Balochistan Assembly: a Critical View

This article was originally published in weekly The Friday Times on October 11, 2013

Beyond the grand debate on mightier political issues, broad constitutional reforms and rights violations by state institutions, Balochistan’s development and its people’s well being could have partly been ensured by strengthening democratic governance and the way governance institutions work.

Amongst the wider debates on political rights of the people of Balochistan, an important point is often missed – the importance of the day-to-day governance that affects the people the most, and more often. Especially when a people continue to suffer marginalization and discrimination embedded in the entire polity and structure of the state.

An elected provincial assembly is the key democratic institution that carries most of the burden of responsibility for overseeing the decision-making process by governing institutions. A strong assembly would not only make laws, but also ensure an effective oversight of government actions, substantially debating the policies and seeking timely corrective measures.

The very purpose of a legislative body gets defeated when all dissent is dissolved through political tactics, and even a thin possibility of oversight is removed

Looking at the track record of the two previous tenures of Balochistan Assembly, one gets a glimpse of the viciousness of the cycle that bad governance is. The very purpose of a legislative body gets defeated when all dissent is dissolved through political tactics, and even a thin possibility of oversight is removed.

Dissent in a legislature is manifest in the face of effective and meaningful opposition as well as independence of the members from even the treasury benches. Members’ freedom to hold opinions based on their objective analysis is key for a meaningful oversight, which unfortunately is dangerously lacking in Pakistan’s political parties across the board. But Balochistan is a special case as far as democracy index and legislative performance is concerned.

For two consecutive terms, from 2002 to 2013, Balochistan Assembly has had almost no opposition benches. In 2002, the entire House was treasury, while in 2008 only three members constituted the opposition. Almost the entire House was the provincial cabinet. Contrary to the popular belief that the only opposition in the assembly was offered by a Rind sardar, his name did not appear on the official record of opposition. The assembly record reveals three members as opposition, whose names were Pir Abdul Qadir Gilani, Tariq Magsi and Zulfiqar Domki. Weak or no opposition ensures free playing field for the government. When almost every member is part of the government, there exists a vested interest in not raising various issues that the legislature is mandated to debate on.

But this was not the only problem that the Balochistan Assembly has had. Committees are considered the eyes and ears of the legislatures. They are responsible for carrying out legislative as well as oversight business for the House. It is a parliamentary committee that ensures legislative proposals under consideration are assessed in detail, analyzed and minutely scrutinized before presenting to the House for approval to become law. Committees also make the incumbent government accountable for its actions and decisions. One cannot imagine how a House could function without any committees. In Balochistan Assembly’s 2008-2013 tenure, no committees were constituted.

Not that the House missed the committees too much. The assembly carried out very little legislative business. The assembly passed only four bills and around 30 amendments in five years. Needless to say, they were passed without any debate. Individual members did not take part in legislative business, as there is no tradition of Private Members Bills in Balochistan Assembly. The entire legislative responsibilities are on the government’s shoulders. Whenever a bill is tabled, it is passed within moments with members present on the benches. All laws are passed using an obnoxious Rule 84 of the Rules of Business of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan, which allows the government to avoid the committees stage and pass the law instantly. When some members were interviewed, they were clueless about the standard legislative procedures. Many of them didn’t even understand the concept of Private Members Bills and had little idea about their right (and duty) to generate legislative business through tabling bills responding to the needs of their constituents.

Ziaul Haq “transformed legislators into municipal workers”

Some members felt strongly about the development funds given to every one of them. A member from Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) said the trend started when late military dictator Ziaul Haq “transformed legislators into municipal workers”. Another member from the National Party said he felt increasingly frustrated about how a member was converted into an “ATM machine” [sic]. That is probably why the new government in Balochistan has decided to do away with these funds and instead go for block allocations, so that the money could be utilized for the benefit of people rather than to serve political agendas or land in private pockets.

