Census urgency
AFTER promising to hold the census in March this year, the government is now giving assurances it will be held next year. But its words ring hollow at this point. The last time, too, we were given assurances that the exercise would be held on time, and then a postponement was announced, with the authorities citing the unavailability of army personnel needed for security and supervision during the population count. To most observers though, a delay was expected long before the last-minute announcement; little groundwork had been done, and funds had not been released. In fact, it was baffling to see the government trying to convince parliament that the census would be held on time when there was no sign that preparations were under way for the count.
This time, once again, parliament has been assured by the law minister that the census will be held next March. Several questions naturally arise: have the requisite funds for the exercise been released? Has the preparatory work for such a mammoth exercise begun? After all, the census is not like counting chickens in a coop. And how exactly does the government intend to ensure that this time there will be enough military presence for security and supervision? Considering that the last census was held in 1998 and that subsequent dispensations shied away from conducting a population count, one would not be surprised if the government were once again to go back on its commitment.
If we remain stuck on the question of availability of military personnel, the census will never be conducted. It is unlikely that the myriad engagements the military is caught up in will subside in the near future. It is also difficult to believe that there is no way around this issue. It is common knowledge that compelling political considerations revolve around a census exercise due to the ramifications it has for provincial seat shares in parliament. Even here a solution can be found in the model that freezes provincial seat shares for a certain number of years, irrespective of the outcome of the census. The point is that the state is largely working blind in its policy formulation, given that the census data it relies on is 18 years old. If, with its majority in parliament, the government cannot muster the will to rectify matters, and can only put up an appearance of being keen to hold the census, only to back down at the last minute, then it cannot expect its governance track record to be taken seriously. The census is a priority for the state, and it must be conducted within the next few months — before preparations start for the general elections due in 2018. The rulers should not leave this unfinished business for the next government.
Poll reform
THE transfer of electoral rolls from Nadra to the Election Commission of Pakistan may seem like an obscure bureaucratic exercise that has little substantive relevance to the holding of free and fair polls at the time of the next general election. In reality, however, the process of transferring electoral rolls — done as per an agreement between the ECP and Nadra — indicates just how far off the agenda poll reforms and the holding of meaningfully free and fair elections have fallen. According to a recent report in this newspaper, no less than an ECP member himself raised concerns about the electoral body’s capacity to handle an electronic databank of approximately 100m voters. Moreover, the procedure for adding new voters to the electoral rolls has yet to be determined. These developments reiterate at least three flaws with the electoral process in the country. First, the holding of free and fair polls, while vital to the democratic process, is inherently a technical and bureaucratic exercise. Within that process, the sanctity and accuracy of electoral rolls is paramount — if the list of voters itself is compromised, tampered with or in some way incomplete, voters are disenfranchised and the electoral process is damaged. Incomplete and inaccurate electoral rolls are a historical problem that surely should now finally be resolved.
Second, the stalled ECP reforms continue to be a troubling road block in the quest for free and fair polls. While parliament has gone to the extent of passing a constitutional amendment to modify the composition of ECP membership, the quantum of resources, the staff and the powers at the disposal of the body are still areas of significant problems. Ultimately, the ECP can only be effective if the orders issued by its members are implemented scrupulously and in a disciplined manner across the country. The ECP apex consists of four members and a chief election commissioner, but below it sits a vast implementing system — and it is often at those tiers, especially at the local level, that problems arise. Thus far, the very valid needs and enhanced resource allocation for the ECP are matters that have largely been ignored. Third, are overall electoral reforms really a part of the government and combined opposition’s agenda? While some persistent MNAs continue to pursue specific electoral reforms, the parliamentary committee responsible appears to have all but run out of steam. Electoral reforms cannot happen without parliament’s interest and attention.
CII’s irrelevance
SOMETIMES, reform is not the answer. A case in point is the resolution unanimously passed by the Senate on Tuesday recommending that women be given increased representation in the Council of Islamic Ideology.
The strength of this constitutional body is stipulated to be between eight and 20, which must include at least one woman member. The fact that a PPP senator, Sehar Kamran, had moved the resolution was particularly curious. Only a few months ago, another PPP senator, Farhatullah Babar, had called for the CII to be disbanded altogether. Along with some other members in the Senate committee on human rights, he had denounced the CII’s misogyny and its inordinate focus on issues pertaining to women and marriage.
The CII is among several elements of a regressive legacy that continue to bedevil Pakistan. With the Constitution containing the proviso that no law shall be framed contrary to the Quran and Sunnah, a body tasked with assessing whether laws conform to Islamic principles or not, is entirely redundant.
The argument that it has only an advisory role is specious, for even in this capacity the CII has derailed or, at the very least, watered down attempts at legislation seeking to empower women. It serves as a platform for representatives from right-wing groups outside parliament to exercise influence over the process of legislation and introduce confusion in the public debate often through misinformation and flawed reasoning.
In an environment where violence against women can take the most horrific forms, the CII uses its bully pulpit — not to mention its Rs100m budget — to try and further rob women of their agency. It has denounced a minimum age for marriage as un-Islamic, rejected the use of DNA as primary evidence in rape cases and slammed Punjab’s new women’s protection law — and this is only a sampling of its recent ponderings.
Having more women on the CII is no solution: the council should be written out of the statute books.
Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2016