(18th March 2013)
High rewards
The government seems determined to leave office in as undignified a manner as possible. On the final day before the National Assembly was to be dissolved, the interior ministry gave Rehman Malik and all his predecessors who did not serve under a dictator with the Constitution in abeyance, perks for the rest of their lives. The benefits Mr Malik has awarded himself include protocol at airports to be provided to himself and his family by the Federal Investigation Agency and personal staff to be given by NADRA. The Sindh Assembly, in what is likely to be its last session, outdid even Mr Malik by voting itself an increase in salary of up to 60 per cent, backdated to 2011 and several existing perks for life after the assembly is dissolved. Both steps should be cancelled by the incoming government.
What makes these actions so distasteful is how they were carried out at the last possible minute, with absolutely no debate on the matter. For many, it will also confirm the belief that the government spent its last five hours gorging on the national exchequer while doing nothing to improve the lot of the country’s citizens. This also shows the dangers of allowing politicians to set their own salaries and perks, since there is a clear conflict of interest involved. Ultimately, this will come to be seen as a microcosm of the way in which our politicians have always put themselves first. No one denies that parliamentarians deserve a pension for their service but there needs to be a limit to just how much money is spent on those who are no longer the country’s representatives.
Even more aggravating is the fact that precious few of these politicians actually need the money. To get a ticket to stand for election, even at the provincial level, requires great personal wealth. While in office, MPAs have even more opportunity to enrich themselves through kickbacks and other forms of bribery, a benefit few lawmakers are able to restrain themselves from. Even the most honest and incorruptible MPA will have made enough connections during his or her term to make lots of money after leaving the assembly. This hike in salaries and benefits was completely unnecessary and serves only to show the rapaciousness of some of our elected representatives.
Promises and purposes
The Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians (PPP-P) manifesto, which was launched at a press conference in Islamabad, and read out by the PPP-P president, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, as expected, emphasises empowerment for the poor. And, in fact, goes back to the slogan which still brings the PPP-P many of its votes today: roti, kapra aur makaan. It also speaks of putting people with less wealth in parliament and in rather poetic language, talks of tackling militancy, the energy crisis and all kinds of other problems.
As would be predicted, the party, which has ruled since 2008, mentions in some detail its achievements over this period including various schemes intended for the poor and other projects which leaders of the party flanking Mr Faheem stated had achieved a great deal. This, of course, is the way party manifestos go. The PPP-P has also blamed provinces for failing to make use of the powers devolved to them and dealing with problems which include law and order and the power shortfall. This, of course, is partly true, but it is also a fact, as provinces have said repeatedly, that they lack both resources and experience to tackle such major problems.
The main issue though is that a list of promises does not really make up a manifesto. Most people in the country have come to realise that such slogans are virtually meaningless in themselves and that a great deal more is needed if their lives are ever going to change. It is also a fact that manifestos figure only at election time and are more or less cast aside after this. No one really refers back to them or to the pledges made in them. But manifestos mean more than this. Merely saying it intends to serve the poor and going back to nostalgic slogans which emphasise this, really achieves little purpose. Actual action is required and this is what people across the country yearn to see from the political leadership after they cast their ballots.
Derailed relations
In the latest step backwards in the peace process, India has decided to put on hold the issuance of group tourist visas to Pakistanis, a day before the measure was to be introduced. Additionally, the Indian hockey team has also pulled out of a proposed tour to Pakistan when, as expected, the team did not get permission from its government. This sudden hostility dates back to the twin incidents at the Line of Control (LoC), when soldiers from both countries were killed in separate incidents. It is India, however, that has since taken the lead in dismantling the gains of two years of peace talks. First, it suspended a proposed plan to allow elderly Pakistanis a visa on arrival. Soon after, protests in Mumbai forced our hockey players to return home and our women’s cricket team to play its matches in another city, where security concerns forced them to live in the stadium’s clubhouse. Pakistani diplomats were also barred from attending the Jaipur Literature Festival.
Some feel that these steps are election gimmicks and that the Indian government needs to please its voter base at this point in time. But surely, the tireless efforts of years on the foreign policy front of a country must not be disregarded on a whim. India needs to accept that both countries share equal responsibility for the LoC incidents, which remain shrouded in mystery.
India has also rejected our offer to have the UN investigate the LoC killings as it refuses to accept any involvement from an outside authority in Kashmir, knowing that it may lead to a demand that UN resolutions on the disputed territory be heeded. However, breaking off people-to-people contact is a surefire way to sow even further hatred and ignorance. There can only be normalisation of relations if there are greater cultural, sporting and literary ties between the two countries. Progress on political issues will then surely follow, as we have seen repeatedly before the LoC incidents derailed ties.