DWS, Sunday 2nd June to Saturday 8th June 2013

	DWS, Sunday 2nd June to Saturday 8th June 2013
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NATIONAL NEWS
First civilian transition, at last By Raja Asghar ISLAMABAD, June 1: On the surface, it was all cordiality and little rancour about the May 11 elections as the new elected National Assembly was formally born with an oath on Saturday, heralding the return of a potentially thumping rightist rule.. Nawaz Sharif, president of the victorious PML-N, sat only inches away from the prime minister’s seat he is to take with his certain election to the office four days later after more than 13 years of political wilderness. “Prime minister Nawaz Sharif”, his supporters packing the visitors’ galleries chanted repeatedly during more than two hours of the sitting marking the start of a five-year term of the country’s 14th lower house. With PML-N emerging as the largest party in the 342-seat house and going beyond the simple majority with several independents joining it, Mr Sharif is set to be elected on Wednesday as leader of the house to become the first Pakistani to take the prime minister’s office for the third time, after his two ill-fated terms in the 1990s were cut short, first by a political intrigue in 1993 and then by an army coup in 1999. It was a completely transformed house that took oath on Saturday, with the PML-N gaining the majority from its second position in the previous house, in which the PPP was the largest – but much short of simple majority – that governed for five years in coalition with both former friends and foes, including some months together with the PML-N, becoming Pakistan’s first elected government to complete its full constitutional tenure under a civilian set-up. Behind the smiles and pleasantries, while PML-N members seemed to be brimming with joy and those of the PPP looked out of sorts because of their party’s humiliation at the hands of what its assassinated leader used to call in the 1990s as “remnants of Ziaul Haq”. Many of them are in victors’ list, from pro-business Nawaz Sharif downwards, committed to right-wing policies. NO RANCOUR: Unlike the bitterness between the political rivals seen in the 1990s, and despite the PML-N and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, the newly emerged third force, snatching all but a couple of seats the PPP had won in the PML-N powerbase of Punjab in 2008, both the PML-N and PPP showed an unusual cordiality during the oath taking, with Mr Sharif and PPP’s would-be opposition leader Khurshid Ahmed Shah taking turns to go to each other’s desks to shake hands in the beginning of the proceedings and after signing the roll of members. While Mr Sharif received the day’s loudest applause by desk thumping by party colleagues and allies and clapping in the galleries, Mr Shah, who has been a popular trouble-shooter in the previous house as the PPP chief whip, was applauded apparently by all sections of the house and a solitary “Jeay Bhutto” slogan from a gallery when he was called upon to go to the rostrum to sign the roll. So was outgoing Speaker Fehmida Mirza when she signed the roll in Urdu alphabetical order after administering a combined oath to 301 lawmakers – out of a total of 314 who were invited. Several newly elected members have to vacate one of two or more lower house seats won by them, or vacate a National Assembly seat to opt for one in a provincial assembly, elections for nine constituencies are still to be held and a decision about 10 reserved seats for women from Punjab is still awaited. And it fell to the lot of Dr Mirza, who became the Islamic world’s first female parliamentary speaker when elected to the office in 2008, to earn a unique honour also in administering – and, at the same time, herself taking – the oath by reading out the Urdu text of the oath with feminine gender like “halaf uthati hoon” (I take the oath) or “… karoongi”. In all previous assemblies, oaths were administered either by a male speaker or a senior male member of the house. Notable absenters from the ceremony were PTI chairman Imran Khan, who is still convalescing in Lahore from serious injuries he suffered in a fall during an election campaign rally, his party vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Imran Khan was elected from three constituencies, but his party announced on Saturday that he would retain his seat from Rawalpindi and vacate the remaining two from Peshawar and Mianwali, while PTI president Javed Hashmi, elected from two constituencies, would retain the seat in his home town of Multan and quit the one in Islamabad. The oath-taking, which began nearly two hours late because of a PML-N parliamentary party meeting, was held amid strict security around the parliament house, which saw a traffic jam near the building because of a rush of visitors, who also overcrowded the house galleries. Before adjourning it until 11am on Monday, the speaker reminded the house of the schedule for the election of a new speaker and deputy speaker by secret ballot, which she will oversee on the same day, for which nomination papers must be submitted to the house secretary by 12 noon on Sunday. The prime minister’s election, on Wednesday through what is called division in parliamentary parlance requiring house members to openly go to different lobbies to record their votes, will be overseen by the new speaker, with 2pm on Tuesday being the deadline for submitting nominations.
