June 2, 2012
Mohammad Malick

Out of the blue, the Punjab government announced on Thursday its ‘intention’ to hold local bodies elections. While the decision was a bit unexpected, the omission of an actual timeline wasn’t. The latest move appears nothing more then a deft manoeuvre to avoid a legal bind a la Sindh, where the Sindh government has been ordered by the Sindh High Court to hold Local Government (LB) elections within 90 days.

Taking a cue from their political elders in Islamabad, the Sindh government however has no intentions to honour the orders of the superior judiciary. Word has it that final touches are being given to a proposed law to sanction a six-month transition period preceding the holding of such elections. Even if such a law is brought in, it is bound to be challenged in the SHC, prompting another round of legal wrangling which will consume a few more weeks, if not months. Avoiding implementing court verdicts and buying time, has become the standard modus operandi of both our federal and provincial governments.

Punjab has gone a step further. It has smartly tried preempting any judicial intervention through its voluntary announcement of holding elections. Interestingly, while the timing and other critical details of the pronounced intent are missing, the government bureaucracy has simultaneously initiated a move that belies the very spirit of the LG system: bureaucratic hold over local governance – essentially the people’s domain. The LG election announcement was coupled with the Punjab government’s intent to bring back our bureaucratic lords and masters, the DMG-run office of a deputy commissioner even if under another nomenclature.

When it comes to the morality of realpolitik, Constitutional violations matter little; what matters more is the end result. Ignoring the constitutionally mandated LG system in favour of a bureaucrat-run fiefdom has immense tactical advantages – especially in an election year.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the government had the audacity to amend the CPC, a federal law, to facilitate the revival of the old magistracy system – a blatant violation of the laid down principle of separation of executive and judiciary. In this instance, the Peshawar High Court had to step in and declare the action illegal.

In Balochistan, those in power have even stopped feigning concern over this matter. Taking up the missing person’s case in Balochistan, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry grilled the province’s chief secretary over the absence of the local government system. He was bang on dot when he said had the local governance system been in place, forget local development, there would have been effective policing and perhaps fewer people would have gone missing.

So what is it that the provincial governments so despise about the local government system? Is it the MPA-MNA combine egged on by the bureaucratic behemoth that is so averse to devolution of authority to the grass roots level? Is it about the misuse of billions of rupees that should otherwise, as per law, have been spent by the people on their own development? The answer: it’s a combination of all of the above, with the silent bureaucracy inflicting the worst damage.

For starters, none of the provincial governments want to hold local government polls just before a general election. Unfavourable electoral results threaten to puncture the Teflon coating of perceived impregnability. A string of election disappointments could actually set in motion an irreversible political momentum against the incumbent ruling dispensations.

All kinds of ruses have been offered by virtually every provincial capital and the centre to avoid local government elections. Courts have been told, at various times, that work is being done on the local government legislation and hence the inevitable delays. Sure, in Punjab some amendments were indeed brought in post the 18th Amendment but these primarily remained confined to seeking four time period extensions in holding LG polls, ranging from six months to a year at a time. The centre said security was an issue in Islamabad. KPK also went the security route as did Sindh but otherwise, both conveniently also held assembly bye-elections.

The excuse of old electoral rolls has also been cited but nobody said a word when the government held nationwide elections for Azad Kashmir on the same ‘inaccurate’ voter lists. Even the assembly bye-polls in different provinces were held on the same old electoral rolls.

So clearly, what is good for the provincial goose is definitely not good for the local government gander.

But political power and bureaucratic control is only half the story. It’s money, and big money for that matter. We’re talking tens of billions of rupees every year. According to a report prepared by The Local Councils Association, with a little tweaking of the rules and procedures, billions of rupees of local government funds are being blown away with impunity by the provincial governments.

According to this study of Local Finance in Pre and Post 18thAmendment and Seventh NFC Award, the Punjab government alone gobbled up Rs119 billion of local government funds, Sindh anywhere around Rs61 billion, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rs26 billion. Simply put, between them the three provincial governments have eaten up over Rs206 billion of local government funds – money that locally elected peoples representatives should have spent on local development based on local priorities. Instead, these billions were spent by provincial leaders through their hand-picked bureaucrats.

Little wonder there is nothing tangible to show on the ground. The ‘official theft’ in Balochistan cannot be revealed because due to the supersession of BLOG 2001 by the Balochistan Local Government Act 2010, provisions relating to appropriation of funds to local governments under the Provincial Finance Commission Award discontinued in the provincial budgets.

At least now you know where the money is coming for politically motivated schemes like laptops, Ashiana housing, yellow cabs etc. In all fairness, any elected government has a right to initiate such public welfare schemes but it must do so from its own legal resources and not by usurping those of other constitutional bodies. Democracy does not stop with devolution of power from the Centre to the provinces but must go right down to the grass roots level. Unfortunately, post the 18th Amendment, the provincial capitals are meting out the same treatment to the local governments that they once accused the Centre of sending their way.

