Ensuring transparency
February 22nd, 2013
In a move that should help promote transparency, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will make available the nomination papers of all candidates online. In addition, government bodies like the FBR, NAB and NADRA have agreed to provide the ECP with information on the candidates, including tax details. Ideally, this information, too, should be made public, especially after recent revelations showed that a large majority of parliamentarians do not file their tax returns. Because of issues of privacy, the FBR and the ECP cannot publicise this information themselves, but it should become the norm for all candidates running for elected office to release tax information themselves. This is information that every voter deserves to know. Not paying taxes is a criminal offence and so every voter should be privy to this information.
Of course, simply putting nomination papers online will not be enough. We have no way of knowing whether the nomination papers filed by candidates are based on facts or not. It is very likely that many candidates will simply lie about their assets and taxes. To deal with this eventuality, the ECP should not hesitate to disqualify candidates whose nomination papers have inaccurate information. The ECP should also remember that much of the country does not have internet access and so should provide hard copies of nomination papers to interested voters for a nominal fee. Indeed, in many constituencies, it is very possible that almost no voter has access to the internet.
Hopefully, knowing that their nomination papers are freely available will deter many candidates from lying. But for many, tax avoidance has become a way of life and such candidates will probably try to come up with creative ways to explain why they haven’t filed taxes. The ECP should try to forestall this by thoroughly investigating the assets and expenditures of all candidates. This should include information on things like property owned and foreign vacations taken. The ECP also should not be afraid of being proactive in disqualifying candidates. Political parties will certainly cry victimisation but the ECP should not compromise its independence just to appease them. For too long we have tolerated corrupt representatives. There is no reason for us to continue going along with that.
Promoting education
February 22nd, 2013
Following the recent decision by the Sindh government to create a law to provide free and compulsory education to children between the ages of five and 16 years of age, various political party representatives in Balochistan have called for the same law to be put into effect in their province prior to the holding of elections. Members of the PML-N, the PTI, the ANP, and the BNP-M were among the few parties who were joined by civil society organisations at an event organised by Unesco and the Balochistan Education Department in Quetta on February 14, in which they demanded that Article 25-A of the Constitution be invoked as was done in Sindh. According to a survey discussed at the event, 58 per cent of Balochistan’s population has not attended school. One former MPA said that close to 250 schools had been closed in Panjgur alone but the education department had hired 500 ghost teachers who were drawing salaries without doing their jobs. Speakers said that there was no system in place to monitor attendances. These are despicable realities not unique to Balochistan that require a drastic rethink. Unfortunately, these problems cannot be fixed overnight and certainly not before the elections.
While there is no denying that the move by Sindh was a much-needed and noble endeavour, one cannot help but ask why this was not done much earlier. After all, the Eighteenth Amendment to Article 25-A of the Constitution (which made free education compulsory to children aged five to 16) was made in 2010 — so why did Sindh make it into a law a few months shy of the dissolution of the assemblies when there is little way of ensuring that it will be implemented? It is akin to passing the buck to the next government. There are many good points to the free education bill with relation to private schools, which have to take a certain number of disadvantaged children in but who will ensure that it is done? A failure to implement laws has always been Pakistan’s failing. Let us hope this is not the case with this law that has the potential to improve lives.
Watery resolution
February 22nd, 2013
Pakistan has finally met with some success in its objections to the Kishanganga Dam being built by India on the Neelum-Indus rivers. Whereas for several years Islamabad has argued that the design and function of the controversial dam violates the Indus Water Treaty between Pakistan and India, New Delhi has been unwilling to move on the issue. An international panel of experts had also failed to favour Pakistan.
But there has been some understanding of Pakistan’s position. The International Court of Arbitration (ICA) at the Hague has ruled, at least partially, in Pakistan’s favour, holding that India could not completely block flow downstream of the Neelum for six to eight months in winter as it had proposed, and also that the design of the dam did indeed violate agreements between the two countries. There are matters that still need to be sorted out, such as figures on the precise amount of water that flows down the Neelum. But even so, Pakistan has had at least some success and this needs to be welcomed. The ICA decision also highlights the gravity of the water issue between the two countries and the need to sort it out as efficiently as possible. As we know, Pakistan and also India are facing a grave shortage of water resources as the population continues to grow and the crisis that could arise from this has been described by some as potentially one that poses an enormous risk to people.
We can only hope that the verdict that has come in from the Court and its findings during the hearing, where many specialists provided highly technical information, can help sort out the issues that still exist. Both countries obviously need to talk about the matter on a bilateral basis. But perhaps, the views from the Hague will help clarify the situation and make it a little easier for Pakistan to justify its acute grievance over the construction of a dam which would further reduce water flow into its territory. This is something Pakistan has been emphasising for a very long time. Its voice appears finally to have been heard, even if only softly.