Musharraf cases pose early test for Nawaz By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD, June 1: The shortage of electricity is not the only worry which the PML-N leadership will be grappling with. Former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf’s presence in the capital is another major concern which the party will have to address soon after taking over the charge on June 5.. Since the May 18 meeting between army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and incoming prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif in Lahore, top leaders of the PML-N have repeatedly broached the cases of Gen Musharraf which the coming government, willy-nilly, will be stumbling into, according to an aide to the leadership. He said that after the electricity crisis, the second most important subject discussed over the past 10 days or so by the kitchen cabinet of Mr Sharif, comprising Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Senator Ishaq Dar and others, was how to handle the cases of Gen Musharraf. While the PML-N leaders were brainstorming over the Musharraf factor, the former president seemed undisturbed at the prospect of Mr Sharif coming to power. The information secretary of the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), Aasia Ishaq, said the former president was determined to face the cases against him and would stay put in the country, come what may. “The APML has repeatedly said that Gen Musharraf expects justice from the courts, and is not worried about new political developments in the country.” Ms Ishaq said that since the former president had decided to clear his name from all these cases, it didn’t matter whether there was a PPP or PML-N government. Currently under detention, Gen Musharraf is facing a litany of cases, including trial under Article 6 of the constitution for imposing emergency on Nov 3, 2007, his alleged role in the Benazir Bhutto and Akbar Bugti murder cases, the Lal Masjid operation and the judges’ detention case.
BNP-M boycotts Balochistan PA’s session By Saleem Shahid QUETTA, June 1: Amid the Balochistan National Party-M’s boycott of the inaugural session of the provincial assembly, newly elected members of the house took oath here on Saturday. . Sardar Akhtar Mengal, president of the BNP-M, has convened a meeting of his party’s central committee on Sunday to decide whether the party’s legislators-elect would take oath or not. The party has won two seats in the Balochistan Assembly and one in the National Assembly in the May 11 elections. Mir Hamal Kalmati has been elected MPA whereas Sardar Mengal has been elected to both houses. The BNP-M leadership alleges that massive rigging took place in the constituencies where the party was expected to emerge victorious. Speaker Syed Matiullah Agha administered oath to 56 legislators. In a house of 65 members, the PML-N has 18, the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) 14, National Party (NP) 11, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (F) 8, PML-Q 5, BNP two and BNP-A, Awami National Party, Jamot Qaumi Movement (JQM) 1 and Majlis Wehdatul Muslimeen (MWM) one each. Apart from Sardar Mengal and Hammal Kalmati, Mir Zafarullah Zehri of the BNP-A, Ghulam Dastagir Badini and Kiran Haider of the PML-N and Jam Mir Kamal (independent) did not take oath. Jam Kamal has also been elected on a National Assembly seat which he has decided to retain. Similar is the caser of Ms Haider who has also been elected MNA on one of the seats reserved for women. The Supreme Court has disqualified the PML-N’s PMA-elect Mir Abdul Ghafoor Lehri from becoming a legislator in a fake degree case. He has filed a review petition against the verdict. The Election Commission had postponed the election in the Kachhi constituency because of death of a candidate before the 11 polls. He was killed in a firing incident during his election campaign. Besides the old faces, a number of MPAs have reached the assembly for the first time. They are: Sardar Raza Muhammad Barraich, Nasrullah Zeray, Nawab Ayaz Khan Jogezai, Agha Syed Liaquat Ali, Manzoor Ahmed Kakar, Masooma Hayat, William Johan Barkat and Ms Fariza of the PkMAP; Muhammad Azim Buledi, Haji Muhammad Salam, Mir Muhammad Khalid Langov, Mujeeb-Ur-Rehman Muhammad Hasni, Nawab Muhammad Khan Shahwani, Hainderi Maish Baloch and Yasmeen Lehri of the NP; Ma’azallah Musakhel, Mufti Gulab Khan, Sardar Gul Muhammad Domar and Abdul Malik Kakar of the JUI-F; Akbar Askani, Sardar Dur Muhammad Nasar, Mir Izhar Hussian Khosa, Rahat Bibi Jamali and Santosh Kumar of the PML-N; Syed Muhammad Raza of the MWM, Mir Abdul Majid Abro of the JQM and independents Mir Aamir Khan Rind and Sardar Sarfaraz Khan Domki. At the session, Fateha was offered for the departed souls of the brother, son and nephew of Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, who were killed in a bomb attack in Khuzdar a few days before the elections.
