Developing a Parliamentary Institute: Case Study of the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services

Abstract

The Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services, PIPS, is a premier institution, created by an Act of the Parliament, to provide legislative, research, capacity building and public outreach services to around 1000 members of national and state legislatures. The Parliament of Pakistan, due to a checkered history of democracy marred by decades of dictatorships, could not evolve an institutionalised system of supporting legislators and providing technical assistance in performance of their legislative, representative and oversight functions. This article by the founding Executive Director, PIPS, is an appraisal of the conceptual vision and efforts of institutional development by Pakistani parliamentarians in creating PIPS in 2008, and a review of the experience with regard to organising a formal New Members Orientation Programme for the first time in Pakistans parliamentary history. The paper provides insights for parliamentary institutions of the world as it narrates a model of participatory governance comprising all parliamentary parties and funding by the Parliament that ensures an independent and non-partisan status of a new parliamentary institute. It provides the basis for establishing a system of legislative, research, capacity building and public outreach services and assists MPs within Pakistan as well as the Asia region to become more effective parliamentarians right from their first term to the last. Finally, the article presents a case study of PIPS six-month planning process that included steps such as needs assessment, development of curriculum, training format and types, facilitation standards and how to motivate MPs to actively and voluntarily participate in the orientation programmes.