SECOND CHAMBERS IN PARLIAMENTARY FEDERATIONS: THE ROLE OF SENATE IN PAKISTAN

UNIVERSITY OF GUJRAT

Department of Political Science & International Relations

By: IMTIAZ AHMAD

Supervised By: Dr. Muhammad Mushtaq

Academic Level: PhD

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Abstract

The study aims to answer the primary question of how the Senate of Pakistan performed its assigned tasks in the legislative and parliamentary history of Pakistan. The central tenet of this thesis is to ascertain the fact that the lower house prevails over the upper house in terms of legislative and executive functions assigned by the constitution to the lower houses. In the federal parliamentary system, the lower house restricts the functions of the upper houses. Broadly speaking, the thesis not only seconds the mentioned facts of the parliamentary federations but also delineates the functions of the upper house (Senate) of Pakistan. The performance of the Senate has been assessed in the domains of legislation, executive accountability, and the issues of the territorial units. Furthermore, the performance has been assessed by comparing the role of the Senate with the functionality of the lower house (National Assembly) of Pakistan. The study strengthens its worth by providing evidence from other parliamentary federations of the world, ranging from the developed world to the developing world. The study includes the evolution of the senate of Pakistan. It assesses the constitutionally assigned functions of the Senate of Pakistan.

Pakistan emerged as an independent entity in the subcontinent on August 14, 1947. For the functioning of the newly born state’s constitutional organs, the founders of Pakistan borrowed the Indian Act of 1935 as a constitutional document with slight changes. Due to political instability, Pakistan could not adopt federal bicameralism till 1973. Pakistan remained a unique federal country with a unicameral legislature in the subcontinent until the breakup of this federal entity. The constitution of 1973 established a second chamber for the parliament of Pakistan. The constitution assigned the legislative and executive accountability functions to the Senate of Pakistan. The constitution also broadens the functions of the senate by empowering the house of the federation to initiate legislation and to hold the executive
accountable on issues related to the territorial units of Pakistan.

Initially, the Senate of Pakistan could not perform its assigned functions due to political instability in the country. The martial law tenures of Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf did not allow the Senate to strengthen its functional foundations. However, the 18th constitutional amendment passed in 2010 has empowered the functions and scope of the Senate of Pakistan. The study reveals that the Senate of Pakistan is not a dormant house, rather it has been exerting its role effectively in the domains of legislation and executive accountability. The tools of legislation and executive accountability seem operative in the assigned functions to the Senate of Pakistan.

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On the direction of the Chairman Senate/President PIPS Board of Governors, the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS), has implemented a comprehensive set of measures aimed at ensuring fiscal discipline, operational efficiency, and responsible utilization of public resources, on the same lines as notified and adopted by the Senate and National Assembly Secretariats.

Under the new measures, the Institute has adopted a four-day working week (Monday to Thursday), while introducing a hybrid working model whereby 50% of staff will perform duties from the office and 50% will work remotely on a rotational basis. Employees working from home will remain fully accessible through digital communication platforms and may be required to report to the office on short notice, ensuring uninterrupted institutional functioning.

Significant steps have also been taken to promote energy conservation. These include a target of achieving up to 70% reduction in energy consumption through minimizing unnecessary use of electricity and ensuring that official meetings, trainings, and events are scheduled during daylight hours. Foreign tours are banned and international meetings are being held virtually.

In the transport section, PIPS has introduced strict measures to curtail expenditure and 70% official vehicles have been grounded as part of this initiative.

As part of broader austerity efforts, 20% reduction has been imposed on the non-ERE budget for the fourth quarter of the current financial year. The officers drawing a monthly salary of PKR 300,000 or more, shall surrendered two days salary or 5% to 30% salary on gross as per Federal Government decision.

The Institute has also discontinued all non-essential procurements with immediate effect. Official functions such as dinners and receptions will not be hosted, except in the case of visiting foreign delegations, and even then, strictly in accordance with austerity protocols.

These measures have been implemented with immediate effect and will remain in force until further orders.

Under the guidance of President PIPS Board of Governors, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, PIPS remains fully committed to maintaining its core functions of parliamentary support, capacity building, and research while contributing proactively to national austerity and sustainability goals.