341 Punjab MPAs take oath By Our Staff Reporter LAHORE, June 1: Three hundred and forty-one newly elected members of the Punjab Assembly were administered oath by outgoing Speaker Rana Mohammad Iqbal on Saturday. . The total strength of the house is 371, but notifications of election to seven seats reserved for women and five other seats have been withheld by the Election Commission for various reasons. The remaining seats fell vacant after those candidates who had won from more than one constituency kept one seat and resigned other(s). Talking to reporters outside the assembly, Chief Minister-designate Shahbaz Sharif said the PML-N would work hard to come up to people’s expectations. “They have given us the mandate and we will not disappoint them,” he said. Mr Sharif said under the oath they took they were bound to serve people selflessly.
Between promise and peril: privatising the power sector By Khurram Husain BETWEEN the finances and the technicals, reforming the power sector is clearly amongst the top priorities of the new government. . But many of the reforms that are being talked about have been tried unsuccessfully by many others before, including by Mr Sharif’s last government. The plan they have chalked out looks something like this: raise roughly Rs500 billion, as much as possible from banks and print the rest. Use this money to eliminate the circular debt and get the power plants churning, the electricity crackling through the country’s aging transmission lines. While the power bureaucracy is busy burning its way through these funds, start implementing some far-reaching reforms that transform the power sector altogether and prepare it for eventual privatisation. “There’s no doubt about one thing, the inefficiencies have to go,” says Razzak Dawood, Chairman of Descon Engineering and owner of a power plant that has struggled for fuel supply. “And only the private sector can do that. Just compare the efficiencies of the private power producers with those of the government power plants.” According to industry insiders, some of the government-owned power plants are operating at efficiency levels of less than 10 per cent, meaning more than 90 per cent of the fuel burned in their furnaces is wasted. Rectifying this is key to resolving the power crisis. “You’ll see advertisements for positions of chief executive for PEPCO, all the distribution companies, and for NTDC in the first few days of the new government,” says Khwaja Asif, the new water and power minister. The advertisements will be followed by a series of measures that will take all public sector companies — including, but not limited to those in the power sector — out of the control of the ministries and placed under a holding company. “We’ve got to locate the right people for the right jobs, make the process transparent,” says Shaukat Tarin, who was financial adviser for a brief period to the last government before resigning on grounds of principle. “That’s the challenge here,” he adds with his characteristic bravado.The party’s word in this department carries some credibility. In its last stint in power, from 1997 till 1999, the government of Nawaz Sharif did exactly this with three large public sector banks, and Shaukat Tarin was given charge of Habib Bank with the mandate to prepare it for privatisation. It took something like five years for the job to get done, but by 2003 all the banks that had been handed to private-sector management were indeed privatised. But did this bring about any material improvement in their performance as banks? The answer is not that clear. These banks have certainly been quick to embrace innovation — whether ATMs yesterday, or online banking today or mobile banking tomorrow — and their branch operations no longer resemble tea halls in a railway station. But some argue that the improvements brought about have been largely cosmetic. In their core function as banks — as intermediaries between savers and investors — they have failed dismally, preferring to eschew risk-based lending to private sector companies in favour of low-return but secure lending to government. Almost all of these top five banks have allowed their credit risk departments to wither on the vine, scaled back their staffs in corporate banking departments while growing their operations in treasury, which deals largely with lending to the government and anticipating money market moves. STRONG REGULATOR NEEDED: Tarin himself agrees that there is a failure here, but attributes it to the State Bank of Pakistan, as the regulator, rather than to the idea of privatisation itself. He agrees that along with privatisation, a strong regulator needs to be developed to “look after the interests of the public, to act like an umpire” rather than an imperious decision-maker. Razzak Dawood also agrees, and points to electricity markets in advanced countries as an example. “You have to avoid concentration in the hands of one or two people. If somebody manages to acquire 15 to 20 per cent of your generation capacity, for instance, is that a good thing?” According to Tarin, the working group developing the road map for the new government has deliberated on how the regulator will need to be strengthened, to monitor efficiencies for example, and what sort of legislation will need to be drafted for the purpose. Some dangers to avoid will include concentration, failure to create a mechanism to generate a market price for electricity, and predatory investors who take controlling share in companies only to plunder their cash flows. The power sector is different from the banking sector in this important respect: it serves as a lifeline in the daily lives of tens of millions of citizens. Failure of private power operators to properly discharge their functions will be far more disruptive to people’s daily lives than similar failures have been in the banking sector. The private sector brings with it a promise of reform, but also the perils of failure and disarticulation, and this is the tightrope the PML-N has promised it will walk to get the country to the other side of this crisis.
