Party-based LG polls
MOST of the country, apart from Balochistan, which has already conducted the exercise, is finally on the path to holding local government elections, largely thanks to the efforts and persistence of the higher judiciary. And interestingly, it is also the courts that are actively working to address the anomalies that stand in the way of representative, democratic local polls countrywide. On Monday, the Lahore High Court declared that non-party polls in cantonments were “unconstitutional” and ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to hold these on a party basis. This is indeed a welcome decision as there is no reason why LG polls in cantonments — scheduled to be held this month — should be conducted on a non-party basis. For all purposes, most cantonments across Pakistan have today become residential areas much like the ‘civilian’ parts of town where citizens from all walks of life reside along with military personnel, retired or otherwise. Gone are the days when these facilities used to be located far from population centres and housed only those in uniform. In recognition of these realities, the residents of cantonments must have the right to choose local representatives with political affiliations. If party-based polls will now take place countrywide, there is no logical reason why party-less elections should be held in the Islamabad Capital Territory.
As per the bill passed in the National Assembly recently, the federal capital is supposed to have non-party polls. This legislation needs to be reviewed. What is ironic is that while the courts are pushing for party-based polls, the military, in the areas it controls, has shown resistance to the idea, while the PML-N wants party-less elections in Islamabad lest one of its political opponents ends up heading the capital’s local government. It needs to be realised that non-party LG polls, as well as party-less elections to the national legislature, are amongst the legacies of military rule; a democratic ethos demands that people be free to choose candidates with political affiliations from the local level up. After much nudging and prodding by the judiciary, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Punjab are all now working to hold the polls before the Supreme Court’s September deadline arrives. KP is due to hold the elections in May while Sindh and Punjab’s polls are due in September. As we have said before, local polls help instil the democratic spirit at the grass-roots level and local governments serve as nurseries for politicians who can be groomed to serve at the provincial and national levels.
What is more, the absence of elected local governments for an extended period has had a negative effect on civic life where both infrastructure and services are concerned. Representative rule at the local level is essential to provide timely solutions to people at the neighbourhood and town level, without citizens having to line up before the provincial bureaucracy or lawmakers.
A role for the OIC?
AS the aerial bombardment of the Houthis in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition continues and as Pakistan continues to flirt with the possibility of entering the latest Middle East conflict militarily — Defence Minister Khwaja Asif is in Saudi along with representatives of all three services for talks with Saudi officials — there is also an effort by Pakistan to keep the diplomatic wheels turning. On Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office put out a statement that, while not explicitly saying so, suggested an effort to activate the OIC to play some kind of role to bring the conflict in Yemen to an early end and prevent it from spilling over onto Saudi soil. That is a good idea, not just for a moribund organisation, but for restoring peace in the Saudi-Yemen region of the Middle East. It seems likely that a military solution will perhaps only temporarily quell the Houthi uprising. Therefore, involving the sum total of the Muslim world and using the preeminent forum for Muslim states to attempt a diplomatic solution in the Yemen conflict would, if successful, have all manner of positive consequences for a Muslim world riven by conflict. There remains though — despite the federal government’s best intentions — the first problem of carving out a credible space for the OIC to act as an impartial mediator in the Yemen conflict.
Under the present Saudi secretary general, Iyad Ameen Madani, the OIC has taken a distinctly anti-Houthi, pro-Saudi stance. The OIC has not only supported the Saudi-led military actions in Yemen but its secretary general has openly blasted the Houthis, blaming them for the civil war and claiming that military action was necessary to save Yemen from “the chaos unleashed on it by the Houthi group and its repercussions for the entire region”. Given that fierce stance by the OIC’s chief, it hardly seems likely that the Houthis will want to negotiate at an OIC table. However, the OIC’s present slant is also a function of it becoming hostage to political bickering and the Muslim world being pulled between two poles, Saudi Arabia and Iran. If countries like Pakistan were to promote the idea of the OIC becoming a conflict-resolution forum and were to do so without explicitly favouring one side in the intra-Yemen conflict over another, there could be a possibility of making the OIC relevant again. But then much would depend on the Pakistani delegation presently in Saudi first not committing to fight on the side of the Saudi-led coalition.
Stock market upheaval
THE strong bout of volatility that just hit the Karachi Stock Exchange shows that the country’s capital markets continue to have fundamental weaknesses in spite of a decade of reforms. According to market players, the volatility began when a foreign fund began pulling out its money, said to be around $130m, for reasons of its own. The outflow, hardly a large amount, sparked panic which went out of control very quickly. Company fundamentals had no role to play in this. The month of March saw $87m pulled out by foreign investors with normality returning when $2m flowed in on March 30. The amounts are tiny, but the swings they were able to spark were very large, showing the market’s vulnerability to sentiment. The community of brokers has already been on edge due to some actions taken by the regulator to stem wrongful practices such as insider trading and front running. The edginess is a clear indicator that such practices remain an important part of doing business in the stock market, and the powerful storm of sentiment that just swept the trade floor shows the weak footing on which the market stands.
Small investors should continue to look at the stock market as a place to keep their savings, but the vulnerabilities show that it would be better to take a long-term view and not become easily spooked by the wild swings that are the hallmark of the stock market. Between speculative swings, panic withdrawals and wrongful practices, the stock market remains a good place from where to secure a decent return on one’s savings, but only if one has the staying power to remain in the game long enough. Swings of this sort tend to wipe out small investors with no staying power, and that is one reason why further reforms are necessary to ensure that sentiment remains as tightly chained as possible, and wrongful practices are duly prosecuted. In the meantime, let the buyer beware.
Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2015
http://www.dawn.com/newspaper/editorial