Ironically, nobody is opposing the local government system per se but neither is there any ‘official or political’ willingness to let it see the light of the day. The chairman National Movement to Restore Local Government, Danyal Aziz, puts it succinctly when he says, “Because all parties passed the 18th Amendment they know local government is the cure but they are like a doctor who is deliberately giving the wrong injection to 180 million people for selfish reasons”.

There are no two opinions about the collective wisdom of people being the soul of true democracy. But is this wisdom confined to the constituencies of the national and provincial legislatures? If the people are wise enough to choose their leadership at those levels, then aren’t the same people sensible enough to elect those from amongst themselves to deal with their local issues and development?

The writer is editor The News, Islamabad. Email: mohammad.malick1 @gmail.com
-The News

June 4, 2012
By Shahid Javed Burki

In this final article on the relative development and backwardness of the administrative districts in the province of Punjab, I will take up the issue of public policy. Following the added responsibilities transferred to the provinces by the Eighteenth Amendment and the promise of the flow of additional resources from the federal to the provincial governments as a consequence of the Seventh Award of the National Finance Commission, the provinces now have larger space available to them to address their problems. For Lahore, regional disparities need to be addressed with considerable seriousness.

As discussed in the earlier articles, those that have been left behind economically and socially are mostly in the south, those that are relatively better off are mainly from the districts in the province’s centre and a couple in the north. Given what we know and what I have discussed before, raises an important issue concerning public policy. What can the provincial government do to close the yawning gap between the province’s backward areas and those that have done well?

A comparison of the overall development ranking of the districts with the three sets of indicators used for this purpose (income and wealth, social development, and development of economic infrastructure) yields a number of interesting results. It should be expected that the top districts would do well in terms of income and wealth. That, surprisingly, is not the case. There is more than a five-point difference between district ranking on the development scale compared with the ranking on the scale of income and wealth for 17 out of the 35 districts. In other words, almost one-half of the districts do well even when their wealth and income indicators are not very high. To take two extreme examples: Gujrat ranks 16th on the development scale but is 33rd on the scale of income and wealth. This means that there are factors other than wealth and income that have contributed to the district’s better performance. Long-distance migration that results in large flow of remittances may be one of them.

The other extreme is the district of Bhakkar, which is 22nd on the development scale but sixth on the income and wealth scale. By and large, the less developed districts in the south do better in terms of income and wealth. This may well be because averages used for wealth and income hide the extremes in their distribution. However, since distribution data are not available at the district level this conclusion will remain in the realm of speculation.

The relative backwardness of the south is largely because of poor social development and poorly-developed economic infrastructure. These, as indicated above, are the other two indicators of overall development used by the Institute of Public Policy in its recent work on Punjab. It is, therefore, in these two areas that public policy needs to focus on to reduce the development gap between the more and less developed districts of the province. In these two broad areas, the provincial government should pay particular attention to four things: education, in particular at the tertiary level; health care; improvement of the irrigation system; and inter-district transport. I will say a few words about each of these four areas of public policy focus.

The need for getting all children educated has long been recognised as an important development objective. It is one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) to which Pakistan has subscribed. However, while this MDG is to be met by 2015, Pakistan remains way behind. This is particularly the case for the country’s backward areas, including the less developed districts of Punjab. While the realisation of this goal must receive the attention of all governments, Punjab should give special attention to improving the levels of skills of the youth in the province. A public-private sector partnership should be developed where the government could provide land grants and supporting infrastructure to private operators who have demonstrated their ability to provide quality higher education. These seasoned educational entrepreneurs should be encouraged to establish vocational institutions in the areas where the region could establish new industrial and service sector enterprises.

In the health sector as well, the government, while focusing on providing primary care, could work with private parties to build hospitals in all the less developed districts. These medical establishments should be part of an integrated chain with different district centres specialising in different areas of medical expertise. This way patients will not need to go to the more developed cities in the province to get the medical attention they need.

There is now a realisation that Pakistan has not given as much attention to maintaining and further developing the rich irrigation infrastructure it inherited from the British period. It is a water-scarce country, which needs to properly husband this precious resource. The Punjab government needs to formulate an action plan aimed at providing the neglected infrastructure the maintenance it needs.

Developing a road network linking the districts is the fourth priority for the government’s focus. Such a network is needed so that south Punjab can move towards developing agro-processing industry. The new retail chains that have arrived in the country and set up shop in some of the major cities have indicated that they would be able to increase their processing activity if they can quickly move perishable commodities from the production areas to processing centres.

I will conclude this series of articles with the suggestion that the policymakers operating from Lahore may consider developing a special plan for the development of the backward districts. The plan should be formulated by involving the private sector and by consulting the citizens of the districts. And it should indicate the source of the required funding including the possibility of levying a ‘backward areas development tax’ on consumption in the relatively better-to-do parts of the province.

The Express Tribune

June 5, 2012
Ayaz Wazir

There are a number of suggestions as to the future set-up in Fata, ranging from maintenance of the status quo to its merger with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. An overwhelming majority advocates giving provincial status to the territory. Here are the pros and cons of each option:

Status quo: In other words, continuation of the colonial system of governance through the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) imposed by the British in 1901. The civil and military bureaucracy and the privileged class (the maliks) favour continuation of this system of colonial administration whereby not only harsh measures or punishments can be imposed on the populace, without accountability to any quarter, but also provides the privileged with ample space for making easy money.