Companies assure SC of equitable power distribution By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, June 1: The heads of electricity distribution companies (Discos) told the Supreme Court on Saturday that the problem of enforced and prolonged outages caused by tripping of Guddu, Uch, Foundation and Habibullah Coastal power plants had almost been solved. . They submitted a joint statement to the court in compliance with its directive to the managing director of the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC), Zargham Ishaq Khan, to hold a video conference with the MDs of the Discos, chairman of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) and secretary of water and power ministry to ensure implementation of its order of May 21 that had called for equitable distribution of power among all categories of consumers. The statement said the chief executive officers of the Discos — Lesco, Fesco, Iesco, Mepco, Pesco, Sepco, Hesco and Qesco — had held the video conference on Saturday. It was chaired by caretaker Water and Power Minister Dr Mussadiq Malik and attended by Mr Khan, Irsa chairman Asjid Imtiaz and other officials. The joint statement said that currently the total output of the power plants stood at about 12,500MW and added that only three independent power producers with a total capacity of 600MW (Halmore, Liberty and Hubco Narowal) were out of the national grid because of different reasons. Adequate supply of furnace oil and gas to the powerhouses was being ensured to maintain the output and bridge the gap between demand and supply, it said. About generation from Wapda’s hydropower stations, it said the situation has started improving due to rising water flows in Indus and Jhelum rivers and a significant increase in releases from Tarbela and Mangla reservoirs. From May 21 to 30, it said, the share of hydropower plants in the total output had increased by 425MW, from 4,674MW to 5,099MW. The situation would improve further in June, July and August when the hydel stations would be operating at their full capacity of 6,733MW. The statement said the heads of the Discos had directed their subordinates to carry out fair, just and equitable loadshedding irrespective of the status of consumers and improve monitoring of the distribution system. It assured the court that its order would be strictly implemented. A technical expert, Mohammad Raziuddin, claimed that Guddu Thermal Power Plant’s unit number 11 of 135MW and unit number 13 of 140MW had been dysfunctional for years because they lacked ‘turbine blades’. He proposed punitive action against the officials responsible for the ‘criminal negligence’. About unit number 7 of the plant, he said the MD of the NTDC had told the court that its torque converter had been replaced even though the part, which must be imported, had yet to reach the country. The 100MW unit had been dysfunctional for the last one year for want of the converter. Moreover, unit number 12 of the plant was running on an ‘open-cycle generation system’, which was a fairly inefficient way of running it, Mr Raziuddin said. He said that $1.7 billion had been invested on the Guddu plant and it was supposed to generate 1,650MW. However, the plant was contributing only 775MW to the national grid, which was less than half its designed capacity. Mr Raziuddin said that power plants in other countries usually ran at full capacity. If a plant had a designed capacity of 200MW, it was actually capable of producing 210MW or more during its first 10 years. The capacity declined slowly over the life of the plant but not below 190MW by the end of it, he explained. But in Guddu, he said, the capacity of some units had decreased by 50 per cent, an ‘impossible’ engineering phenomenon not acceptable under any standards.
