1st Meeting of Association of Secretaries of Legislatures of Pakistan Hosted by National Assembly Secretariat
Islamabad, : The first meeting of the Association of Secretaries of Legislatures of Pakistan was hosted by the National Assembly Secretariat under the chairmanship of Secretary General National Assembly, Syed Tahir Hussain. The meeting was attended by the Secretaries of the Senate, the four Provincial Assemblies, the Legislative Assemblies of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir, along with senior officers of the National Assembly Secretariat. The initiative was convened in line with the vision of Speaker National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, aimed at promoting greater connectivity among legislatures, strengthening coordination, and reinforcing the parliamentary system.
The meeting undertook a comprehensive review of the implementation of the 64 decisions of the 18th Speakers’ Conference. Special Secretary National Assembly, M Syed Shamoon Hashmi, informed the participants that the majority of these decisions had been implemented across the legislatures of Pakistan.
Participants deliberated on making the functioning of Public Accounts Committees more effective, empowering standing committees, adopting reformed rules of procedure—already implemented in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa—and exploring modalities for virtual participation, including voting rights, in committee meetings. Consensus was reached that committee powers flow directly from the authority of the House and the rulings of the Honourable Speaker.
The meeting also emphasized the effective use of modern technology in parliamentary business, including enabling virtual participation of committee members, ensuring adherence to mandatory sitting days, and designating focal persons to strengthen inter-legislature linkages.
Further discussions centered on enhancing the role of the Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services (PIPS) through robust training and capacity-building programs for officers and staff of legislatures. The participants stressed designing more effective training courses, expanding outreach, and formally incorporating the Legislative Assemblies of Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan into PIPS’ training programs.
The Secretaries also underlined the need to further strengthen the committee system and link the libraries of all legislatures through a unified digital platform for research and information sharing, thereby modernizing parliamentary functions.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Senate, Syed Hasnain Haider; Secretary Parliamentary Affairs Punjab Assembly, Amir Habib; Secretary Sindh Assembly, Ghulam Muhammad Umar Farooq; Acting Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Syed Muhammad Maher; Secretary Balochistan Assembly, Tahir Shah Kakar; Secretary Azad Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Busharat Hussain; Secretary Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly, Abdul Razaq; Executive Director PIPS, Asim Khan Gauraya; Special Secretary National Assembly, Syed Shamoon Hashmi; Additional Secretary & Principal Secretary to Speaker National Assembly, Saeed Ahmed Maitla, in addition to senior officers of the National Assembly Secretariat.
Sohail Majeed is a Special Correspondent at The Diplomatic Insight. He has twelve plus years of experience in journalism & reporting. He covers International Affairs, Diplomacy, UN, Sports, Climate Change, Economy, Technology, and Health.