The FCR is draconian, inhumane and unconstitutional. It negates the very concept of democracy. Under this system the inhabitants are kept suppressed, their rights are usurped and their legitimate demands and aspirations are never met. Those administering the area are not accountable to anyone. Development does not figure anywhere in this system which is why Fata is extremely backward.

Extension of the law of Pakistan: This means extension of the laws of the land to Fata without further loss of time. The advocates of this system believe all people will have equal rights and equal opportunities for access to justice.

There is every possibility that the tribesmen, having lived for centuries under their own tribal customs and traditions, like Pashtunwali, will not be able to adjust to and accept an overnight change without an alternative system of governance, at least for an interim period. They are used to speedy justice based on truth and actual facts, and not to resolving disputes through the police or courts with protracted procedures or legalities as elsewhere in the country. It will have serious repercussions and may well lead to violent protests.

Merger with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa: Under this system, Fata is to be merged into Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa by extension of the laws of the land. The difference between the two is that this way it will become a part of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, whereas in the option discussed earlier it would remain a separate unit as it is.

The strongest argument that its supporter offer is that Fata already depends for services and general administration on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The two have a common governor and a secretariat dealing with Fata based in Peshawar. Officers and staff including political agents are sent from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to all the seven tribal agencies of Fata. Its proximity with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa makes it a perfect case of merger, they believe. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has recently passed a resolution demanding Fata’s merger into the province.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa does not accept responsibility for developing Fata, but on the other hand its chief secretary posts officers of civil bureaucracy from Peshawar to and from Fata. This means that without being held responsible he runs the administration of Fata, although indirectly. This duality has adversely affected the political and economic development of that area.

The governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa being an agent of the president administers Fata through his civil service appointees called political agents. Since the creation of the country invariably all its governors have belonged to the settled districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, barring a few from Punjab.

Our political parties have not played any commendable role in bringing about positive changes in Fata. Their leaderships allowed incorporation of Article 247 (b) in the Constitution which ousts the jurisdiction of both parliament and the Supreme Court from the affairs of Fata, thereby placing it at the mercy and whims of one individual, the president of Pakistan. Those leaders should have objected to the inclusion of this clause or their followers demanded its repeal in the subsequent constitutional amendments, but they did nothing other than keeping silent in order to maintain the status quo.

Fata, being less-developed, will be taken over by the moneyed class of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa if it is merged with that province. Its strategic location makes it a real estate attraction for the rich to invest and buy land and properties. They will turn the local tribesmen into refugees within their own territory through acquisition of their properties at throwaway prices.

Also, merger with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa will entail extention of the legal system, the courts, system which the people there are not used to. The local people abhor the court system where cases take ages to resolve and in many instances the applicants spend life savings and decades in pursuit of justice.

It should be left to the tribesmen to decide whether to scrap their system, or make changes in it, rather than having outsiders decide it for them. Merger without proper homework and an alternative justice system will have worse repercussions than those in Swat and Malakand.

Fata as a separate province: A great number of people favour this proposal because this way the people will have a government of their own similar to the other provinces of the country. However, while they will wholeheartedly welcome getting the status of a province the tribesmen have reservations about the extension of the laws of the land. They are used to quick and real justice under their tribal culture.

Another important factor that deters the tribesmen from accepting the laws of the land is the daily perpetration of heinous crimes in the settled districts, where women are paraded naked in the villages, people lynched by mobs and custodians of the law resort to targeted killings in broad daylight, and the system does nothing to stop that. This makes the tribesmen despise the “thana” (police station) culture and prefer their own customs and traditions which are in no way a hindrance to good governance or a threat to the security of the nation.

In view of the fact that the people in Fata have been denied their rights to participate in the policymaking process and governance of the area for too long and outsiders are making decisions for them, the area has been deprived of development despite claims to the contrary. Nothing of the sort has been done so far and promises of development remained just promises and nothing else.

In order to bring Fata out of the darkness that it is in today its people have to come forward and take responsibilities for themselves for doing what others have failed to do in the 65 year history of this country. This establishes the claim of the tribesmen that without their participation in all matters pertaining to them Fata will never be developed, nor will real efforts be made to bring it at par with the rest of the country.

To achieve this objective matters need to be corrected forthwith. It is well known that the importance of the governor of their system is mainly because of Fata but no one from there has been made responsible for the administration of that area. This legitimate demand of the people of Fata should immediately be fulfilled and a tribesman appointed governor, who should constitute a council of elected members representing each tribal agency to administer Fata and oversee all matters concerning that area like a provincial cabinet does in a province. Alternatively, a separate post of governor should be created for Fata from among the people of the tribal areas with a council to assist him.

Once the people are empowered only then should the questions of merger with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa or keeping it as a separate federating unit (province) be decided by the people there.

