THE arrival of 119 new faces in the National Assembly is a welcome occurrence within the larger effort for improvements in the country’s political culture. Among these newcomers are those who have fought the election for the lower house before but without succeeding, and some of these lawmakers have graduated to the national stage after having sat in the provincial legislatures. In any case, the infusion, which must be accompanied by the fresh batch’s ambition to stand by their electorate, promises to lend greater vitality to the Assembly proceedings. The fresh faces do not only raise hopes for generation of fresh ideas; just as in any other group, they are expected to have an impact on the old guard in the house, which could always do with a nudge or two to prevent them from being too complacent and too mired in tradition.

A decade ago, Gen Pervez Musharraf tried to create a parliament of his liking by introducing his Bachelor’s degree bar. This brought in some new faces, largely belonging to old political families. Many of the first-timers now are also carrying forward the family tradition of sitting in the Assembly but many others have emerged out of the changes in the Pakistani poli-tical landscape where the stalwarts have come under increasing pressure from new hopefuls over the unsatisfactory pace of pro-people development. Politics has undergone many changes since Gen Musharraf’s times. The political parties have been forced to embrace new local players, many of them thrown up by the country’s latest experiment at the grassroots, the local governments. The demand for legislators to debate their ideas in the media has in no small measure contributed to a situation where, unlike the unsung, unrecognised back-benchers of the past, no member of the Assembly today goes unheard and unnoticed. The newcomers are expected to play their role in boosting the quality of debate in the house and as the newly appointed guardians of its standards, outside the Assembly.