No let-up in Kurram clashes; 35 militants killed By Our Correspondent PARACHINAR, June 1: Clashes continued in Parachamkani area of Kurram agency with officials claiming that 35 militants were killed and several others wounded on Saturday. Two soldiers also lost their lives and five suffered injuries. . Officials said an outpost of security forces came under rocket attack early in the morning in which two soldiers were killed and five others injured. The Pakistan Army and paramilitary forces backed by helicopter gunships retaliated, repulsing the attack after heavy shelling. An official told the media that 35 militants were killed and two vehicles destroyed. Three hideouts were also targeted. The claim could not be verified from independent sources. Wounded soldiers were shifted to Combined Military Hospital at Thall garrison. Security forces had launched an operation in Parachamkani, east of Parachinar, on May 10 after a bomb attack during an election rally of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl candidate Muneer Khan Orakzai left 26 people dead. The incident led to the postponement of elections in the area. According to an official, around 200 militants have been killed in Parachamkani so far. Thousands of families have been forced to flee the conflict zone.
Nawaz, Hashmi retain hometown seats By Iftikhar A. Khan ISLAMABAD, June 1: Many of those elected on more than one seat of the National or provincial assembly, including Nawaz Sharif, have vacated additional seats but some are yet to take a decision.. Mr Sharif chose to keep NA-120 (Lahore) seat and vacated NA-68 (Sargodha). Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan, who was elected from NA-56 (Rawalpindi), NA-1 (Peshawar) and NA-71 (Mianwali), has decided to retain NA-56. He did not take oath on Saturday.Shahbaz Sharif, who is all set to become the Punjab chief minister again, has vacated his National Assembly seat. PTI president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi has vacated NA-48 (Islamabad) to keep NA-149 (Multan). Pervez Khattak and Asad Qaiser of the PTI, who have already taken oath as Chief Minister, and Speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, respectively, vacated their NA seats.PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan vacated PP-6 (Rawalpindi) and took oath as a member of the National Assembly on Saturday. PML-F leader Sadruddin Rashidi has decided to keep NA-215 and vacate NA-235. Senator Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani of the JUI-F, who has won a National Assembly seat, took oath as an MNA and quit the Senate. PML-N leader Khwaja Mohammad Asif decided to keep NA-110 and vacated PP-123. Hamza Shahbaz of the PML-N vacated the Punjab Assembly seat and took oath as member of the National Assembly. JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who has won from three constituencies, has not decided yet which two seats he should vacate. He did not turn up to take oath on Saturday. Jamshed Ahmad Dasti, who has won from two constituencies as an independent candidate, is also yet to decide which seat he should keep. Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai took oath on Saturday, but yet to decide which seat he should keep. Shagufta Jumani of the PPP, who has been declared successful on seats reserved for women both in the National and the Sindh assemblies, has vacated her provincial assembly seat. She, however, did not turn up to take the oath as an MNA. The last date for winners from more than one constituency to keep only one seat is June 10.
JI rejects Munawar’s resignation By Khalid Hasnain LAHORE, June 1: The Jamaat-i-Islami came close to losing its supreme leader on Saturday but its Shura rejected a resignation offered on moral grounds by Syed Munawar Hasan over the party’s crushing defeat in the general elections. . According to sources, the JI chief offered his resignation during a meeting of the party’s consultative body at Mansoora after the participants discussed the reasons behind the defeat. “Whatever the reasons, I am ready to resign. So accept my resignation as I am morally responsible for the party’s defeat,” the sources quoted Mr Hasan as having said. According to the sources, the members kept silent for a while and then said: “No. It is not your fault. It is the ‘establishment’ that defeated us. So you continue your job, as we are satisfied with your performance.” Talking to Dawn, the JI chief said: “Yes, I had decided to quit the post by offering my resignation in the Shura meeting, for being morally responsible for this [defeat].” Since the voters had witnessed “unprecedented rigging” in various constituencies, particularly in Karachi, the meeting’s participants were sure about the establishment’s involvement in the JI’s defeat in the elections, Mr Hasan said. “Although it is not our culture to resign like this... I decided to resign for being morally responsible for the defeat.” He said the ‘establishment’ had brought about a surprise by getting some parties to succeed in the elections. “To some parties, mainly the PML-N, they managed to give a huge mandate, beyond their popularity and capacity. But they got some parties, like the Jamaat, defeated massively, unnecessarily and unlawfully,” he alleged.
