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  #51  
Old Monday, April 01, 2013
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Guardians of democracy

By:Saad Rasool

For us to graduate to a clean democracy, concerns of popular opinion and media chatter will have to be sacrificed at the altar of constitutionalism
The changing of our national guard, with handing over of governmental reigns to the interim setup, reminds me of the ancient Olympics. The trumpet has been sounded and participants have assembled. Swearing in of the interim prime minister is synonymous to the haughty announcements of “let the games begin”. And this week, as the party tickets are announced and nomination papers get filed, the entire nation will embrace the election fever, in the hope that the next cycle of democracy shall be a step towards deliverance from the past mistakes.

Amidst all this, the true and final political power rests with those who cast the ballot. However, for the next two months, how that political power gets exercised, and in whose favour, has been entrusted to the ‘guardians of democracy’.

Who, you might ask, are these guardians? Well, keeping aside the undercurrents of khaki conspiracy and power of the establishment and intelligence agencies, from a constitutional perspective, the guardians of democracy are 1) the interim government, 2) the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), and 3) the judiciary. And unless this tripod adopts a concerted and unified approach towards guarding the reigns of our future, we may once again be faced with painful prospects of incompetent governance.

The first leg of this tripod is the interim government. In cricket analogy, the interim government, in a match between different political parties, is the grounds staff – they prepare the pitch, run the roller, and make sure the outfield is smooth and lush green for a fair contest. In accordance with Chapter 2 of Part VIII of the Constitution, upon the dissolution of the assemblies, the interim government assumes the responsibilities of statecraft, with the primary objective of conducting free and fair elections. In this regard, the administrative responsibilities of governance and conduction of the elections rests with the interim rulers – including the control of civil bureaucracy, preventing violence and crime through the control of police, ensuring the availability of requisite transportation and administrative facilities for the voters to cast their ballot, and demonstration of neutrality in terms of accommodating the demands from all sides of the partisan divide. While the interim government cannot influence who gets to contest the elections, or even determine questions of moral and technical eligibility, they can certainly influence the casting of ballots through denying facilities or extending favours to particular candidates and constituencies.

The second, and most important, leg of this tripod is the Election Commission of Pakistan. Sticking with the cricket analogy, the Election Commission is the umpire – it keeps the score, counts the number of balls per over, calls wides and no-balls, indicates the fours and sixes, looks out for ball-tampering, and is the decision-maker in terms of when a batsman gets out. In the constitutional scheme, Article 218 constitutes the Election Commission, and Article 218(3) entrusts it with the duty “to organise and conduct the election and to make such arrangements as are necessary to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law, and that corrupt practices are guarded against”. And for this purpose, the constitution mandates that “all executive authorities” shall assist the ECP in discharge of their duties (Article 219 of the Constitution). In this regard, the powers of the ECP are vast and far-reaching. In fact, the influence of the ECP starts much prior to the election itself, with “preparing electoral rolls” and “appointing Election Tribunals” (Article 218(4)), and continues for some time thereafter to resolve election disputes (per Article 225).

The third and final leg of the tripod is the judiciary. While not directly involved in the electoral process, the judiciary sits as the final arbiter of all issues, including those concerning the elections. For a cricketing nation, the judiciary is the third-umpire. All parties can refer a matter to the judiciary, in accordance with the laid down legal procedure, for a closer look, and an overturning of the decision of the ECP. Judiciary, as a custodian of the constitution, can overturn electoral results and disqualify candidates even after they have passed the test of the ballot and scrutiny of the ECP. And in this regard, the judicial responsibility, specifically in terms of qualifications and disqualifications of the candidates, has the potential of shaping the outcome of the electoral process.

In this constitutional scheme, it is important for the guardians of our democracy to keep a keen eye on few competing interests. First: a degree of deference must be afforded to the ability and choice of people to elect a candidate of their own choosing. And the urge to be unkind, in terms of scrutiny and disqualification, towards a candidate who is disliked or out-of-favor with our guardians of democracy must be checked. Second: on the other hand, in an election cycle, while the tempers and public passion is at a fever pitch, the urge to simply play to the gallery in order to allow or disqualify candidature must be resisted. In this regard, it would be pertinent to be mindful of the fact that everyone, no matter how disliked in public opinion, is innocent till proven guilty. And exactly for this reason, do Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution (along with the established principles of jurisprudence) require a ‘conviction’ in most cases, before a candidate can be disqualified from contesting or holding an elected office. And finally, our guardians must balance this requirement of a formal conviction, against admitted and public guilt, in order to undertake some weeding out of bad apples, when the record is amply clear and unquestionable.

A prime example of this is the case of Waheedza Shah who, for slapping the Assistant Presiding Officer (on camera), in the by-elections of 25th February, 2012, had been disqualified by the ECP, for a period of two years. This ban was upheld by the honourable Sindh High Court but, just two days back, a three-member bench of the honourable Supreme Court has lifted this ban, allowing her to contest in the upcoming polls. This decision, made for reasons best known to the court, sends a distasteful signal. When the action of a contestant is so belligerent, has been caught on camera, and later adjudicated upon by the ECP and the Sindh High Court, it is disappointing to see the honourable apex court, with a detailed order, overturning the same on the eve of the elections. The message, regardless of the technicalities, is one that undermines the authority of presiding officers, as well as that of the ECP. And this despite the fact that a presiding officer, during the course of the election, is playing an administrative as well as an adjudicatory role (as a judge). One wonders if the court would have ruled the same if the Mrs Shah had meted out the same treatment to a judicial officer, rather than a presiding officer.

These are tough times. And the position of our guardians of democracy, in a country as troublesome as Pakistan, is not enviable. There is bound to be criticism of their conduct. Whoever stands to lose might even indulge in mud-slinging at these esteemed institutions. But for us to graduate to a clean democracy, concerns of popular opinion and media chatter will have to be sacrificed at the altar of constitutionalism.

The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore. He has a Masters in Constitutional Law from Harvard Law School. He can be reached at: saad@post.harvard.edu

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/columns/
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  #52  
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Too late and too early
By:Humayun Gauhar

A look at some of Musharraf’s decisions


Timing is everything. Not good to be early or late. General Musharraf has managed both. He returned too late for elections and too early for ‘revolution’. Elections are eleven days away while the objective conditions on the ground are not ripe enough for an urban uprising that changes the status quo. It’s happened twice before, but the status quo changed for the worse.

More social dislocation is necessary to start a movement. That depends on the performance of the new governments. If they do well anarchy can be averted, but for a time because the iniquitous status will remain. Chances that we will get good governance are low: they will be coalitions with their tails tied together with only one thing in common – to last as long as possible and get richer as long as possible. The masses are nowhere on their radar. Unlike Egypt, we have safety valves to let steam out – people drugged high on the symbols of democracy: parliaments and a hyper media independent of the state but not of vested interests.

Every citizen has the right to return to his country, clear his name and exercise his fundamental right to travel within and without. Musharraf exercised that right without getting cases against him withdrawn courtesy the USA and UK or get a pardon courtesy the Saudis. He has returned and put his life on the line to face everything. That is brave. But the self-serving and hypocritical cases against him will keep Musharraf occupied.

If he subverted the constitution on October 12, 1999, why did he? Coups don’t happen in a vacuum. They are a reaction to an action or situation. Didn’t Nawaz Sharif first subvert the constitution by removing the army chief illegally, as the Supreme Court adjudged, and invite the coup? “General Pervez Musharraf, Chief of the Army Staff and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, is a holder of Constitutional post. His purported arbitrary removal in violation of the principle of audi alteram partem was ab initio void and of no legal effect” said the Supreme Court. Did the judges on that bench subvert the constitution by legitimising the coup? Did those too who took oaths under Musharraf’s first Provisional Constitutional Order? How come those who did under the first become rejects but those who were thrown out by the second sprout wings and remain judges? Justice is supposed to be blind, not cockeyed or selective. Don’t try one person for ‘subversion’; try the whole lot.

