PILDAT has commended Dr. Fehmida Mirza, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Faisal Kundi, Deputy Speaker and Mr. Karamat Niazi, Secretary of the Assembly for promptly providing the key information about the Assembly sittings and proceedings to the media and public through its website for the first time in the history of the country. In a letter addressed to the Speaker National Assembly, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, Executive Director of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency � PILDAT has welcomed the fact that the National Assembly website now carries the Orders of the Day (Daily Agenda of the Sittings), details of the Legislative Business and the Questions-Answers of the Question Hour. �This is a great step forward under your leadership towards a Parliament that is close to the people and its activities are transparent and open to the public,� said Mehboob in his letter. He added that PILDAT and the civil society in general had been repeatedly seeking this information to be placed on the National Assembly website for the past 5 years but it was to the credit of the present Speaker and the Deputy Speaker that they had done this within the first 100 days of assuming their office.

PILDAT noted that the information provided at the National Assembly website would go a long way in bringing people and the National Assembly closer and giving timely data to the media and analysts of parliamentary democracy. Full texts of the Answers provided by the Government in response to the Members� Questions will provide a wealth of reliable information about the Government performance and plans. PILDAT hoped that the Speaker will continue her dynamic style of leadership in making National Assembly a model transparent institution.