This reminds me of at least two members from the previous mandate. There was something peculiar about the way they spent their development funds in the last year of their tenure. One of them established a grand Madrassa in his constituency, while the other ended up constructing a monument at a crossing in Quetta “as a tribute to the martyrs of Pakistan Army”. Asked what kind of research or constituency work was carried out before making these creative ideas their ‘development projects’, the legislators looked at me like I was from Mars.

Research is a foreign word to Balochistan Assembly. Members have no technical or research assistance by the state. There are no Constituency Offices established anywhere in Pakistan, let alone Balochistan, where voters could reach out to their representatives. Members’ homes are unofficial and undeclared constituency offices.

To my horror, I also discovered that there had not been any Public Accounts Committee reports in the Balochistan Assembly. Public Accounts Committees ensure scrutiny of government expenditure. Since 1973, only two ad hoc reports of the PAC have come out – during the dictatorial regimes of Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf. In the second report, which came out during Musharraf’s dictatorship, around 77 objections were raised by the ad hoc PAC that consisted of technocrats as opposed to elected members of the provincial assembly. None of these objections could ever be taken forward for corrective action by the executive branch.

After some good things happened following this year’s elections in Balochistan, hopes have escalated. But the fact that the province is going on without a cabinet indicates that parliamentary committees are not likely any time soon. If it is going to be business as has been in past two mandates, it is safe to say that the elections have brought no change. Any talk of development in Balochistan will remain cosmetic without basic mechanisms to ensure democratic governance.

- See more at: http://www.thefridaytimes.com/tft/balochistan-assembly-a-critical-view/#sthash.a1a56wxv.dpuf

Mrs. Salamanka

A poem by Noon Meem Rashid (Urdu), posting here specially for Faiza Sultan Khan, with a promise to post it in Persian transcript soon!

Noon Meem Rashid

Noon Meem Rashid

Khuda hashr mein ho madadgaar mera

Ke dekhi hein mein ne Mrs. Salamanka ki aankhein

Mrs. Salamanka ki ankhein

Ke jin ke ufaq hein janoobi samunder ki neeli rasaa’i se aagay

Janoobi samandur ki neeli rasaa’i

Ke jis ke jazeeray hajoom-e-sahar se darakhshaan

Darakhshaan jazeeron mein zartaab-o-annaab-o-qurmuz parindon ki jaulaan gahein

Aisay phaili hoi jesay jannat ke daamaan

Parinday azal aura bad ke mah-o-saal mein baan afshaan!

Khuda hashr mein ho madadgaar mera

Ke mein ne liye hein Mrs. Salamanka ke honton ke bosay

Who bosay ke jin ki halaawat ke chashmay

Shimaali zameenon ke zartaab-o-annaab-o-qurmuz darakhton

Ke madhosh baaghon se aagay

Jahaan zindagi ke raseeda shagoofon ke seenon

Se khwaabon ke rum deed azan-boor letay hein ras aur peetay hein who

Ke jis ke nashay ki jilaa se

Zamaanon ki naa-deeda mehraab ke do kinaaron ke neechay

Hein yak-baargi goonj uth-tay khalaa-o-malaa ke jalaa-jal

Jalaa-jal ke naghmay baham aisay pevast hotay hein jesay

Mrs. Salamanka ke lab meray lab se!

Khuda hashr mein ho madadgar mera

Ke dekha hay mein ne

Mrs. Salamanka ko bister mein shab bher barahna

Woh garden, woh baanhein, woh raanein, woh pistaan

Ke jin mein janoobi samunder ki lehron ke toofaan

Shimaali darakhton ke baaghon ke phoolon ki khushbu

Jahaan dam-ba-dam itr-o-toofaan baham aur gurezaan

Mrs. Salamanka ka jism-e-barahna

Ufaq ta ufaq jesay angoor ki bail jis ki

Ghizaa aasmaanon ka noor aur haasil

Woh lazzat ke jis ka nahin koi paayaan

Khuda ke siwaa kaun hay paak damaan!

