special appreciation to PIPS team for their efforts in organizing the seminar for NACTA officials. The officials from NACTA presented a souvenir to the PIPS team. Following this, the NACTA delegation visited the Parliament House, where they were accompanied by Ms. Ayesha Tariq Khan, Assistant Director of Research, and Tanzil ur Rehman, Assistant PRC Office. Ms. Ayesha Tariq Khan and Mr. Wajid Aslam, Assistant PRC were among the organizers of the event. The event concluded with a group photo.