Federal and Provincial Lawmakers Demand Personal Staff, Included in 11th Inter-Parliamentary Forum Message

Lawmakers from both federal and provincial levels have demanded the provision of personal support staff to make their work more effective. The demand was included in the fifth point of the nine-point message issued by the 11th conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Forum held in Tikapur.

The conference was attended by Speakers, Deputy Speakers, and Secretaries from the Federal Parliament, the National Assembly, and all seven provincial assemblies. The message recommends that personal support staff be arranged to enhance the working capacity of elected representatives. Lawmakers have argued that support staff are necessary to systematically handle public issues, law-making, monitoring, and public relations. Currently, while lawmakers have secretariat facilities for committee work, there is no provision for personal assistants. If this demand is fulfilled, it is expected to bring greater effectiveness to the lawmakers’ functioning. The conference decided to forward the demand to the federal and provincial governments through the Inter-Parliamentary Forum’s message.