Price hike for SSGC, cut for SNGPL proposed By Kalbe Ali ISLAMABAD, June 1: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has reduced prescribed natural gas price for the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) and raised it for the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL). . Ogra forwarded the decision to the ministry of petroleum on Saturday and sought its permission for notifying the new prices. If approved, the decision would be enforced from July 1. The federal ministry is legally bound to respond within 40 days, otherwise Ogra will implement the decision on its own. Meanwhile, the decision is likely to be scrutinised by the next government. An Ogra official told Dawn that the decision was taken after holding public hearings in different cities. “It was decided after technical analysis that the gas price for the SSGC (Sindh and Balochistan) be reduced by Rs12.12 per mmbtu,” he said. The SSGC had requested for a hike of Rs32 per mmbtu (Million British Thermal Unit). Ogra allowed the SNGPL (Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) a price hike of Rs8.72 per mmbtu. It had sought an increase of Rs53 per mmbtu. “During the hearings, consumers lodged several complaints and demanded that the gas companies should not be allowed to raise prices,” the official said. Ogra said it had disallowed the companies to put a burden of Rs14 billion on the consumers on account of gas theft. The regulator also disallowed the gas companies to recover Rs10bn from consumers to launch different Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) projects. “The previous government had initiated different [and] controversial LPG air mix projects and the companies started charging the consumers under various heads to finance them,” the official said. A single project of 50mmcfd capacity could increase cost of natural gas for all consumers (except for the domestic ones) by 10 per cent. Ogra also reduced ceiling of Unaccounted for Gas (UFG) to 4.5 per cent.
Malik says he will quit if fails to deliver By Our Staff Correspondent QUETTA, June 2: Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, a consensus nominee of the three main parties for the post of Balochistan chief minister, has said he will quit the government if he fails to restore peace and end human rights violations in the province. . Talking to journalists here on Sunday after the announcement of his nomination by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif for the coveted post, he said he would meet all stakeholders, including nationalist leaders, and seek their cooperation in maintaining law and order and bringing peace to Balochistan. “I will approach everyone and request him to extend his cooperation and play a role in restoring peace since progress and prosperity of the people of Balochistan are linked to peace,” the National Party chief said. “The utmost priority of my government will be to bring an end to violation of human rights,” Dr Baloch said. He said he was thankful to Mian Nawaz Sharif, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai and leaders of his party for nominating him as a consensus candidate for the post of chief minister and promised to fulfil the responsibility given to him. Answering a question, he said Sardar Ataullah Mengal and Akhtar Jan Mengal had a major role in Balochistan’s politics and he requested them to cooperate with his government in securing peace and putting the province on the track of progress and development.
Nawaz succeeds in ending impasse in Balochistan: National Party, PkMAP get top posts By Abid Fazil Abbasi and Amir Wasim MURREE, June 2: Incoming prime minister Nawaz Sharif demonstrated remarkable political maturity to end the political deadlock over formation of government in Balochistan on Sunday by giving up the claim of his party to head the ruling coalition in the province and nominated Dr Abdul Malik, the president of National Party, for the post of chief minister.. The announcement to this effect was made by Mr Sharif after hours-long meeting with Baloch leaders during which he succeeded in persuading the provincial leaders of his party, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri and Changez Marri, to forgo their claim to the post for the sake of peace and progress of Balochistan. The Baloch leaders who attended the meeting in the hill station of Murree included the chief of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party Mehmood Khan Achakzai and National Party leader Hasil Bizenjo, besides Sardar Zehri and Changez Marri. PML-N leaders Shahbaz Sharif, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Ishaq