In hijacking Musharraf’s aircraft and ordering the pilot to go to India, Sharif pushed the borders of treason: lucky for him the pilot had the sense not to comply. He could easily have landed in Ahmedabad and handed over an unsuspecting Pakistan army chief to the Indians, a shameful sight indeed for us to see our army chief in enemy custody, handcuffed and being paraded on television courtesy the prime minister of Pakistan. Sharif’s was the coup against the army; the army’s was the countercoup. He asked for it.

Musharraf will not be alone in the dock. It takes many to do a coup, help it, legitimise it and sustain it. With him will be a former prime minister and his henchmen, many serving and retired generals, judges and politicians. Do they have the stomach for it? First and foremost, Nawaz Sharif will have to answer why he subverted the constitution by sacking the army chief in the manner that he did and tried to throw him into Indian hands and thus invited the coup. Does he have the stomach for it or will he start pleading to be sent to Jeddah again? It was good of Musharraf to agree to send him to a friendly country and not to an enemy, like Sharif wanted to do to Musharraf. Sharif may be the prime minister again but I don’t give a fig: Pakistan comes first.

As to the ‘hero’ Akbar Bugti, he killed himself by misadventure in trying to kill soldiers of Pakistan by detonating the explosives he had planted in his cave and caved it in, mistakenly killing himself too. If the army intended to blow up the cave to kill Bugti, why would it first send in its unarmed officers and soldiers? They went in to negotiate with Bugti and arrest him, not to kill the renegade; else they would have been armed.

Tell me: what does a state do with a man who takes up arms against it? Those who build Bugti up as a hero should be ashamed of themselves. It was the Marri tribe that first gave him refuge on its land and then betrayed him to the army as revenge for what he had done to them as Governor of Balochistan under Bhutto the patriarch. The tribal warlords and chieftains called Sardars are a stigma on the name of the Baloch, bloodsucking rapacious oppressors, primitive in the extreme, holding the power of life and death over their people. Until they become history the Baloch will remain mired in the Stone Age.

As to Lal Masjid, Musharraf’s mistake was to take action too late, wasting time in hoping that politicians could peacefully negotiate the government out of an explosive situation. Where are the names, relatives and graves of the “hundreds of women and children killed” that our media goes on about? If relatives of missing persons can come out in protest, why can’t they?

What is the prime duty of a government? If it is not to protect the integrity and writ of the state and the life of its citizens, then what is the point of having a state? Anyone who takes up arms, missiles and suicide vests against a state, occupies part of it, declares his own law there, establishes courts and drags people in, foreigners included, and ‘tries’ and punishes them, kills its soldiers, police and citizens and destroys their legitimate businesses is a rebel and has to be dealt with accordingly. Those who create a state within a state are called ‘Kharajis’ and are anathema to Islam. The two brothers who ran the mosque, one surviving, are no scholars but a blot on the name of scholarship and on Islam. It is they who are the criminals, responsible for whatever death and destruction that occurred, especially the one who tried to escape like a coward in a burqa. Would you find any of the true soldiers of Islam trying to escape battle that they had started disguised in female garb? It is they who have blood on their hands.

What about some television anchors who goaded Musharraf on to launch the operation, taunting him and questioning what the army was for if it couldn’t liberate a mosque, promising that they would not rant against Musharraf if he took action. When Musharraf said that the moment he did they would turn against him, they promised that they would never. Came the operation came the U-turn: they exploited it to the maximum to increase ratings and get Musharraf. Are they culpable too?

The president is perfectly within his constitutional rights to send a reference to the Supreme Judicial Council concerning any judge. He is also within his rights to summon him, show him the charges with the evidence and, if he decides to send the reference to the SJC, ask him go on leave while it considers it and gives its opinion, not judgment, to the president that he is free to accept or reject. So far, so good, but what followed was unacceptable: forcibly suspending the chief justice, putting him and his family under house arrest, cutting off all communications and manhandling him. Musharraf went to Karachi. One should ask the police and intelligence agencies what they were up to and under whose orders. What was the government doing, the interior ministry? That is what blew the judges case out of proportion and got Musharraf into trouble. Since the buck stops with him and the prime minister, they paid the price. So did the country.

The National Reconciliation Ordinance that withdrew all cases against Benazir, Zardari and over 8,000 others, as did the Saudi deal with the Sharifs for going to Jeddah, were both wrong too. The US, Britain, certain Musharraf officials and politicians and some of his friends gave him the wrong advice. Pakistan paid the price for it even more than Musharraf. He has been man enough to admit that the NRO was a mistake. But what about the many pseudo democrats who kept whining that “democracy would remain incomplete until the two great leaders of the two national parties are allowed to return and lead them in elections”? Now everyone complains against the NRO and the pardon, not realising that without them Benazir or Sharif could never have returned. You asked for it, you got it. Don’t bellyache all the time lest you become a habitual bellyacher.

As to threats to Musharraf’s life, the state has to realise that this is not the Wild West – or is it? In no civilised country are there bounty hunters. No one can put head money on someone and incite murder much less release videos threatening to kill someone. They would get arrested immediately or eliminated by a functioning state.

The writer is a political analyst. He can be contacted at humayun.gauhar786@gmail.com

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/columns/
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  #53  
Old Wednesday, April 03, 2013
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Democratic evolution

A Rashid

The good and evil put together by the outgoing coalition government, headed by PPP, though squares off in public eye, which is an over simplification of a complex issue but in reality the ramifications will be far weightier than that.
The evil aspect involving corruption and misrule of the administration under discussion, being so elaborate and transparent, need not be dilated upon. The fall-out of this aspect is not lasting as it is orchestrated by individuals at the helm of affairs, for transitory personal gains, at a particular time. Individuals come and go but the institutions stay to influence the lives of posterity.
The good aspect, involving legislations that strengthen the democratic institutions, speaks louder than words. Numerous landmark legislations had been done by the outgoing legislators that will go a long way in helping to raise the vitality of the democratic institutions.

There is a glaring example from the contemporary US history which candidly portrays the comparative influence of individuals vis-a-vis the institutions. United States of America absorbed the fallout of the erratic behavior of President George W Bush, owing to the presence of strong democratic institutions in place.

Despite rampant financial corruption and inefficiency of the government, we find Pakistan at a defining crossroads due to the landmark legislations passed by the legislature, maintenance of conciliatory attitude of the top leadership of the coalition government throughout their term and a free media. We find a glaring departure from the past style of governance during the preceding five years. Vindictiveness against political opponents through authoritarian oppression, the strong arm tactics, blackmails and gagging of media were not resorted to at any stage. Even the vilest opponents of the government did not complain about these aspects. The outgoing government also earned an extraordinary feather in their cap by maintaining the country’s jails free of the political detainees.

A democratically elected government has completed its stipulated term of five years, first time in our history. And now the nation is bracing to go to the hustling for the next general elections. The kind of meticulous, hectic and highly professional activity encompassing the election gear is unprecedented and is greatly heartening. One need not have intuitive abilities to grasp the rationale of how this professionalism has replaced the perpetual arbitrariness of the past annals. Constitutional amendments necessitated by the needs of the time have done this magic.

To give (false) credence to the electoral process, in the past, caretaker set-ups were constituted, arbitrarily, out of the same lot of politicians. The 18th constitutional amendment introduced by the outgoing parliament, with consensus, laid down the procedures and the criterion for selection of individuals forming the caretaker setup. The result today we see is in the shape of universally believed neat and clean governments in the center as well as the provinces. It has happened for the first time in memory that the caretakers have prevailed to correct the wrong doings of the outgoing incumbents that fall in the category of pre poll rigging. The caretaker government has scrapped the last minute contract awarded to NLC for construction of roads in the constituency of former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf. The former two prime ministers have also been deprived of the fabulous police contingents earmarked by the outgoing prime minister for their personal security. No such precedence of frugality and justice is perceptible in the past.

