Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has urged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmakers to return to parliamentary committees, warning that their absence is weakening parliament and limiting public representation.

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Thursday, Bilawal called on Leader of the Opposition Mahmood Khan Achakzai to use his authority to ensure opposition participation in the electoral reforms process, and asked opposition lawmakers to submit their nominations to the National Assembly speaker's office.

A committee for electoral reform

Bilawal said the proposed electoral reforms committee could provide a platform to address allegations of electoral rigging and work towards reforms before future elections. Parliament had already adopted a resolution for the committee's formation, he said, but the committee would serve little purpose if opposition parties refused to participate.

He argued that meaningful electoral reform required participation from all political parties rather than a boycott, and that parties had a responsibility to represent their constituencies through parliamentary forums rather than remaining absent from committee proceedings.

Wider warning on parliament's role

Bilawal said the government and the treasury benches had a responsibility to make parliament functional, but the opposition also needed to fulfil its role. He said the opposition's absence from committees, including the finance committee, had deprived constituents of representation in important policy discussions.

A high-level PPP delegation also met Achakzai separately and conveyed the party chairman's message, according to reporting of the meetings. Bilawal's appeal was framed as a test of whether parliament could still function as a forum for cross-party scrutiny: if lawmakers do not return, he warned, parliament's capacity to examine electoral reform and other issues will stay weakened.

Sources: The News; The Destination.