The writer is a former ambassador. Email: waziruk@hotmail.com
-The News

By: Inayatullah | March 16, 2013 . 0

We have, during the last few days, seen a string of positive and desirable steps taken by the federal government and the National Assembly. These include the assignment of management of the Gwadar seaport to China and the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline agreement. Also, the rushed Anti-Terrorism Bill and the passing of some meaningful social legislation. Though late, these initiatives are, indeed, welcome.

A lot of credit is claimed for the elected Assemblies completing their terms of five years, as also the continuation of democratic governments. What, however, has been the record of their performance? They enjoyed electoral legitimacy, but did they also meet the demands of performance legitimacy?
Is Pakistan today better off compared to 2008 when these goverments assumed control? Are the people of Pakistan more prosperous, more secure and more progressive? What kind of legacy is being gifted in terms of the state of the economy, law and order and welfare of the masses? Has the industry moved up by leaps and bounds, providing the much needed employment? Have we caught up with the rest of the world in education and healthcare? Have we restored peace and initiated development works in our backward and neglected areas like Fata, Waziristan and Balochistan? Have we taken good care of the flood affected towns and villages? Has there been some headway in learning to live together and a better treatment and care of women and minorities? Have we taken serious steps to impart literacy skills to more than 55 million illiterate Pakistanis? Have we managed to control the growth of population? How good is school and college education? Are hospitals in the rural areas better manned and equipped to provide treatment to the poorer sections of the society? Has our image internationally improved a wee bit? Or has it worsened?

The United Nations Report on Human Development 2013 released last Thursday, speaks of the “Rise of the South”. It extols the rapid strides made by China, Brazil and India. Pakistan does not figure in the four dozen or so developing countries, which have done remarkably well. These include Turkey, Mexico, Thailand, South Africa and Indonesia. In 2010, Pakistan ranked 125th worldwide. In 2012, it came down to 146th. This marked decline sums up the downward trends in Pakistan.

It makes one sad to read the Transparency International’s latest assessment of the government’s performance. Just read some of its findings: More than Rs 18 trillion were lost to the nation because of corruption and bad governance (one may recall the NAB Chairman’s statement that Rs 10-12 billion go down the corruption drain every year). In the scale of the most corrupt countries of the world, Pakistan has risen by 12 places during the last five years. Adil Gillani, the Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) Adviser, said: “Last five years period in Pakistan’s short history has been the worst in governance and corruption.”

The TIP has highlighted the mega corruption cases. A number of them were taken up by the Supreme Court. The report mention’s some of them. These are: the Rental Power Plants (RPPs) deal, Rs 500 million, NICL, Rs 8 billion, Pakistan Steel Mills, Rs 20 billion, Punjab Bank, Rs 10 billion and hundreds of billions in Pakistan Railways, OGRA, Hajj payments, LNG imports, KESC, WAPDA, CDA, Neelum-Jhelum project, NHA, SCCL, PSO, PIA, and OGDCL.
Just last year, the country’s ranking on the international Ease of Doing Business index fell from 104th to 107th. Pakistan has been described as the most dangerous country in the world. UNESCO declared it in 2012 as the second most dangerous for the journalists. During the last five years, the consumer price index rose from 100 points to 173, and the dollar to rupee conversion rate slipped from Rs 60 to more than Rs 100.

The TIP also pointed out that not a single case of mega corruption was successfully prosecuted by FIA or NAB during this period. It would be unrealistic not to acknowledge the commendable contribution made by the PPP-led coalition government towards desirable amendments of the constitution.

It is also appropriate to compliment the government from implementing part of the Parliamentary Resolution and APC recommendations, stopping Nato containers to use Pakistani routes for carrying supplies to Afghanistan for a considerable period of time.

Mention, too, however, should be made of a surprising failure on the part of PPP to bring the killers of Benazir Bhutto to book during all the five years.
(The TIP has found Punjab as the least corrupt compared to other three provinces. Some of the projects completed in record time by the Punjab government - in particular education, communication and transport schemes - are worthy examples of competence for the centre and other provinces to follow.)

As against this dismal picture depicted above, it looks odd, if not amusing, to read the contents of the manifesto dished out by the PPP. The rainbow promises and sweet dreams projected in it defy logic and even commonsense. A number of core priorities have been unveiled. These are: meeting the basic needs of the people, employment for all, equitable and inclusive growth, infrastructure for the future, a new social contract and protection of the people.

Moreover, a pledge to increase cheaper electricity by 12,000 megawatts, roti, kapra and makan and a minimum wage of Rs 18,000 (3,000 more than the figure put forward by PML-N). Hardly any comments are needed on these tall targets, considering the party’s performance during the long five years.
It will be an act of gross omission if General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s commendable restraint is not duly appreciated. His resolve not to interfere in political affairs helped a great deal in ensuring completion of the term by the elected governments. Kudos also to the Supreme Court, media and the civil society for the democratic process to continue.

At the end, it would be instructive for Pakistani politicians to heed the sane observations and advice tendered in the UN Human Development Report 2013 for the guidance of the developing countries: how have so many countries in the South transformed their human development prospects?....…there have been three notable drivers of development - a proactive developmental state, tapping of global markets and determined social policy and innovation....…They challenge preconceived and prescriptive approaches…....A strong, proactive and responsible state develops policies for both public and private sectors - based on a long-term vision and leadership, shared norms and values, and rules and institutions that build trust and cohesion…....Promoting equality, particularly among different religious, ethnic or racial groups, also helps reduce social conflict.