The past practice regarding constitution of election commission was also arbitrary, that made it possible to have one’s favorites in the election commission’s machinery. This time around the election commission has been constituted in line with the dictates of the 18th constitutional amendment. There is consensus, not only the consensus of political parties, there is consensus at national level about the status of the commission being above board. In fact the whole world is watching the unfolding of the electoral processes in Pakistan with awe and acclaim.

The election commission is burning midnight oil to evolve a perfect mechanism to scrutinize the qualifications of candidates for the national and provincial assemblies. As far as possible, dual nationals, convicts, loan and utility bills defaulters will be barred from contesting the elections. I am conscious of this being a very tall order in the prevailing conditions and time frame. But at least a beginning has been made towards a foolproof procedure to be adopted in future when adequate time will be laid aside for this reform.

The outgoing government, in addition to an unprecedented liberal National Finance commission (NFC) award, has devolved the following ministries to the federating units: Zakat and usher, special initiatives, population welfare, youth affairs, local government and social welfare, special education, tourism, livestock and dairy development, sports, health, environment, women development, labor and manpower, food and agriculture and minority affairs. These reforms have greatly elevated the provincial despondency.

The supreme court of Pakistan took a serious notice of the accesses of the security agencies in Baluchistan and adopted several measures to restore the confidence of the people of that province in the future of Pakistan.

Cumulative effect of the above reforms, including the electoral reforms; liberal NFC award and devolution of ministries to the federating units, have gone a long way in arresting the fast deteriorating law and order situation in the insurgency stricken province of Baluchistan. Most of the Baloch nationalist leaders have resultantly come in line with the democratic process being pursued and have decided to participate in the coming general elections. This to my mind is a great leap forward in cementing the unity of the federation.
During the last five years the people of Pakistan have enjoyed a free and vibrant judiciary. Not a single incident to the detriment of judiciary occurred during the period. So much so that an elected prime minister was sent packing home on the charges of contempt of court by the Supreme Court and not a finger was raised.

One is aghast to find so many good things happening in our beleaguered federation, which, so far, has only known that it is faced with the most critical circumstances at all times of its existence. Thanks to the landmark legislations done by the outgoing lawmakers, which has facilitated putting together the electoral apparatus of the country with relative ease. The institution of election commission was established with consensus. Caretaker prime minister was chosen with consensus from Baluchistan and the chief ministers of all the federating units assumed their respective posts in time and with consensus. Here the selection of Punjab chief minister merits special mention being from the journalist community. Najam Sethi, a senior journalist, was chosen for the slot, with consensus. In this consensus the senior leadership of PMLN too was on board. Although at one point of time in the past Mr Najam Sethi was put behind bars by the PMLN government, headed by Nawaz Sharif, on vindictive and false charges of sedition etc. Honoring Mr Najam Sethi with the slot of the chief minister of Punjab with the approval of the same leadership of PMLN speaks a lot about the journey we have covered on the road to democracy.

On the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, NADRA has developed software to facilitate exercise of vote by the overseas Pakistanis. Not only that such a facility is being made possible first time in country’s history, such a provision is not available to some of the countries with highly developed technologies.

The outgoing government has though completed its stipulated period of five years but we all know that it lived from moment to moment. The political opposition, the defense establishment, the higher judiciary and above all the media, all were for its throat all the time. At the home front, the coalition partners constantly maintained the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads. They were, all the time on the lookout to blackmail the treasury to extract one benefit or the other. Last but not the least has been their perpetual fight against terrorism and sectarian malaise. The government treaded from one crisis to the other. Yet the leadership kept their cool, did not lose nerve and have thus reached the goal post intact.

Some elements belonging to the conservative right are always spitting fire and predicting a bloody revolution round the corner. The current elegant process of smooth transition of authority in a democratic manner should be a forceful reminder to these elements that it is in democracy and not in a bloody revolution, rests our emancipation. The democratic evolution, fortunately, is on course and we all must sail with it.

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Sitting on the fence is no option
April 03, 2013
Roedad Khan



In 1959, Professor Arnold J. Toynbee was invited by the Peshawar University to spend a month on the campus to deliver a series of lectures on a subject of his own choice. I was Deputy Commissioner, Peshawar. Once a week, thanks to my friend, Abu Kureshi, who was his guide and constant companion, Professor Toynbee would do me the honour of coming to my official residence on Fort Road.

Professor Toynbee was a very simple, unpretentious and unassuming man. His company was a treat and his friendship an honour to enjoy. Meeting him was like meeting history. Having a conversation with him was a little like getting to volley with John McEnroe. Trying to keep up was hopeless, but it was exhilarating just to be on the court with him. Of Toynbee, Allan Nevins wrote: “Standing on his Everest, he is more than a historian; he is a great deal of a Prophet.” He would survey the past, produce a bird’s eye view of mankind’s history with a view to gaining greater insight into the present.

Pakistan was under martial law. Democracy had been derailed by power-hungry generals. Talking about democracy, Toynbee said: “Asians and Africans had constructed a syllogism, which Aristotle would certainly have disallowed as being illogical. ‘The West European peoples live under democratic political regimes; the West European peoples are powerful; therefore, democracy is a source of power; therefore, we Asian and Africans must become democratic if we are to attain our objective of getting even with the West in competition for power and for the advantages that power brings with it’.” This argument, Toynbee said, is obviously unsound. The truth, perhaps, is that democracy, so far from having been one of the sources of the Western peoples’ power, has been one of the luxuries that their power has enabled them to afford. The source of their power has been their marriage of technology with science, the opportunity for their democracy has been the margin of strength, wealth, and security that their power derived from applied science has created for them. Unlike the belief that science has been a source of Western power, the belief that democracy has been a source of Western power is a fallacy. Democracy had been a Western amenity that Western power has brought within the West’s reach.

Election, Professor Toynbee said, is not the answer. The idea that you can just hold elections while everything remains colonial, feudal and medieval, means you won’t get democracy, but some perversion of it. Elections are necessary, but not sufficient; they alone do not make a democracy. Creating a democracy requires a free and independent country, an inviolable constitution, a sustained commitment of time and money to develop all the necessary elements: a transparent executive branch accountable to Parliament, a powerful and competent legislature answerable to the electorate, a strong neutral judiciary, and a free press.

To assume that a popular vote will automatically bring about a democratic metamorphosis would be to condemn the country to a repeat of the cycle seen so often in Pakistan: a short-lived period of corrupt, civilian rule, a descent into chaos and then army intervention.

Perhaps no form of government, Toynbee said, needs great leaders so much as democracy. It is our misfortune that at a time when leadership is desperately needed to cope with matters of vital importance and put the country back on the democratic path, Pakistan is ruled by a corrupt, criminal syndicate. To no nation has fate been more malignant than to Pakistan. With few exceptions, it has long been saddled with poor, even malevolent, leadership: predatory kleptocrats, military dictators, political illiterates and carpet-baggers. No wonder, Pakistan is today no more than a poor, broken toy floating on an ocean of uncertainty.

The corrupt leadership ruling Pakistan has proved unable to govern a country rent by political, ethnic, economic, and social conflicts. Today, Pakistan is a nightmare of despair and despondency, and in doubt about its future. The rich are getting richer, while the poor, well, they are still dirt poor and are sinking deeper and deeper into a black hole of abject poverty. The country appears to be adrift, lacking confidence about its future. Disaster and frustration roam the political landscape. Look into the eyes of a Pakistani today and you will see a smouldering rage.

In Pakistan, nothing has so altered the fortunes of so many so suddenly as political power. Here money and power seek each other. No wonder, the business of politics attracts the scum of the community. These are practitioners of the art of grand larceny, loot and plunder in broad daylight with no fear of accountability. The rich are evading taxes, while the poor are searching the trash for food.

In these harsh and difficult political times, the question of leadership’s character is at the centre of our national concerns. For a person, party or nation, the element essential to success is character. “Fame is a vapour, popularity an accident,” wrote Horace Greeley, “riches take wing, and only character endures.”