Civil Society Gravely Concerned at Tuesday Turn of Events

Islamabad, 15 January 2013

We, the concerned citizens, human rights activists and civil society organizations, are watching with the gravest concern the fast-unfolding events in Islamabad today.

It is the first time that a democratic dispensation was nearing its natural completion.

We condemn the exploitation and the use of women and children as human shields in the expensive drama being staged by the Canadian parachute Tahir-ul-Qadri.  It turned into farcical melodrama when the Supreme Court’s order to arrest the Prime Minister of Pakistan and 16 others re: the rental power case was announced in the middle of his speech being relayed live on Tuesday afternoon.  The well-trained emissary lost not a moment in making the linkage between his unConstitutional demands, incitement to treason and emotional blackmail with the SC’s order, terming it 50% success of his “million man (sic) long march” within 12 hours of the Islamabad sit-in.  We condemn this in the strongest terms.

Likewise, without going into its merits at all, we express, with due respect, our gravest concern at the curiously bad timing of the Honourable Supreme Court judgement/short order in the rental power case, which has been ongoing for months and months now.  We were hoping for and fully expecting the SC to take suo moto notice AGAINST Qadri’s unConstitutional stand and actions, instead of the OPPOSITE, which has wittingly or unwittingly made an unworthy hero out of Qadri.  It is inexplicably strange that Islamabad, the besieged capital, and Pakistan, a country in extreme crisis, had to witness this double whammy today. But perhaps it is not so strange and not a coincidence either.

We firstly wish to request the Honourable Supreme Court, with the utmost respect, to take all possible measures NOT to derail the democratic dispensation at this extremely critical juncture, no matter how flawed and non-performing its governance has been – which we decry and have been pointing out continuously over the last 5 years.

We demand that Qadri come out of the closet and inform Pakistanis of his mentors, whether stationed in Ottawa, MI5/London, Langley/Virginia, or indeed not too far away in Rawalpindi, or closer still, in Aabpara/Islamabad.  We warn him in the sternest language not to exploit the masses in the name of religion or poverty or basic needs.

We urgently demand that the federal Government, all the provincial Governments and all political parties immediately make a consensus statement regarding the election schedule, and their utmost resolve to uphold democracy and democratic norms.

We warn the armed forces of Pakistan NOT to stage either a direct or indirect coup d’etat, by either marching boots down Constitution Avenue, or by installing their proxy, whether in the form of Qadri or Khan or any retired general – or ANYONE.  The new Pakistan may not yet be at Tahrir Square, but we are not too far behind.  We are very closely monitoring the unfolding situation and we will not allow Jinnah’s Pakistan to be hijacked or derailed.  We are alive and we are alert.

Endorsed by:

Human rights activists, citizens:

  1. Tahira Abdullah
  2. Marvi Sirmed
  3. Samar Minallah
  4. Dr. Rakhshanda Perveen
  5. Ambreen Ahmad
  6. Naseer Memon
  7. Sirmed Manzoor
  8. Saleem Malik

Organizations:

  1. Ethnomedia
  2. SACHET
  3. Creative Anger
  4. WAF
  5. PRHN
  6. PODA
  7. Aurat Foundation
  8. Bedari
  9. WORD
  10. Rozan
  11. Khyber Pakhtunlhwa Civil Society Network
  12. Amn Tehreek
  13. SDPI

 

Accountability of the Prime Accountability Institution: Parliament

With its triangular function of legislation, representation and oversight on the Executive Branch of the state, Parliament is normally considered to be the prime democratic institution to hold the governments and state institutions accountable, as well as articulate concerns on corrupt practices on behalf of citizens. In recent times, the same concern has been voiced about the parliaments, especially in South Asian societies. The integrity and accountability of parliament is as important as is that of the Executive Branch. General perception is that the accountability of parliament is ensured through the elections. But considering the long stretch of time between two elections, this seems insufficient mechanism of accountability. It is, this, incorporated within the constitutions and in rules of Business of the parliaments, whereby they (parliaments) present themselves for accountability. It was importance of this emerging concern that pressed me to explore the integrity & accountability mechanisms for the parliament, ingrained in Pakistan’s constitution and the Rules.