Social policy has to promote inclusion and provide basic social services, which can underpin long-term economic growth....…Investments in human development are justified not only on moral grounds, but also because improvements in health, education and social welfare are key to success in a more competitive and dynamic world economy…....Good policymaking also requires greater focus on enhancing social capacities, not just individual capabilities.…...Active civil society and social movements, both national and transnational, are using the media to amplify their calls for just and fair governance.

The writer is an ex-federal secretary and ambassador, and a freelance political
and international relations analyst.
Email: pacade@brain.net.pk

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-ne...-s-performance

March 16, 2013 . 0

The country’s leadership can justly take pride in the fact that the outgoing National Assembly has completed its full-term of five years for the first time in the democratic interludes of Pakistan; for General Musharraf’s crafted NA ‘elected’ in 2002 had also gone on to complete its full term. After the military dictator’s exit, the people had expected that their new representatives whom they voted into power would be more responsive to their needs, thus making the burden of life easier for them to bear. Sadly, they found their troubles ever mounting, while the MPs sparing no effort to amass any perk or privilege they could think of. A long era of despondency descended on the nation; at times the despair led the people to violent protests for instance, in the cases of excessive loadshedding and the fast rising prices. They saw little of comfort coming to them from the august halls of the NA.

Looking at its proceedings one would conclude that more often than not they were lacklustre, studded with lack of forum, absence of concerned ministers right when issues related to their ministries were being debated, etc. Brawls and fisticuffs and rowdy scenes were not unknown. Its main business, legislation, suffered badly, with the NA coming to life at the fag-end of its term and pushing through bill after bill, without chance for fruitful debates from the members to take place, even on bills with far-reaching consequences. Among the few times the NA caught public attention and, incidentally, put itself in a bad light was when former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and some of its other members addressed the house in degrading, critical terms of the highest judicial forum in the country, mainly to save President Asif Zardari against the consequences of invalidation of the NRO by the Supreme Court. To the misfortune of the nation, the required agreement between the government and the opposition on the caretaker setup has not yet been reached though the government is due to wind itself up in less than 24 hours. In response to the three names for the caretaker premiership suggested by the Leader of the Opposition, the government has proposed three of its own and all of them have been rejected by the Opposition. Letters are at this stage flying across and, it seems, the matter would go to the concerned parliamentary committee. In case, it also fails to come up with an agreed name, it would be left to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to make its choice.

The people are desperately waiting for the next elections to be conducted in a manner that leaves little room for doubt about their credible credentials i.e. they speak for their being free, fair and transparent. One would earnestly wish that the ECP is able to get over the hurdles that are doubtless intractable. Only then, the people could expect their genuine representatives to take the helm and attend to their problems.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-ne...etes-full-term

First assembly to complete term strengthens civilian power

The National Assembly (NA) was dissolved in a low-key session on March 15, 2013. For better or for worse, the day will be marked in Pakistan’s history to celebrate the first parliament to complete its tenure. Just to set the record straight, Pakistan has had 12 separate NAs.

A good-bye note from President Asif Ali Zardari was read out by the ruling Pakistan People’s Party lawmaker Yasmeen Rehman: “The session that started on February 18, 2008 has prorogued on completion of its business. I pray that Allah gives us success and that democracy should continue and the next parliament should also complete its term.”

In a record 650 sittings, the NA passed 126 bills, 81 of which became Acts, and three constitutional amendments. The legislations included protecting rights for women and children, reinstating sacked employees and changing election laws. Perhaps more than the legislations, the current NA will be remembered for the three constitutional amendments it past: the most significant of which was its decision to devolve some of its own powers through the 18th Amendment. Of course, there is a series of missed opportunities, including the creation of a new province in Southern Punjab.

Amongst other things, the President addressed a joint sitting of Parliament five times. Eight members of parliament died during its five-year tenure, including Minister for Minorities Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti who was murdered. The NA was addressed addressed twice by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and once by Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. It saw two prime ministers: Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

This term, it was the judiciary, not the military, that was the direct tormentor of many a parliamentarian. A prime minister was lost to the NRO case, a number of parliamentarians were questioned for fake degrees and each constitutional amendment befell the scrutiny of the higher judiciary. However, the tussle was one of two institutions looking to regain their power in what had earlier been a khaki dominated set up.

The next parliament shall inherit a mixed legacy, but it is a positive one to follow. Despite disagreements amongst them, the various political parties have recovered some of their constitutional turf, and the next sitting assembly must complete the task. There is a need to strengthen the various parliamentary committees, unlike the many committees who failed to deliver. The strong work of the Public Accounts Committee merits mention and could be a good example to follow. Similar strength is needed to add weight to parliamentary resolutions. Overall, as the Raja Pervez Ashraf tenure comes to a close, another bout of democracy at work is awaited.