“In a President character is everything,” Peggy Noonan writes in her assessment of Ronald Reagan. “A President does not have to be brilliant. Harry Truman was not brilliant and he helped save Western Europe from Stalin. He does not have to be clever, you can hire clever…....but you cannot rent a strong moral sense. You can’t acquire it in the presidency. You carry it with you.” If a President, Toynbee said, has integrity, if he has credibility and if he is believable, nothing else matters. If he has no integrity and no credibility, and if there is a gap between what he says and what he does, nothing else matters and he cannot govern.

Today, Pakistan stands in twilight, awaiting the seemingly inevitable descent of darkness. Is the dark long night about to end? And has the time come for us to leave the valley of despair and climb the mountain so that we can see the glory of another dawn? The darkest hour is just before the dawn and as generally happens in history, it is at the darkest hour that a bright star arises when you had almost given up hope. When a crisis comes, a kind of tidal wave sweeps the man of character to the forefront. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Today, we have both. The hour has struck. And the man has appeared. The hour has found the man, who has the will and the power to restore the Pakistan dream.

Today, Imran Khan incarnates all our hopes. He epitomises the national struggle. He embodies the nation’s romantic dream of itself. He presents himself before the nation as a glowing beacon against the forces of darkness. It seems that, as in the case of Churchill in 1940, the last 15 years or so he spent in political wilderness had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial. A window of hope has opened for Pakistan. All the men of yesterday and all the men of day before yesterday, who have ganged up against Imran, are destined for the dustbin.

Imran is the only truly national figure in the bleak, fragmented Pakistani landscape. In this atmosphere of gloom and doom, destiny is beckoning him. He is the right man, at the right time and the right place to shake up this stagnant nation’s sclerotic status quo and dislodge the corrupt leaders catapulted to the summit of power in tragic circumstances. It is our good fortune to have found the right leader whose character, integrity, credibility and ability fit the tide of history. He has courage, stamina, patriotism, idealism and habit of hard work that have become part of his being.

Now that the election schedule has been announced, a sense of high intensity chaos prevails in the capital. Pakistan is preparing for a showdown. It will be no ordinary election. It will be the defining moment for the destiny of the people and the country. The political parties will face an influx of young, angry, unpredictable voters. The stage is set for a collision between those who belong to the future and those who represent the forces of darkness and the dead past. In this Manichean struggle, you have to choose sides. Neutrality is immoral and is not an option.

We live in a profoundly precarious country; it is in deep, deep trouble. Sitting on the fence is no option. Attentistes (those who wait or fence sitters) must make up their minds. The moment has come to join the battle for Pakistan. Now that young people, men and women, in particular, have come out in support of Imran, the winds of change have begun to blow. Things will change. The status quo will shift, the corrupt regime will crumble. The long nightmare will be over. It will be morning once again in Pakistan. This is the last chance. The last battle.

The writer is a retired civil servant and senior political analyst. Email: roedad@comsats.net.pk Website: ww.roedadkhan.com

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Old Friday, April 05, 2013
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A dismal report

Nasim Ahmed

After being branded as one of the world's most corrupt nations, Pakistan has earned another dismal report card. According to the Human Development Report, 2013, recently launched by the United Nations Development Program, Pakistan's social sector spending has touched the lowest mark resulting in a widening of class inequality in the country. In 2013, Pakistan's rank in the Human Development Index (HDI) has dropped to the 146th position.
The report says that Pakistan spends 0.8pc of GDP on health and 1.8pc on education as compared to 2.2 per cent and 3.1 per cent spent by Bangladesh and India on health and education respectively. Brazil, one of the best performing countries in terms of human development, spends 4.25 per cent of GDP on health and 5.7 per cent on education.

Shamefully, Pakistan's expenditure in the social sector is lower than that of some of the poorest African countries like the Congo, which spends 1.2 per cent of GDP on health and 6.2 per cent on education. The report points out that income inequality in Pakistan increased from 0.27 to 0.29 during 2000-2010. Worse still, disparities in terms of regions, social outcomes and access to productive assets are more pronounced than income inequality.

For example, the net primary enrollment in the Punjab is 61 per cent as compared to Balochistan's 44 per cent and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's 52 per cent. Similarly, the infant mortality rate in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is 76 per 1,000 as compared to Balochistan's 104 and Punjab's 82. According to the report, in 2010 the average years of schooling for children in the 20 per cent richest quintile of population were found to be 8.95 years against 2.41 years for children of the 20 per cent poorest quintile. Similarly, seven million children were out of school, of which 60 per cent were girls.

Referring to the structural problems, the report says that although the economy of Pakistan is agrarian in nature, agriculture productivity has been on the decline, with agriculture currently contributing less than 21 per cent to its GDP. With declining productivity, the potential for jobs creation in the agriculture sector is also shrinking. According to the report, around 30 per cent of the population of Pakistan consists of youth. But, unfortunately, a large proportion of the youth population - as much as 32 per cent - is uneducated with no vocational and life skills. Resultantly, labour productivity is low.

The report has also analysed the reasons why Pakistan has been falling behind other nations in the race for socio-economic development. According to the HDR, the country's politics is dominated by 100 families whose members, sitting in the national and provincial assemblies, manipulate the decision making process to enrich themselves at the cost of the common people.

The report has noted that the assemblies are filled with men and women belonging to the privileged classes, while people from poor and middle income brackets cannot enter Parliament due to the high cost of electioneering and socio-cultural constraints for women. According to the report, the voter turnout in the 2008 elections was a meager 44.1 per cent as against 87.4 per cent in Bangladesh in the same year and 59.7 per cent in India in 2009. The Pakistani people's lack of trust in the country's elections system to bring positive changes in society is the main reason for the abysmally low voter turnout here.

While noting that Pakistan is witnessing deepening societal conflicts and tensions arising out of the unequal distribution of income and access to resources, the report identifies lack of continuity in policies as one of the main hurdles to Pakistan's long-term development. It says that Pakistan experienced one of the highest rates of industrialisation in the sixties and its five-year planning tool proved to be a successful engine of growth which was replicated by South Korea. But while Korea has made tremendous progress an all sectors during the last 60 years, Pakistan's inconsistency in implementing long-term development policies has negatively impacted its pursuit of accelerated human development.

The report emphasizes that Pakistan should initiate programmes to enhance the skills and productivity of its people. It advises that learning from successful global experiences, Indonesia for example, Pakistan should either invest in improving productivity in the agriculture sector or shift the surplus labour to manufacturing. The report has quoted the example of the fast-growing Asian economies - Hong Kong, China, Republic of Korea, Singapore and Taiwan - which expanded employment by 2-6 per cent a year, while raising productivity and wages.

The report says that in the education sector Pakistan needs to enhance the effectiveness of its expenditure by investing more on development (like teachers training, curriculum development, schools infrastructure, etc.) than on spending (around 90 per cent) on salaries only. Pakistan also urgently needs to tackle the challenge of environmental degradation which costs the country at least three per cent of GDP annually with a disproportionate impact on the poor and most vulnerable sections of the population.

Between the lines, the report hints that Pakistan will further sink into chaos if emergent measures are not initiated to reduce poverty and narrow the ever widening rich-poor gap. But in Pakistan wealthy nawabs like Aslam Raisani, corrupt feudal-politicians like Zardari and Gilani and wealthy industrialists like Nawaz Sharif rule the roost, carrying on merrily in total disregard of the social explosion lying ahead.

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Food for thought

Five-year performance of govt
Muhammad Daheem

The performance of the PPPP-led coalition government's five-year tenure, over on March 15, 2013, was not merely very poor but disgusting too. This government had been riddled with corruption. According to Transparency International, "Pakistan had lost more than Rs 8.5 trillion in corruption, tax evasion and bad governance during first four years tenure of Gilani's regime." Corruption, in almost all the federal institutions, remained the talk of the town. Its practice continued in spite of strong resistance and scrutiny by the Supreme Court, media and general public. The forces of darkness continued to plunder the nation for full 5 years till last moment. Naturally, it shoved the nation on the verge of disaster. The national exchequer was plundered with both hands and corruption became the lifeblood and lifestyle of the rulers. Corruption culture flourished throughout the country. Local and foreign investors lost much interest in Pakistan.

