NFC deadlock?
THE latest meeting of the National Finance Commission held on Monday saw the government asking the provinces to bear a greater share of the burden of growing security expenditures. Meanwhile, the provinces made their demands for more revenue lines to be devolved in the next NFC award. The makings of a deadlock are now apparent. The provinces are unlikely to yield to the centre’s demand, while the finance minister’s suggestion that other routes can be sought to limit the quantum of resources that flow to the provinces under the last NFC arrangement could take on the appearance of a threat to act unilaterally. Given the powerful imperative that the government has put behind its demand for sharing the growing costs of the burden of security expenditures, it will be difficult for the provinces to make a clear case against the proposal.
The finance minister has proposed that 3pc of the federal divisible pool be set aside to be used to meet the growing expenditures arising from the creation of new security wings, some for CPEC’s safety and some others for internal duties. The argument for creating a larger security force is a separate debate for another time considering the stark challenges that continue to bedevil the country despite the improvements of the past few years. But this manner of arranging resources should be carefully considered for the precedent that it sets, and for the possibilities of upward creep it creates for the future.
When considering the proposal, it is imperative to point out that we are in this position because of a failure to mobilise domestic resources to pay for the expenses of a modern state, advice that has been repeatedly given to us by the rest of the world at every forum for well over three decades now. The resource constraints are now biting harder and harder as the government has tapped out all other revenue lines, whether ad hoc taxes on banking transactions, or greater reliance on withholding taxes to burden compliant taxpayers further, or even surcharges on utility bills such as power and gas. The failure to build a revenue base to sustain the state’s growing resource requirements has driven the government to ask the provinces to share the burden as well, after having made it as difficult as possible for those paying their bills and taxes. And on that count, to begin a long-drawn process of mobilising a new source of revenue that taps undocumented incomes and can credibly grow to become a major revenue source in the future, the government’s failure is manifest. It is the cost of this failure that it is now bringing to the provinces and asking them to share the burden of. The NFC award was supposed to devolve further resources and responsibilities to the provinces, but now it appears to be heading towards a deadlock.
PTI and parliament
OFTEN fighting it out in the streets, both the PML-N and PTI have been taken to task over how little importance they accord to the proceedings in parliament. The ruling party has often been accused of ignoring the two houses until forced to occasionally return to the ultimate forum of democratic solution-finding in a dire moment. Meanwhile, where parliamentary debate is concerned, the PTI leader has shown similar arrogance. Indeed, as someone who claims to have been denied his rightful numbers in the assemblies, Imran Khan has often been found bristling at even the mere suggestion that his party was doing no one any favours by continuing to stay away from the elected houses in Islamabad. It is a surprise then that the PTI has allowed its lawmakers to take part in the working of the standing committees of the Senate and National Assembly. Sceptics biased against Mr Khan and his politics may be inclined to see this as part of a grand strategy. They might want to project it as opening a face-saving avenue for the PTI in the event it is left with no option but to commit to working within the system at some future point. Suppose the opposition party cannot do anything else and is forced to retrace its steps to the Assembly. In such a scenario, as opposed to moving from total isolation, working with the committees would make it just a little easier for it to make the otherwise tough transition.
There is definitely a problem. The PTI must go on pressing with its campaign that is, above and over all recent corruption stories, ultimately based on the complaint that the party was hard done by in the 2013 election. This is a perception which seems to be shared by large enough sections of Pakistanis to have provided the central point of politics in the country for so long. Mr Khan is obviously aware of his support base and would be inclined to make statements aimed at keeping this capital secure. However, side by side exists a most pronounced, even unprecedented chorus that speaks about the need to not waste the democratic parliamentary thrust that exists today in Pakistan after decades of going astray. The PTI as a major party must keep this second reality in mind. It cannot stay too far away from the Senate and National Assembly. Preferably, it must be inside parliament.
Cabinet expansion
IN both established democracies and evolving set-ups — such as ours — a variety of interests have to be accommodated by those in power. There are campaign promises to fulfil, special interest groups to satisfy and ‘electables’ whose calls must be heeded. In Pakistan, biradari, regional and tribal interests must be added to this mix. One way of pleasing different interest groups is to accommodate them in the cabinet, and Pakistan has a hallowed tradition of jumbo cabinets, even though the 18th Amendment has sought to control the size of government. In keeping with this political tradition, the Punjab government expanded the cabinet on Sunday; 11 ministers, as well as a number of special assistants and advisers, were added to the provincial cabinet. This brings the number of ministers in Punjab to 31, while the cabinet also contains special assistants and advisers. Seemingly, Punjab is following in the footsteps of Sindh, as the latter has a cabinet of over 40. However, both these administrations pale in comparison to the jumbo set-up Aslam Raisani once managed in Balochistan; over 50 worthies were part of the cabinet in a house of 65 MPAs. It is difficult to understand how the provincial high-ups manage such fuzzy maths, for the 18th Amendment expressly limits provincial cabinet size to 15 ministers, or 11pc of the assembly, “whichever is higher”.
In Punjab’s case, the expansion apparently took place to accommodate disgruntled elements who could not be fitted into the new local government scheme, as well as to accord southern Punjab greater representation, though the region still remains
under-represented. Moreover, the N-League has an eye on 2018; various interest groups have to be pacified and cajoled to ensure the party puts up a solid performance in the next national polls. Whatever the justification, there is valid criticism that Shahbaz Sharif should delegate authority as despite the large cabinet, the Punjab chief minister prefers the one-man style of governance. Voters would also be justified in expecting better service delivery from the enlarged cabinet.
Published in Dawn November 29th, 2016