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013...waves-goodbye/

March 18, 2013 . 0

As the midnight clock struck, signalling the end of the 16th day of March, 2013, it also brought to a close the constitutionally mandated five-year term of the National Assembly and by virtue of that it stood automatically dissolved, thus, winding up the PPP-led federal government’s rule. In his farewell address to the nation, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf claiming that democracy had won recounted a long tally of government’s achievements despite serious “inherited” problems though, sarcastically remarking that it could not make the people wallow in luxury. He acknowledged, at the same time, that the government could not come up to the expectations of the people about making electric supply available to them round the clock.

On the face of it, the outgoing democratic setup, no matter how poorly and erratically it performed, carried the day as it was able to avert getting ousted by non-democratic forces. But whether the completion of its term could guarantee against a Bonapartist army head stepping once again in the corridors of power, as the Prime Minister has said, is an open question; for the government made no effort to establish genuine democratic traditions, but rather did everything possible to tear apart the already existing ones. Only a government respecting the globally accepted democratic conventions and delivering could claim to have put down roots of the institution of democracy. The outgoing government, instead, presented the worst possible model of a corrupt regime with an inevitable consequence of misgovernance. The politics of reconciliation of which Mr Ashraf boasted boiled down to the logic of sticking to the seat of power at any cost. The country’s largest port city Karachi kept bleeding with armed bands roaming around and shooting at will, as the government went about its business unconcerned. The reign of terror that prevailed unabated, particularly in Balochistan and KPK, could only elicit loud voices of condemnation, with hardly a well planned, serious move to checkmate it coming in sight. The government’s greatest disservice to democracy was its total defiance of judicial verdicts, something unheard of before it assumed the rein of power, thus trying to pull out the roots of an established democratic tradition. Projects like Benazir Income Support Programme not only reeked of corruption, but were also mere palliatives.

The Prime Minister’s claim that the government added 4,000MW of power to the grid is belied by the realities on the ground: endless loadshedding, demonstrating that it did not have a clue to manage the crisis. The rental power projects brought out glaring shenanigans of corruption at the highest level and, on top of that, failed to deliver. Only the tariff kept shooting up. The most viable and useful project, Kalabagh Dam, was dumped and in this exercise even the PML-N has joined; for even its election manifesto failed to make any mention of it. The leadership lacked the guts to bring home to the opponents its abundant benefits, in relieving power shortage, providing assured water for crops stalling the danger of food insecurity and avoiding floods. And for all, expert findings are on the record. The government coming into power after the general elections must take note of this tragic neglect and make amends as its first priority.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-ne...democracy-wins

The five-year long democratic era is marked by outstanding achievements and colossal failures. The former include the historic 18th and 20th amendments. The 18th amendment restored parliamentary democracy, widened the sphere of provincial autonomy and introduced a better system of appointing the higher judiciary. The 20th amendment brought into existence an independent Election Commission and made the selection of the caretaker setup more consensual. Another major achievement was the 7th NFC award which untangled a knot that had defied consensus for 19 years, with arbitrary Awards intervening since 1990. While the PPP played a leading role in piloting the constitutional amendments, the achievements were the result of a combined effort by all parliamentary parties. The gains were indicative of the inherent strength of the democratic system and its ability to reconcile conflicting interests.

Lack of responsiveness to the common man’s problems was one of the glaring failures of the PPP-led coalition. Thus the gulf between the richest and the poorest continued to widen during the last five years. Power and gas shortages could have been reduced if the government had concentrated on the matter from day one. The setting up of an extra large federal cabinet was the first step towards bad governance which was to characterize the period. Incompetent cronies were appointed to lucrative positions leading to several financial scams that landed the high-ups and their scions in courts. Karachi and Quetta suffered the most under the present government. The former was virtually handed over to land and extortion mafias, some of them enjoying the support of the parties ruling in Sindh. In Balochistan, the provincial government turned out to be so thoroughly incompetent and prone to corruption. The province was virtually handed over to security agencies. Forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings combined with negligence added to the alienation already prevailing in the province. The Punjab ruled by the PML-N too suffered from bad governance as the chief minister insisted on micromanaging the province and the government wasted tens of millions of rupees on unsustainable projects to gain popularity.

The PPP being a minority party had to enter into alliances. It decided to rely on parties some of which had murky agendas and undemocratic thinking. What is more they demanded a free and with survival the prime object, the PPP obliged. A five year long uninterrupted democratic rule leading to preparations for a peaceful transition is something worth celebrating. This indicates a modicum of maturity in the political parties. One can only hope that those who come to power after the elections will build on the basis that has been laid to create a responsive democracy that brings down the poverty graph, strengthens the federal system and strives for peace in the country.

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013...balance-sheet/

By: Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi


March 16, 2013, is a landmark date in Pakistan’s troubled political history. The elected National Assembly and elected civilian federal government completed its full tenure and came to an end through a normal constitutional procedure. The members left the National Assembly in good mood saying goodbye to one another. The prime minister addressed the nation on radio and TV two hours before the conclusion of the tenure of the National Assembly, thanking all those who contributed to strengthening the democratic process. He also highlighted what he considered to be the achievements of the PPP government at the federal level.