According to Director General (NAB) "oil mafia, agriculture cartel and tax evasion or theft contributed to a daily loss of Rs 5 billion, which meant Rs 150 billion in one month and Rs 1,800 billion a year." Several institutions, just like PIA, Pakistan Steel Mill and Railway, were plundered in the day light. Several government employees and "saints" were found involved in Hajj scheme scam etc.

Several projects such as power project were made to plunder the national exchequer. Raja Perveiz Ashraf, the former prime minister, was found involved in several scams and scandals. The Supreme Court warned NAB several times to probe the cases in a fair manner. It is generally believed that the government completed full five years at the cost of country's stake.

Right from the beginning to the end (A to Z) the economy was mismanaged. It was the major setback for the country. There was huge increase in the price of the common commodities within a span of 5 years. The common people, already living from hand to mouth, were the major victims of the hiking prices of the commodities. The government failed to halt the sharp increase in consumer prices. The circular debt escalated from Rs 326 billion to Rs 872 billion just within a span of five-year.

The traders' opinion, in general, is that federal government fulfilled no promise it had made to the masses in its election manifesto. The economy shattered, even tattered and situation turned from bad to worse. Majority of analysts say that "it was the worst-ever era in view of economy". The foreign debt escalated by over 100 percent during last five years.

The country is passing through a critical phase because of the deteriorating state of the economy due to corruption based policies of the government during the last 5 years.

Hollow slogans were raised and practically the country was plundered by evil forces. The federal government failed to deliver reasonable jobs to the youth and food & shelter to the poor. It will take a long, long time for the new government for the survival of the economy.

The domestic debt increased from Rs 6 trillion to Rs 13 trillion in last five years. The rising inflation reduced the purchasing power of the common man. It had a bad impact on the economy of the nation. The debt increased from $45 billion in 2008 to over $65 billion in 2012. Pakistan, at the moment, is under the $14.8 trillion debt. The nations' foreign reserves had been reduced to about $ 12 billion.

The average GDP growth rate is not more than 3 to 4 per cent. The Rupee has depreciated from 61 rupees to a dollar to almost 100 rupees recently. Inflation runs high and several essential commodities are almost out of reach of the common man. The commerce could not flourish and the private sector could not create enough jobs for the new generation.

The government failed to extend reasonable tax circle and boost tax revenue, particularly imposition of tax on agricultural income. Instead of penalizing tax holders and their accomplices, the government made "amnesty scheme" to boost tax revenue. It was highly criticized by the media. Pakistan, according to Telegraph, has one of the smallest tax bases in the world and two-thirds of its politicians pay no income tax at all...

Law and order situation deteriorated. The country remained in the tight grip of violence and target killing. Theft, robbery and murder became the norm of daily life. Several armed gangs, in Karachi, made show of power and received money from the public during PPPP-led coalition rule. Suicide attacks increased in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The land grabbing mafia had its control in Punjab. The situation remained grim in Balochistan. The State resources were plundered ruthlessly. The government seized the rights of the poor to feed the elite class and corrupt politicians.

The energy sector was ignored completely and the government did not bother much about alternative resources. The government failed to tackle with power and gas shortage issue. Long scheduled and unscheduled power load shedding and gas suspension reduced the industrial production and agriculture growth to a great extent. The economic growth could not exceed 4 percent. Petroleum, oil and lubricants products' prices went up 70-160 percent during the past five years while prices in the global market did not rise more than 3.29 percent.

The energy crisis and alarming level of insecurity are the major causes of low level investment. The power tariff had risen from 40 to 95 percent during PPPP-led coalition government.

Unfortunately agriculture and industrial activities deteriorated immensely due to inconsistent supply of natural gas and electricity. Industry could not flourish due to corruption and mismanagement. Pakistan lost several markets due to high production of cost. Several Pakistani items could not be presented in the world market due to high competition.

The government could not control gas theft. The rate of gas was enhanced by up to 60 per cent. Inflation increased about 15% in the last five years and "the consumer price index increased from about 100 points to about 173 points."
The Memogate scandal exposed a high scandal and dealings between the then Pakistani ambassador Haqqani and US Admiral Mullen via a third person. It damaged relations between the Pakistani military and the civil government.

Several analysts conclude that Benazir Income Support Programme was riddled with "rampant corruption, nepotism and embezzlement". The opponents believe that this programme was nothing more than a scam to "buy votes". The party also lavished more than $1 billion through this scheme. The very name of the programme shows it is a political stunt. The opponents of this programme say that it is, in fact, re-election campaign of the people's party funded partly by Britain's Department for International Development (DFID). Obviously it seems that "money comes from the Bhutto family rather than the government". According to a leading economist, the Benazir Income Support Programme was being used to buy support for Mrs Bhutto's widower, President Asif Ali Zardari, and his party." Several British taxpayers' are complaining that their money is being used for re-election campaign of Benazir Bhutto's former party. International aid, according to Imran Khan, is propping up corruption in Pakistan.

The then Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, was disqualified for resisting openly and boldly SC's orders to write a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen a graft case against the president. His successor, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf AKA Raja Rental, more cunning then his predecessor, plundered the national wealth in no time. His involvement in the rental power project was confirmed.
Unfortunately nobody had the courage to arrest him, though the apex court had already given orders for his arrest.

All the great institutions, organizations have been plundered by this government. Nepotism, corruption, poverty, unemployment and load-shedding are the great gifts of this government.

PIA, railways and Steel Mills and several other institutions and organizations were plagued with nepotism and corruption. These institutions are now under the burden of millions of rupees' debt. Corruption became the hallmark of the PPPP-led coalition government.

The government did not bother much about environmental protection, youth employment, lowering inflation, quality education and clean potable water and making Pakistan a business friendly country and good governance region. Unnecessary loans, particularly from IMF, increased the burden of debts. The government remained in the clutches of IMF.

America trespassed onto Pakistan's sovereignty and shook it time and again to check Pakistan's military potential during the last five years. Moreover, drone attacks tainted the sovereignty of Pakistan. The Raymond Davis case, Salalah attack and the Memogate scandal are proofs of American interference in the affairs of Pakistan during PPP regime.

The performance of PPPP- led government in office is almost negligible. The government remained involved in several scandals throughout its tenure even up to the last moment.

Massive corruption had been done in different institution such as National Highway Authority, Oil and Gas Development Corporation Limited, Sui Southern Gas Pipelines Limited, Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited, Karachi Port Trust, Port Qasim Authority, Civil Aviation Authority, NICL, Pepco, Erra, SVBP, NBP, ZTBL, CDA, Ministry of Defence, Defence Housing Authority, National Logistics Cell, PSO, PNSC, Cantonment Boards, etc. All these institutions, organizations and departments had been burdened with politically enrolled employees.

For the personal gains, Military and Judiciary were blackmailed and used frequently. The Supreme Court is fighting against corruption but this government, instead of supporting the apex court, violated the apex court's orders, and tried its best to let the judiciary down. It applied every possible method to avoid any fair investigation and prosecution in corruption cases. Corruption was life and soul of this government.

The government tried its best to defame the military, judiciary and other strong institutions. The PPPP-led government tried to "bring the Supreme Court and "parliament at loggerheads by conducting the audit of the Supreme Court funds and undermine the independence of the judiciary by summoning the registrar of the apex court before the Public Accounts Committee."

The PPPP-led coalition government is over. It has little to brag about. It is no more in the field to pressurize or blackmail the heads of national institutions. The people are now expecting from the apex court to play its role and "order a complete audit of all the public corporations and Government Departments and purge these institutions from corruption." All the political appointments, promotions, highly controversial projects and schemes, illegal allotments of lands etc. should be immediately cancelled.