Dar, Pervez Rashid and Khawaja Mohammad Asif also attended the meeting. Mr Sharif told journalists that despite having emerged as the single largest group in the Balochistan Assembly his party had decided to offer the post of chief minister to NP and all other Baloch leaders had accepted it in the spirit that it was “a fight for values and not for power”. He also said that all the leaders had agreed that the next governor of the province would be from the PkMAP. The meeting was delayed by about three hours because of late arrival of Shahbaz Sharif and the two PML-N leaders from Balochistan. Sources in the PML-N said that at the meeting Sardar Zehri initially spoke about his party’s right to the office of the chief minister but did not argue when Mr Sharif, who had perhaps made up his mind, expressed his willingness to sacrifice the post in the larger interest of the people of Balochistan. He said his party would have no objection if genuine Baloch leaders who also had rendered great sacrifices for the country and for the cause of democracy, got the power. Sardar Zehri, who lost a son and a brother in a terrorist attack during the election campaign, the sources said, had also apprised the participants of the meeting about his efforts he had made for his party’s success in the May 11 elections. The sources said the PML-N leaders acknowledged Sardar Zehri’s efforts to persuade independents to join the party and make it the single largest group in the provincial assembly with 17 members. The PkMAP with 14 MPAs and the NP with 10 members have emerged as the second and third largest parties in the 65-member Balochistan Assembly. The PkMAP, despite having larger number of MPAs-elect than the NP, had already announced that the party was not interested in the chief minister’s office and the Pakhtuns of Balochistan would welcome any Baloch leader to the post. The sources said the offices of the speaker and deputy speaker would go to the PML-N and there was a strong possibility that Sardar Zehri and Changez Marri would be nominated for the two offices. Mr Sharif told newsmen that the forces which had struggled against dictatorship and corruption had come together for the sake of peace and tranquility in the province. He said he would ensure transparent and clean governance in the province. There will be no corruption and past mistakes will not be repeated. The PML-N chief praised Sardar Zehri for bowing before the party’s decision for the betterment and welfare of the people of Balochistan. Speaking on the occasion, PkMAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai said the Baloch people had always been critical of the role of Punjab in national politics, but today they were with the democratically-elected leadership of Punjab in the best interest of the country and the province. Hasil Bizenjo of the NP praised Mr Sharif for his sagacity and his decision to offer the office of the chief minister to a smaller party despite having stronger presence in the assembly. He said they were committed to ending target killings, restoring peace and eliminating corruption. He was of the view that the people of Balochistan and the nation as a whole would be able to benefit from natural resources with peace and economic prosperity in the province. Mr Sharif evaded a question about the trial of former military dictator retired Gen Pervez Musharraf under Article 6. A reporter reminded Mr Sharif that it was at the same place where he stood that former military ruler Gen Musharraf was reported to have ordered action against Nawab Akbar Bugti and asked him if he would hold him accountable under Article 6. Mr Sharif said he had also been imprisoned at the same place, but was kept in the servants’ quarters. When his attention was drawn to allegations leveled by nationalist leaders about intelligence agencies running a parallel government by in the province, Mr Sharif said the agencies were under the democratically-elected government and they must follow its guidelines and policy.
Governor resigns By Our Staff Correspondent QUETTA: Soon after the announcement of a power-sharing formula for Balochistan by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif on Sunday, provincial Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi resigned from his office. . Official sources said Mr Magsi had sent his resignation to President Asif Ali Zardari. Under an agreement reached at a meeting Mr Sharif held in Murree with leaders of the National Party (NP) and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), the post of governor will go to the PkMAP and that of chief minister to the NP.
