A(c)Former MPs urge parliament to assert itself, end mudslinging.

Former parliamentarians on Thursday urged parliament to assert itself and give up unnecessary blame games and mudslinging.

The MPs were speaking at the first meeting of the Former Parliamentarians Forum, at the Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services (Pips). A similar forum has also been established by the Senate, made up of an equal number of former and sitting senators.

Syed Nusrat Ali Shah, elected to the National Assembly from NA-55 (Sargodha) in 1985, told Dawn that although he was elected as an independent because he contested a non-party election, at the time politicians had the courage to give their independent opinions.

'Now they toe the party line and cannot dare deviate from it,' he said, recalling: 'When Mian Nawaz Sharif wanted to pass the 14th Amendment, there were 18 members of the party including me who played a role to neutralise the amendment.'

The 14th Amendment, passed in 1997, ensured strict party discipline and empowered party leaders to dismiss any of their legislators if they voted against the party.

Mr Shah said parliamentarians were far more vocal in the past and parliament was not active than it is today.

'Moreover, in the past the majority of members were from the middle class, but now the majority of parliamentarians are very rich,' he said.

Mian Nasir Ali Baloch, who was also elected 1985 and served as education minister, said it was unfortunate that parliamentarians had devalued themselves.

'In 1970, when I was a member of the Punjab Assembly, an MPA called another member a liar. The remarks trigged unrest in the assembly and after a long debate it was decided that the members should have said he was not speaking the truth. Today all the values have changed and parliamentarians criticise each other for the sake of criticism,' he said.

The forum...