The corrupt leaders, who plundered the national exchequer and national resources, should be dealt with the iron hand. The five years of People's Party government were just like a horrible dream. It was a period of disappointment and frustration for the masses. It is high time names of all the corrupt leaders of dubious characteristics be placed on exit control list.

It is obvious that PPPP is deeply unpopular in urban areas, though "feudal landlords" still have their influence and strong hold in rural Sindh. The PPPP still has electoral strength in several parts of rural Sindh. The track record of Zardari shows that he is a "ruthlessly pragmatic politician." He can probably go to any extent to keep People's Party in power.

Democracy is a meaningless shadow without accountability. All the corrupt politicians should be brought to book for their evil deeds.


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Old Monday, April 08, 2013
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The next five years

Moeed Yusuf

JUDGING by the number of Western media and analytical queries I have received over the past two weeks, there seems to be a growing interest in Western capitals in the potential implications of the elections on Pakistan’s foreign policy orientation.

The interest is perhaps triggered by Pakistan’s self-acclaimed and much-touted ‘strategic shift’ that has continued to receive attention in Western capitals (and in New Delhi and Kabul for that matter). At best, the shift is only partially understood and there is no sense of whether it is likely to have any longevity.

Therefore, the very basic question: what should we (external watchers) expect from the next five years?

One can answer this with some confidence since, perhaps driven by Pakistan’s acute internal challenges, the establishment and the three major political parties (the PPP, PML-N and PTI) seem to have converged on the key markers — not necessarily in terms of the pace with which things should move but at least on the broad directionality of the key foreign relationships.

The continuing civilian-military disconnect on a number of foreign policy questions notwithstanding, the convergence began to emerge during the last PPP government. At its core, it entails a subtle recalibration of the country’s regional outlook coupled with a status quo approach on relations with China and the US. The next five years are likely to see a consolidation of this.

Conceptually, as far as I can decipher, there are six major pillars of this outlook.

First, positive movement with India: The inevitable vocal and perhaps violent challenge from the right-wing notwithstanding, the leadership of the three major parties seem to be fairly sanguine on the options. We’ll have to find the right political jargon and face-savers to pursue this fully but the bottom line is set: the way forward is trade. Jaw-jaw will continue on Kashmir in parallel but it won’t hold the rest hostage. The establishment has found this difficult to swallow but it is also aware of the internal compulsions. The pace of movement will remain up for discussion but the directionality will not.

Second, hedging on Afghanistan: The Afghan policy can take one of two very different directions depending on what transpires in Kabul post-2014. The current desire is to see Pakistan reduce its reliance on hardcore Islamist Pakhtuns and open up with the northern factions. Behind-the-scenes efforts to reach out to the north have been ongoing for some time. The desire for greater attention to the economic aspects of the relationship is also part of this thinking.

Quite to the contrary, a return to civil war in Afghanistan will inevitably trigger the good old proxy game with Pakistan falling on the side of the hardcore elements and the traditional supporters of the northern factions reviving their erstwhile ties. Pakistan will find itself squarely on the wrong side of global opinion if this outcome transpires.

Third, rebalancing of the Sunni-Shia divide — read, the Saudi-Iran equation: For years, Pakistan has been firmly in the Saudi camp with all its attendant economic benefits and ideological repercussions. This has begun to undergo some correction for two reasons. First, the ideological repercussions seem to have caught up with us fair and square. Among other fallouts, the ‘Arabisation’ of the Pakistani religious right’s mindset and its ability to intimidate its opponents has quite obviously exacerbated the Sunni-Shia divide in Pakistan. The state, with the history of tilt towards the Sunni crescent, is increasingly finding it hard to pledge neutrality. It is quickly losing control of the situation.

Second is energy where the Pakistani decision-making enclave seems to be taking the Iranian option far more seriously than one thought it would given the Western opposition. President Zardari’s last visit to Iran had both goals in mind. Admittedly, the PML-N government with its closer links to the Saudi royals may be less sympathetic to this recalibration but again, it could tamper with the pace, not directionality. The latter seems to be coming out of a deeper realisation that the traditional policy has run its course.

Fourth, consistency on China: There is zero dissent on this all-weather friendship despite the clear Chinese signalling that it will not get into the business of bailing Pakistan out with free handouts on a regular basis. The attachment to China however is almost reflexive. The future policy will continue seeking Chinese investment and increasingly also use Beijing as a buffer against the geo-political squeeze Islamabad feels it is under. The Chinese presence in Gwadar ought to be seen in this light.

Fifth, more of the same with the US: For all the seesawing and finger-pointing we have seen from both sides over the years, the bottom line is that neither can afford to alienate the other completely. Pakistan worries Washington and this will not allow it to walk away. Islamabad realises it has been treading on thin ice and cannot afford isolation. There will continue to be a lot of lip service to decreasing dependence on the US (especially from the likes of PTI). It won’t happen though — neither the establishment nor the political parties wish to forgo the assistance that flows from Washington. So there will be angst; there will be mudslinging; but the relationship will continue.

Sixth, more outreach to the traditionally neglected. Efforts to reach out to Moscow over the past two years are examples of efforts at diversification of foreign policy options. None of these are likely to be consequential in the foreseeable future. Net positive or negative? It depends.

The best case implies improved ties with the region without losing out on Western engagement. A more realpolitik analysis on the other hand suggests a major problem: continued outreach to Iran may well be non-negotiable in Riyadh and Washington. How Pakistan manages to deal with this challenge will determine the fate of the reorientation.

The writer is South Asia adviser at the US Institute of Peace, Washington, D.C.

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The outcome of a rubber stamp parliament

Ali Ashraf Khan

The media has created a lot of confusion in election process with regard to scrutiny of the candidates, information about the principles of scrutiny and guidelines for all returning officers as to which criteria are to be applied and how this seems to be partly a result of inability of the members of the Election Commission of Pakistan including its Chairman as well as the Returning officers but partly it is also a conscious effort to create this confusion deliberately so as to help controversial candidates to muddle through the scrutiny process.

This suggestion is also supported by the extremely short scrutiny period of only seven days for over ten thousand applications all together where details about tax payment, loan defaulting, previous cheating regarding the educational certificate, double citizenship and knowledge of Islamic injunctions for each and every single candidate. During the discussions about the upcoming elections the question of article 62 and 63 have been raised - parts of the constitution that have been neglected completely during previous elections including the last one of 2008 in which ECP accepted unverified degrees from the candidates, which turned out to be fabricated in most of the cases. Will the author of a graduate assembly please explain how and why these articles 62 & 63 remained unnoticed from these graduate parliamentarians? Or this gimmick was designed to win their loyalties only?
Only this can explain how liars and cheater with regard to their educational qualification, their tax payment and financial affairs such as bank loan liabilities and wealth declaration could make it into the parliament and into the government despite of article 62 and 63. By raising the issue of 62 and 63 for the first time and that also just shortly before the coming election this is creating a new confusion about how to apply this condition and ‘secular’ writers are concerned that the demand for concurrence with the Pakistan ideology and Islamic injunctions might bring us a parliament of mullahs.

But this fear seems to be overrated because all experiences show that mullahs or members of the religious parties are not more complying with 62 and 63 than ‘ordinary’ candidates, they are among the cheaters regarding their educational certificates, and they have been even wanting in regards to their knowledge of their belief. Those authors even have voiced the demand that these injunctions regarding the Islamic qualifications should have been removed by the parliament but according to insiders it came under discussion but the PPP led committee did not touch it fearing reaction from religious segment of society, what a logic this was?