Following presentation was given on the request of Ms. Hina Jilani, Chair of South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR), to one of their conferences in late August this year. I thought to post it here for the benefit of students of political science and the posterity. Hope you find this useful. Your feedback would be warmly welcomed and appreciated.

Marvi Sirmed

Supreme Court and Public Accounts Committee

Sharing with you this important document, which has left me shocked and extremely disappointed in the ‘wisdom’ of those who need to be the wisest. Amid all kinds of corruption allegations on politicians being pursued by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCOP), one case got special treatment by the worthiest men of of this country – the graft case of Mr. Arsalan Iftikhar. Iftikhar is a 34 years old ‘innocent boy’ who was reportedly ‘lured’ into accepting a not-s-small sum of money from one Malik Riaz, the real estate tycoon who knows how to make the mare go. The innocence of Mr. Iftikhar is further proven by the fact that he happens to be the son of Chief Justice of Pakistan. The case was thus, taken up by none other than CJP himself, as a suo-moto action under Section 184(3) which allows the CJP to move the court if the case pertains to violation of fundamental rights and is of public interest. The case, definitely is of public interest and violates Mr. Iftikhar’s right to remain innocent for the rest of his life! The case, as was right thing to do, was disposed of by mildly lecturing all parties to ‘behave’.

Why is it important to recall Mr. Iftikhar? Because his was not the only case where the worthy court to be partisan for its own interest. Responding to Public Accounts Committee, the elected watch body over the Auditor General of Pakistan that called Registrar of Supreme Court to present himself before the Committee and explained some overspending by the SCOP. Guess what happens next? The wise men in SCOP, came up with a document that conveniently leaves everyone in the SCOP outside the ambit of any elected watch body that oversees the transparency of financial transaction by public institutions including SCOP. Have a lok over how the Registrar of SCOP – an official who is not a judge – exonerates himself from legislature’s scrutiny.

One wonders who is going to ensure transparency when even the most responsible institutions of this country try to evade law on the pretext of law. Ironic and sad. The language used in this document and disregard for transparency makes my wish it must not be what the worthy men in SCOP meant. Have a good reading experience please!
Supreme Court, Pakistan, Chief Justice, Arsalan Iftikhar, Auditor General, Public Accounts Committee, Parliament, Judiciary, Pakistan

 

 

‘On Compromise’ by John Morley that Jinnah suggested for reading

 

Below is the text of famous writing, On Compromise, by Lord John Morley of UK. I just found it in my collection of pdf documents gathered from various online & offline sources. Thought it is important to share it with today’s young of this country, whose founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah once prescribed this reading to the youth of his era. Jinnah was great admirer of Lord Morley, who, besides being a liberal intellectual & statesman, was a literary writer as well. His writings on Burke, Byron etc. He was an anti-imperialist, but advocated fierce tackling of native resistance against the state in India, which he called conspiracy and sedition.

Morley became Secretary of State to India in 1906 and made an important contribution to Indian politics by introducing his reforms of 1909, commonly known as Minto-Morley reforms. Because of his continuous efforts, British India got some share of Indian nationals (the rich ones) in the decision making. After Minto-Morley reforms of 1909, the Legislative Council of India got two seats for Indians, for the first time. Jinnah got benefitted by getting elected to one of these seats in 1910. But Jinnah’s appreciation of Lord Morley can’t be attributed to his election. It goes back to late 19th century when Jinnah was in UK and had the opportunity to listen to thinkers like Morley and his hero William Gladstone.

At one occasion during his active political life, Jinnah advised the youngsters of the time to read the works of Morley, especially the below posted On Compromise. Hope it proves interesting reading for today’s youth, especially the passionate and ‘all-knowing’ youngsters from Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf. I hope Imran Khan also reads it. Reading is what all of us desperately need.