The politically active circles would continue to debate the achievements and failure of the five years of democracy. Given increased political divisions in Pakistan there is a greater tendency to take a partisan position. If one is a supporter of the PPP there will be some praise for the government. The opposition members have nothing but criticism to offer. The PML-N leaders appear to be more critical of the PPP than any other party but they project the PML-N government in the Punjab as the best example of performance. Imran Khan criticises both parties.

There are those in Pakistan that trash everything. Either they are idealist or pessimist. For them no government has done anything for them; prices have increased, life has become unsafe and there is power shortage. The democratic era has not given them anything, they argue. They are not interested in the civilian governments completing their terms. Some of them think that there is no hope for democracy until an ideal society and state are created and a super human and fully pious person appears on the political scene.

Despite political failures and poor governance, peaceful and orderly completion of the term of the government marks the end of the first phase of democratic transition. This needs to be acknowledged and celebrated. The second phase starts for the selection of new assemblies and governments.

The test of the people’s commitment to democracy is the general election. It is a challenge to hold peaceful, fair, free and transparent elections. This calls for a joint official and non-official effort to hold the election in a manner that it provides an opportunity to the people to elect their representatives. It should be held in a manner that its results are acceptable to the main players in the process and the elections observers describe it as a fair chance to the people to exercise their right to vote.

It is a wrong assumption that democracy cannot exist without ideal political and societal conditions and that the people in the lead political role must be pious and angel-like. Democracy is a process that improves by practising it. The process must continue and mid-course corrections are made in the light of the experience of working of democracy. The democratic process improves over time provided there is a conscious effort to improve it and its values are adopted by the society as the standard way of dealing with social, political, cultural and economic affairs. Democracy has to become a way of life and a way to look at life as well as the strategy of dealing with other.

The leadership reflects the broad features of the society because the leaders have to deal with the people and address their problems. If corruption and favouritism are rampant in the society, do not expect that the leaders will be completely free of these weaknesses. If every leader refuses to help people who have not been able to prove that they are fully justified in their demands, the people will be unhappy and turn against such a leader. Either the leader has to solve the problems of the people or convince them that they should not demand this or suggest a better alternative.

The quality of leadership can improve if the people and societal organisations scrutinise the performance of the elected leaders through mutual dialogue and discussion on national and local problems and issues. The voters need to use their right to vote on merit. If they think that a parliamentarian has not performed his job in a fair manner or engages in corrupt practices, they should not vote for such a person. This is a more effective method of accountability than expecting someone appearing on the political scene and cleansing the society through arbitrary and brutal methods.

Election provides the people with an important opportunity to hold the parliamentarian accountable for their work. When the candidates are engaged in election campaign the voters should ask them questions about their agenda for local development work and national issues. Invariably the candidates give a rosy picture of the future or make promises that are never delivered.

When a candidate makes a promise ask him to give a plan of action. For example, a candidate can argue that if his party comes to power it will provide jobs to every young persons with high school education and others and that the problem of electricity shortages will be removed in three months. Ask such a person how would his party mobilise financial resources to achieve these objectives. What are the specific plans to produce more electricity or use the currently available electricity in an efficient manner? Which methods for power generation will be employed and how would funds and technology be made available?

Everybody should check if the vote is registered and use it on the polling day. A large voter turnout reduces the chances of manipulation of results. The party activists need to take extra security caution in the course of the election campaign and on the polling day to avoid terrorist attacks. Hold small public meetings and monitor the areas closely where election activity is taking place so that none is able to plant a bomb or engage in suicide attacks.

The forthcoming election is an important occasion for the people of Pakistan to demonstrate their commitment to democracy by getting actively involved in the electoral process. Do not listen to those who argue that nothing can change by casting vote. Election is the most civilised way to elect new assemblies and new governments provided the people vote for the people who are genuinely committed to the cause of the people. The voters and politically active people should cooperate with each other to turn the election into a genuine democratic exercise.

The writer is an independent political and defence analyst.

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013...c-opportunity/

By:Hashim bin Rashid

The first consensus interim setup must deliver only its mandate

May 11 has been announced as the date of the next General Election. With 52 days to go, there is no sign of a caretaker prime minister popping out as an eight-member parliamentary committee went into a huddle on Wednesday.

The deadlock is on two questions: who becomes caretaker prime minister? And, when does the Punjab Assembly dissolve?

The earlier the answers are provided the better – but surely the answers should have been provided at least three weeks ago.

But as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Chaudhry Nisar Ali and the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Qamar Zaman Kaira have traded diplomatic blows at the centre stage, the more substantive questions about the caretaker setup have yet to come to the front.

The names under consideration are: Hafeez Sheikh, Ishrat Hussain and Justice (retd) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso from the PPP; and Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid, Justice (retd) Shakirullah Jan and nationalist leader Rasool Bux Palijo from the PML-N. Mentioned amongst possible wildcards have been: Asma Jehangir and Senators Raza Rabbani and Ishaq Dar. And then there is the self-nomination put forward by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

There is surely something to be said about each of those nominated. But let us stick to painting in broad strokes. Two of the nominations (Hafeez Sheikh and Ishrat Hussain) are ex-World Bank technocrats – and for a while it appeared that the bets were on Ishrat Hussain taking the coveted post. Ishrat, a former State Bank governor, was both lobbying and being lobbied and still appears as one of the “less-polarising” options on the table.