The logic was that PPP was rating their stay in power higher then their secular commitment given the ground realties of Pakistan. Pakistani people are disgusted with the current state model called democracy which has been found depriving the demos (the people) of their rights for security of life and property and a decent living. When every one is debating the pros and cons of article 62 & 63 we are witness to how the 18th, 19th and 20th amendment was passed unanimously due to vested interest that is fully reflecting now and a day will come when the faces of these leaders will stand exposed. Gilgit Baltistan province was created through a resolution of parliament with any representation in parliament or even right to vote in general elections, so what is the great debate going on legal and illegal bearings of parliament, amendments and resolutions. A Study published a couple of days ago has revealed that more than half of the young Pakistanis do believe that democracy has not been good for their country while 38 percent of the young people are even in favor of implementing a form of the Sharia.

And these are the young Pakistanis. Elder people who were not included into the survey may be equally or even more conservative. Even if you consider that the young have never lived under Sharia and might have a blurred idea about what that would be like - they do live under ‘democracy’ and they are sure they don’t want it. On the contrary, they seem to believe that only Islam or an Islamic state can give justice to all and God fearing people coming into power might change the things and bring prosperity in the country free from every kind of exploitation.

Nothing short of the experience of an Islamic state might make them think different. So demanding the abolition of Islamic injunctions in the constitution is quite against the ground realties in our country and demanding not to implement these injunctions even when they are part of the constitution is demanding to violate the first law of the country, not a good contribution to an anyway weak understanding of law-abidance of our population.

Here I would like to mention about the character of our ex-parliamentarians, when Ziaul Haq was given the go-ahead to declare himself leader of Muslim Ummah his desire to insert the 8th amendment in the constitution was strongly resisted by the opposition under the leadership of Malik Mohammad Qasim and Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, they tried to explain the consequences of this amendment and asked not to vote for it, and a week before the passage of 8th amendment Malik Qasim invited members of the National Assembly on a dinner arranged in the honour of foreign diplomats at his residence on 6th Road, Rawalpindi, where more then 80 MNA’s graced the occasion, but next week the parliament voted in favour of amendment, later when the government of Prime Minister Junejo was dismissed under the same article by President, those MNA’s used to say we didn’t think this was such a dangerous legal amendment.

This is very much reflected even today and will remain the same in future unless we inculcate fear of God in our hearts and minds and stop lying to ourselves and others and give every citizen his right to live with dignity and honour only then we can claim to be true believers and then no verification or projection of faith and belief will come in question that is a personal matter between in individual and His Creator.

As a matter of fact these are serious questions and they have to be addressed with coolness. But this can not happen in a hurry and it has to imply a public discussion or even a genuine referendum, besides the political will to implement whatever the outcome of such a discussion will be. Let’s hope that we will reach this point sometime, even if not with this election.


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Dismal democratic eras

Asif Haroon Raja

The sudden demise of Quaid-e-Azam on September 11, 1948 left the nation stricken with grief and added to the travails of Pakistan but provided an opportunity to India to put its plan to undo Pakistan into motion. Hardly had he closed his eyes when the hidden demented forces of hate and greed who had remained suppressed under the awe-inspiring personality of Quaid, surfaced and started to dismantle the edifice bit by bit. The commotion that followed after the assassination of PM Liaquat Ali Khan on October 16, 1951 at the hands of an Afghan national sank the nation in a bottomless abyss. Growing trend of regionalism helped the Indian agencies to accelerate their insidious plan to sow seeds of misgivings and distrust among various communities and to keep the government of Pakistan politically unstable and economically weak.

Following Liaquat’s death, the bureaucrats and military hijacked the political process. By severing its ties with the masses and failing to get organized, Muslim League lost its élan and direction and sank into limbo after getting defeated by Jugto Front in East Pakistan and thus paved the way for civil-military bureaucrats to rise to power. Governor General Ghulam Muhammad followed by Iskandar Mirza caused irreparable damage to democracy and the state during the crucial first decade merely to perpetuate their stay in power. They strengthened authority of bureaucracy at the expense of developing political institutions. By validating the dissolution of Khawaja Nazimuddin’s Constituent Assembly in 1955 by Ghulam Muhammad, Chief Justice Muhammad Munir Ahmed laid a poor precedent for emulation by others.

Antagonism replaced cooperation among groups and state institutions.
Fascism overtook democratic norms and all those who assumed power in quick succession were political lightweights with feet of clay. They tore the ideals of the founder of the nation into shreds and hungered for pelf and power. The feudal landlords and elites thwarted the country’s democratic evolution as well as economic progress merely to retain power. Self-seekers and sycophants filled up all the high posts and opened the floodgates of bribery, corruption, red-tapism and nepotism. Honest workers were hounded and persecuted while the dishonest and rogues were patronized and shielded.

Elections were postponed on one pretext or the other since elected members of Muslim League and Republican Party, chips of the same block, had discredited them so much that they were afraid that the electorates would disown them. A small coterie of politicians and bureaucrats ruled the country in different combinations under different labels and never allowed democracy or national institutions to strike roots. Decent politics were replaced with hooliganism and democracy stultified. Politics had been reduced to a game of intrigue and chicanery. Misdeeds of the unscrupulous politicians gave rise to the idea that democracy was ill-suited to the genius of Pakistanis - that it was some kind of outlandish clap-trap which must be got rid of and replaced with some form of dictatorship. It took nine years to formulate consensus 1956 constitution on the basis of parity between two wings but after ceding to demands of Bengalis to accept Bengali as a state language and replacing ‘separate electorate’ with ‘joint electorate’. The latter enabled India to make rapid inroads in the chosen target of East Pakistan with the help of affluent Hindu Bengalis.

It was under such pathetic conditions that President Mirza abrogated the 1956 constitution, dissolved the national and provincial assemblies and imposed martial law on 7 October 1958. Political parties were suspended on the following day. His actions were validated by chief justice Munir under the doctrine of necessity. On 28 October, Gen Ayub Khan forced Mirza to resign and he assumed power. The people had for a long time wished for a Messiah who could stymie the rot, cleanse the stables and alleviate their sufferings. Ayub and his team undertook comprehensive reforms and in a short span of time all socio-economic indicators went in positive and GDP climbed to 7%.
While agricultural output was among the best in the world, national production shot up to 28.4% as against the target of 24% and industries boomed. There was all round improvements in all departments. Huntington praised Ayub Khan in these words, ‘ More than any other political leader in a modernizing country after World War II, Ayub Khan came close to filling the role of Solon or Lycurgus or great legislator on the Platonic or Rousseau-an model’. Karl Von described him as a role model for others to emulate.

Ayub Khan preferred presidential form of the government since it checkmated centrifugal forces that were gaining strength in smaller provinces. During Ayub’s Decade of Development in the 1960’s, Pakistan was at the threshold of becoming an Asian economic giant and one of the greatest nations of the world. He did what no other leader including Bengali PMs could do to uplift East Pakistan. His wide ranging gains started to plummet as a result of ZA Bhutto-Mujib led agitations and led to his fall in March 1969 and takeover by Gen Yahya Khan. Yahya abrogated 1962 constitution, imposed martial law and soon after in his bid to appease the agitating Bengalis dissolved One-Unit scheme which once again reverted West Pakistan into four provinces while East Pakistan remained a single homogenous unit. He also redoubled efforts to minimize east-west disparities. First ever general elections were held in December 1970 on the basis of adult franchise and one-man-one-vote. These steps however failed to mitigate the grouses of Bengalis and ultimately led to establishment of Bangladesh in December 1971 and fall of Yahya regime.

Socialist reforms and nationalization during ZA Bhutto’s stint from 1972 to 1977 failed to bring about the promised relief to the common man and instead the buoyancy experienced during Ayub era evaporated. His autocracy and rigging in 1977 elections gave birth to PNA movement and gave an excuse to Gen Ziaul Haq to intervene and take over power in July 1977. His act was also validated by the Supreme Court. During his eleven year rule he managed to revive the economy and the GDP rose to 7%, however, the economic downslide in the third democratic era in the 1990s took the country to the verge of economic collapse. During the second stint of Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan was declared as the second most corrupt nation in the world.

