ACHIEVEMENTS AS CHAIRMAN SENATE
Senator Mian Raza Rabbani has recently concluded three years as the Chairman Senate ( 2015- 2018) These years will be remembered in the history of the Senate as the most productive years. The work on institution building of the Senate was outstanding. Documentation of Senate’s work since its inception was compiled and published giving this institution a solid documented history. Several publications of the past work and that of the recent three year term was put in the form of books and report. These publications are available at the Senate’s website and also shared in this section (available in pdf).
In addition, the performance of the Senate itself was outstanding. New Committees were formed and the performance with annual reporting to the house made the House more efficient and professional. Refer to FAFEN report below summarizing some of the achievements on the performance of the House.
The Chair also made 78 rulings. Many of these were substantive on issues significant to the provinces. Through these the Chair expanded the potential role the Senate has in interpreting constitution and legislation and deal with any ambiguity or gaps. A few of these rulings are summarized here.
He has raised the stature of the Senate and the Senators by ensuring that the Government is answerable to this house and the authority and the scope of the Senate is expanded. Through a resolution (summary available here with pdf of full text), he proposed amendments that the House desires for the Senate to be a strong institution and is able to protect the rights of the Provinces better.
The Achievements of Senator Mian Raza Rabbani are not only linked to his position as the Chair of the Senate. He led the process of 18th constitutional amendment which brought the skewed constitution closer to its original parliamentary spirit and gave the provinces their rights through devolution of powers. He also oversaw the implementation of this amendment. As the head of the Committee on National Security his work was ground breaking. The Executive was brought in to share information with the Parliamentarians which was never shared before. His strong recommendations for dealing with the security situation and the guidance he gives from time to time for the democratic institutions is of great significance. He is considered to be among the most able and insightful Parliamentarians Pakistan has.
The Government has lauded his services with medals like Nishan e Imtiaz but it is the respect and credibility that he has gained among his colleagues and public at large that is the biggest medal anyone can dream of.
