Accountability bill
October 10th, 2012
As planned, the government introduced a new accountability bill in parliament on Monday. And as expected, it is a flawed bill. The National Accountability Commission bill that has been sent to a standing committee for vetting and approval before being returned to the full house for a vote — expected sooner than later — will be examined and critiqued outside parliament in the days ahead as its language is digested and its implications understood. Already, however, two glaring issues have arisen: the ‘good faith’ exemption in the previous bill, now withdrawn by the government, has been retained while the clock on accountability has been set back only as far as October 2002. Limiting accountability to the last decade for public office holders is a particularly egregious flaw in the new bill. Previously, the government wanted to go as far back as 1985 while the PML-N had insisted on 1947 as the starting point from which accountability of public officials could be undertaken under the law that is to replace the Musharraf-era National Accountability Ordinance. Ten years is a particularly short period and one that conveniently excludes the so-called decade of democracy in the 1990s when the PPP and PML-N traded office every couple of years or so and claims of corruption and other wrongdoing were rife. As a signal that the government is serious about accountability the 10-year limit is a particularly poor idea: few will believe the government is interested in across-the-board accountability if it’s limited to only a slice of our history.
The retention of the ‘good faith’ exemption to accountability is also problematic. If the language is drafted loosely and the use of the exemption not tightly patrolled — and who can expect politicians to implement the language of legislation to their own disfavour? — accountability could become a farce. For example, if a lucrative contract for an important public-works project is handed out without proper vetting and transparent bidding, could the public office holder later claim the project’s importance justified cutting corners (and presumably lining the pockets of allies and family in the process)? To be sure, a draconian accountability law could in some circumstances have adverse effects if it makes public officials too skittish about performing their duties as they fear prosecution by an overzealous accountability machinery later. But as it stands, the ‘good faith’ exemption appears too broad to be justified.
Yet, will the bill receive the scrutiny it deserves inside parliament? From Monday’s events, it appears that the PML-N’s objections may be more for the cameras than substantive. Behind-the-scenes understandings could scuttle necessary scrutiny of an important law.
Women as chattel
October 10th, 2012
Last year, a bill was passed that outlaws, among other practices that exploit women, offering the latter in marriage to settle disputes. But the emergence of a new wani case in Balochistan proves that in Pakistan putting down laws on paper is only the starting point of a long, hard struggle for women’s rights. Such a struggle will have to involve making the judicial system accessible to citizens across the country if entrenched customs of tribal justice are to be rooted out. As long as the official justice system remains slow, inconvenient and expensive, and as long as it is not woven into the fabric of Pakistani society, turning to councils of tribal elders will remain a tempting solution even if its results are inhumane and discriminatory by modern standards. The second piece of the problem is that mindsets remain regressive and misogynistic at the very top. The claim that a sitting member of the Balochistan Assembly may have been part of the jirga that allegedly advised that 13 girls of one tribe be offered to another tribe as compensation for a murder brings to mind another shocking instance of wrongly exercised influence, when in 2008 a senator from the province defended the alleged burying alive of five women for reasons of ‘honour’. As long as those in positions of power within their tribes and constituencies continue to hold views like these, changing conditions for women will remain almost impossible.
If there is anything positive about the news, it is that a story such as this one may have gone unnoticed just a few years ago. And many stories still do. But there is some hope that the media attention the incident has received and the suo moto notice taken by the Supreme Court — if it leads to some accounta-bility — could work as deterrents in the future, especially in preventing influential people in the public eye from supporting actions against women. Until the slow, hard work of providing modern justice and holding those in power to account is done, making a noise about such instances is the only real weapon there is.
Killer amoeba
October 10th, 2012
A rare, mysterious amoeba known as
Naegleria fowleri has been linked to at least 10 deaths in Karachi since May. It is a waterborne organism found in swimming pools and freshwater bodies and can infect the nervous system with deadly results. With often deceptive initial symptoms, such as headache and fever, a proper diagnosis is difficult to make. The concern generated by the lethal amoeba and presumably the fact that of the 10 victims only one had visited a swimming pool, led to a meeting of health officials and other stakeholders on Monday. Here, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board was urged to increase the chlorine content of the city’s water to neutralise the deadly organism. At the meeting it was revealed that 22 per cent of water samples were found to be either non-chlorinated or containing insufficient amounts of chlorine — hence the need to closely monitor the quality of Karachi’s water and ensure adequate levels of chlorination.
Nevertheless, alarming as the situation is, it is important that there is no fear-mongering that could lead to unnecessary panic. What would be more helpful is public information regarding preventive measures — such as the recommendation that people use purified water for ablution as the amoeba is at its deadliest when it enters the body through the nasal passages. Considering that the amoeba is rare, medical professionals should not be left out of the loop, and hospitals and clinics would do well to ensure that they are fully aware of the diagnostic procedures. Meanwhile, timely reporting to the health authorities of deaths or infections linked to the amoeba by public and private hospitals is essential for proper management. Nearly all the fatalities have been reported from private hospitals. This is a clear indication that public health facilities are underreporting the number of cases they handle.