The economy once again surged up during Gen Musharraf’s eight year rule but crashed once Zardari led PPP government took over in 2008. The last coalition government broke all previous records of corruption, inefficiency and mis-governance as a result of which GDP sunk to 3%. There is acute energy crisis due to which industries are dying, economy is in dire straits, all public sector enterprises are in ruins and inflation is very high. The reason is that almost all members of the parliament were neck deep involved in mega scams and were looting the nation with both hands without fear of accountability. That lot was worse than the ones who were in power in the first decade since three of the ruling political parties have militant wings who in league with Mafias are heavily involved in target killings in Karachi. Legislators including chief minister in Balochistan Assembly in league with criminals were involved in kidnapping for ransom, car lifting and corruption. The corrupt officials were protected and rewarded and honest ones hounded and persecuted.

Under the concept of reconciliation, system of accountability was terminated and all crooks and criminals were let off the hook. No terrorist was convicted and hanged due to inherent flaws in system of investigation and judiciary.
Pakistan instead of turning into an ideal state as dreamed by Quaid-e-Azam is now being called a failing state and the most dangerous country in the world. Love, affection and spirit of brotherhood that oozed in abundance after the birth of Pakistan have been replaced with antagonism, greed and selfishness.
Sectarianism, ethnicity, corruption and immorality are eating into the vitals of the country. Muslims are killing Muslims with lunatic ferocity as is seen in Karachi and Quetta where police is politicized. Aggrieved Hazaras in Quetta and people in Karachi are frantically asking the Army to intervene and save them from the demented hordes. People see little hope in coming elections since they fear that the flawed electoral system and the handpicked Election Commission (EC), which the status quo loving mainstream parties do not want to reform, or to let the EC to carryout full scrutiny of contestants, will recycle the same lot of rogues. Fair, free and transparent elections are crucial for true democracy and bright future of Pakistan. The Army has a chance to wash away the stains of 1988, 1990 and 2002 rigged elections it carries by preventing rigging and ensuring free and fair elections.

(The writer is a retired Brig and a defence analyst)

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Performance of Punjab & Sindh governments

Gulsher Panhwer

As election approaches the debate about the performance of the federal and provincial governments is intensifying in print and electronic media. The situation in Balochistan and relatively in the KPK is different from Sindh and Punjab because of insurgency in Balochistan and more intense incidents of terrorism in the KPK.

Thus the focus of comparative debate would be Sindh and Punjab. Many unprecedented things have taken place. For the first time, superior judiciary and now Election Commission have played and are playing their true constitutional role (although independence and active role of the SC and the EC has failed to make any dent in status quo).

Therefore those who have seen the traditional role of these institutions functioning as lackeys and endorsing the illegal actions of rulers for decades are now raising the hue and cry that the SC and the EC are overstepping their preview. The most vocal against the present independent SC and EC are ruling elite who see their past unchallenging sole authority diluted. And the gullible masses are cheated by clever and eloquent political elite that the activism of judiciary and EC is real cause of people's sufferings. Similarly, PML-N has, for the first time, tried its best to provide good governance and eradicate corruption to prove itself a viable alternative to its rival PPP and newly emerging third force, PTIC.

Therefore PML-N government is under attack from its political rivals and section of media as the Punjab government for the first time has worked under constitution and relatively transparently. I cannot say that PML-N is ideal party or it has no weaknesses. The most drawbacks of PML-N are that its top leadership comprises business family and is dominated by dynastic political culture. Moreover its alleged tilt towards religious extremist elements is a major cause of concern for those who desire a bold leadership at the top which guarantees' protection of religious minorities and is ready to fight the cancer of sectarian related violence and religiously motivated terrorism.

But here we are concerned to find a silver lining to find best out of worst. As a party PMLN has proved with its actions that it has learnt lessons very well from past mistakes. The overall achievements of the PML-N as a national mainstream party include; not destabilizing PPP coalition government despite immense pressure from the party and media. Other major achievement of PML-N was to remain steadfast in restoration of the Judiciary (which after restoration has proved a strong bulwark against undemocratic forces).

Punjab government launched and completed mega development projects. Although almost all development schemes of Punjab government came under severe criticism but it has become fashion in Pakistan to oppose everything.

However, despite the all efforts of the PPP, and a gang of anti-PML-N columnists and TV anchors, not a single big case or scandal of corruption against the CM has been unearthed. The PML-N has removed its MPAs when found guilty of wrongdoings whereas top leadership of the PPP, officially, supported and promoted those ministers with substantial allegation of misusing funds and their authorities. The reputed international watchdog Immensity International has given the Punjab Government good marks on transparency and good governance.

During my recent visit to Lahore, I saw visible development and residents of Lahore and even those friends from other parts of Punjab praised Shahbaz Sharif for his hard work and development programs. However at the same time my friends were critical of the Punjab government for spending huge amounts in Lahore and neglecting other parts especially southern Punjab.

The human rights activists from Punjab expressed some concern as are being debated in media that Punjab government is doing little for protecting the minorities. But they also added that despite all these draw backs PMLN will not only sweep Punjab but also would be able to form government in center.
Punjab government through its actions has achieved another millstone of dissipating on great extent rivalry between Sindh and Punjab. Nationalist from Sindh always blamed and some still blame Punjab rightly or wrongly that Punjab dominated center from very inception of Pakistan is exploiting Sindh by usurping its financial and natural resources as Sindh contributes 70 per cent of resources to the national kitty but it gets back pittance of more or less 20 to 26 percent share.

The major bone of contention between Sindh and Punjab has remained water distribution which former alleges that latter takes more than its due share and the talk of Kala Bagh Dam is red rag to every Sindhi nationalists who takes KBD as conspiracy to convert Sindh into virtual desert.

PML-N as a first step of mitigating the bitterness gave up its considerable financial share for Sindh under the NFC and despite the best efforts of the PPP to put the PML-N between devil and deep sea (PPP spokespersons insisted that the PML-N should come clear either it supports or opposes KBD in attempt to either damage its vote bank in Punjab or wipe its thin support base in Sindh ) stuck to its stand that the KBD would not be undertaken unless reservation of Sindh and KP are removed. In addition now those TV anchors and writers from Sindhi TV channels and newspapers who used to erupt into anger even on the mention of the name of PML-N and used to allege that there is the same or even more corruption in Punjab and no development has taken place in Punjab, are now giving example of good governance and development during Shabaz Sharif term in Punjab.

All this and joining of some heavyweights from Sindh to PML-N like Mumtaz Bhutto Liaquat Jatoi and Zafar Ali Shah are clear indications that PML-N would not only win majority in Punjab but nibble away considerable seats from Sindh too. Expect Hyderabad, Mirpurkahs roads, the Sindh, government has hardly any mega schemes in Sindh to claim the credit for.

The roads and highway in Sindh's length and breadth are in pathetic conditions. The critics alleged that the PPP lead the coalition government in Sindh has introduced ghost schemes where schemes were shown on papers and budgets were eaten away but on ground no work took place and even budgets were re-allocated for such paper schemes for several times.
Majority of PPP Ministers, MPAs and officeholders from provincial level to district and Tehsil level has become billionaires, most of whom were paupers before 2008. Although, through jobs, BISP, Watan Card, Pakistan Card and Youth programs a good number of the people has got some financial relief but majority of the poor voters and sincere workers have been sidelined and neglected.

The PPP's strategy to prepare for upcoming election is to appease and enrich big landlords. In Dadu district big landlords and heads of castes were rewarded with lucrative jobs and big contracts and encroachment of the government land etc. The time has changed but the PPP, particularly in interior Sindh, has failed to synchronize its strategies to changing times.
Apart from PML-N/s intrusion in the traditional constituencies of Sindh--the gravest setback for PPP would be the loss of its solid vote bank of the poor masses and support of its workers at grassroots level.

The workers who used to mobilize voters would sit saliently if not vote against PPP. The big or small feudal lords who have been enriched on the expense of the PPP's sincere workers would find no vibes of conscience in joining the anti-PPPP bandwagon after realizing that ship of PPP is sinking i.e. thin prospects of PPP wining.


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