But installing a caretaker prime minister of the technocrat mould shall be nothing if not a bad joke by politicians on themselves. As a key part of creating what is now widely understood as the fudged economic bubble in the Musharraf dictatorship – and pushing the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) and World Bank’s agenda of pursuing neoliberal economic policies in Pakistan – Hussain was hand in glove with Hafeez Sheikh in creating the grounds for the weak economic foundations the current PPP-led government inherited.

The irony is that it is the PPP that has nominated both Hussain and Sheikh, at a time when the chattering classes and business interests appear to be clamouring from a longer technocratic rule to apparently “remedy the economy”. It is the PPP that has suffered from the economic effects of so-called technocratic fudging with the economy: an agreement with the IMF was signed before Benazir Bhutto’s first term in 1988, another agreement with the IMF was signed by the caretaker PM in 1992 before Benazir’s second term; and it inherited the Shaukat – alias shortkut – Aziz economic mess when it took the reins in 2008.

Technocrats are failures because they pursue IFI-driven agendas and have an exit plan for themselves before they come in. Neither Ishrat Hussain nor Hafeez Sheikh bode well for the confidence of politicians in themselves if either is chosen. Policies are a task for public vote – the tendency to reduce it to the domain of experts needs to be challenged – but this is a subject for a separate article. For now, it must be remembered that caretaker governments do not possess ‘magic pills’. Their task is merely to facilitate a handover. With an over $1.5 billion loan repayment to the IMF scheduled during the caretaker period and the IMF signaling it wants more talks, the choice of a technocrat as prime minister would only serve to indicate that politicians are abdicating responsibility from themselves and looking to play another blame game.

And then there is something to be said about the fact that retired judges are considered the ‘safe choice’ to head interim setups. Two former judges have already been appointed caretaker chief ministers in two provinces to reach a consensus: Justice (retd) Tariq Parvez in the Khyber Pakthunkhwa and Justice (retd) Zahid Qurban Alvi in Sindh. It seems to have shocked no one – except for Asma Jehangir – that former judges are being considered ‘politically neutral’, efficient administrators. Again politicians appear to have more trust in outside institutions than amongst themselves – one of the critical reasons why the discourse of corruption appears to still be solely focused on politicians – and not the civil and military establishment which has shared power for much longer. The question to be asked is that why task judges, whose task was to interpret law, with creating an even playing field for politics?

The names of two Senators Ishaq Dar and Raza Rabbani, both respected in their own way, have more forte for the post – but either is expected to raise alarm to all other political parties. It is similar with the nomination of Rasul Bux Palejo, who is still respected, but his son continues to play an increasingly active role in Sindh’s politics. Asma Jehangir, a candidate with both strong merits and demerits, has withdrawn herself from the reckoning.

Strange happenings continue to be reported: on the eve of the announcement of the caretaker chief minister for Sindh, a key government official was meeting a British diplomat to ‘discuss the caretaker setup’. Ministers of the Balochistan government resigned to join the opposition a day before dissolution of the assembly and the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) became part of the opposition in Sindh a month earlier. Political checkers continues to be played, but as with anyone who has played the game knows that checkers is a game that requires much sacrifice. Here it appears politicians are ceding roles they should have taken up themselves to technocrats and judges of questionable merit. The consequences of doing so shall come to the fore soon enough.

But there is another debate to be had about the caretaker setup. If the task is create an even and fair playing field for all political parties, then the Election Commission of Pakistan has yet to fulfill what it has been tasked with. The Supreme Court’s judgment on a petition by the former Workers Party Pakistan has yet to be implemented. Issued on June 12, 2012, the ECP has had enough time to suggest relevant changes in election procedure; including compulsory voting, adding a ‘none of the above’ vote, implementing stricter campaign budgets, but the judgment has yet to come into force. Would an unimplemented SC judgment not raise questions about the credibility of the elections and leave them open to contestation post-event?

Somehow a task as serious as implementing a caretaker setup and an even playing ground for free-and-fair elections have been reduced to a rat race. Essential aspects are delayed as Pakistan attempts to select its first consensus caretaker government. To be fair to them, the existing political parties have not had to deal with such a situation before. There are serious electoral parties, including the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Jamaat-i-Islami, sitting outside parliament, and wildcard groups such as Tahirul Qadri’s Pakistan Awami Tehreek, looking to pounce at any misstep.

Each day’s delay in announcing respective caretaker setups creates more fears. It is imperative that a political solution is found at the earliest to this political problem. Technocratic selections, most certainly, will represent a bad omen, rather than a good one, as people are gearing up to vote within their respective constituencies.

The writer is the general secretary (Lahore) of the Awami Workers Party. He is a journalist and a researcher. Contact: hashimbrashid@gmail.com

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013...f-care-taking/