Not to seek re-election: Zardari lauds successful transition KARACHI, June 2: President Asif Ali Zardari said on Sunday that he would not seek re-election after his five-year term expired in September because his party had lost majority in parliament.. However, if the PPP gave him a leadership role he would work for re-organising it and be a party worker, he said on Saturday in his first interview after the general elections to a group of journalists. The president said the credit for a strong democracy and smooth transition of power following the May 11 elections went to all political forces that had ensured that democracy remained the main driving force of the country. He said not only PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif but other political parties had also supported the PPP for the sake of democracy and successful transition. Replying to a question, he said he believed he had no right to contest the next presidential elections but he would take a decision if asked by the PPP. The president said the PPP would play the role of constructive opposition. He said that if Mr Sharif wanted to be elected as the consensus prime minister like Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani he would have to approach all the parties. Regarding the PML-N chief’s suggestion for dialogue with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the president said if his government wanted to hold talk with those forces then there would be a need to determine if the Taliban had a political mindset because extremists usually did not negotiate. President Zardari said the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and Swiss cases pertained to charges for which he had already spent eight years in jail. In his opinion the cases were controversial and carried no substance. The president said the previous government had undertaken many development projects for Balochistan, but more progress could have been made had the Baloch people participated proactively in development of their province. He said he had asked the speaker of the National Assembly to constitute a parliamentary committee to give the people of Balochistan their rights and he was pleased that it had done its job and a comprehensive package had been given to the province. The president said the PPP-led government had not signed any agreement with the US about drone attacks. “Maybe Gen Pervez Musharraf had reached some sort of agreement with the US but I am not aware of any such agreement and I have not seen it during my tenure.” He said shooting down a drone was not an issue -- the real issue was the repercussions of such an action. He said the new government would have to take policy decisions keeping the national interest in mind. About the future of Gen Musharraf he said it was up to Mr Sharif to decide what action he planned to take after assuming the office of the prime minister.—Agencies
Four parties in the run for NA speaker, deputy speaker By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, June 2: The three main opposition parties — PPP, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) — have all fielded their candidates for the posts of National Assembly speaker and deputy speaker against Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Murtaza Javed Abbasi of the PML-N, the single largest party in the house. . The PPP has nominated veteran party leader from Umerkot Nawab Yousuf Talpur and Ghulam Rasool Koreja from Rahimyar Khan for the two posts; the MQM has fielded S.A. Iqbal Qadri and Kishwer Zehra and the PTI’s candidates are Shaharyar Afridi and Munazza Hassan. Sunday noon was the deadline for submission of papers, announced by Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza at the conclusion of the first session of the lower house of parliament on Saturday. Talking to Dawn, PPP’s Syed Khursheed Shah said the opposition parties had fielded their separate candidates because so far there had been no formal interaction among them for forming a combined opposition or adopting a united stance against the government. Mr Shah, who has been nominated by his party as leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, said fielding candidates despite knowing the outcome of the elections was a healthy democratic exercise. Answering a question, he said he would soon contact the MQM and PTI and there was a possibility that his party might withdraw its candidates in the larger interest of the opposition. “Yes, there is a possibility that we may withdraw our candidates and announce support for other opposition candidates,” he said, adding that they had time till the start of the election process on Monday morning. The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F is yet to decide whether to sit with the treasury or the opposition. After submitting his nomination papers for the post of speaker, PML-N’s Ayaz Sadiq said he would strive to run the house in an impartial manner. Keeping in view the party position, elections for the offices of the prime minister, speaker and deputy speaker will merely be a formality since the PML-N has acquired more than a simple majority in the 342-member National Assembly with a number of independents having joined it.
Hydropower generation increases: Complaints rife about unequal power sharing By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, June 2: Despite increased hydropower generation on Sunday, loadshedding throughout the country surged to 12 hours as demand peaked to about 16,800MW amid complaints of inequitable shortage sharing.. A National Power Control Centre official told Dawn that there was a gap of 4,600MW as generation stood at 12,200MW against a demand of 16,800MW. With this gap, the average loadshedding based on equitable sharing should have been less than 10 hours, but some feeders were drawing higher than allocated quota causing increased loadshedding, said the official. He said hydropower generation had increased after the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) decided to raise discharges from Tarbela dam to 115,000 cusec from 90,000 cusec on Friday and from 25,000 cusec to 42,000 cusec from Mangla dam. Irsa also directed Wapda to open the fifth tunnel of Tarbela power house in order to further improve generation. He said there were also reports of forced closure of some feeders because of system constraints. He explained that the system for computed demand could not be relied upon because it was not based on some scientific analysis. For example, loadshedding was carried out for about 12 hours on Sunday which meant there was 50 per cent shortfall. But if 12,200MW was being supplied for 12 hours, the actual numbers did not add up because then the demand should be about 24,000MW which was not the case in reality. Another official said some feeders in Islamabad that provide electricity to federal and parliamentary lodges as well as the MPA hostels in the four provinces were facing loadshedding for five to six hours compared to 11-12 hours in other areas. National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) Managing Director Zargham Eshaq Khan, however, put the shortfall at about 4,000MW on Sunday morning and claimed that the same had dropped to 3,300MW in the peak evening hours because of improved generation from hydropower projects. He told Dawn that hydropower plants were generating 5,000MW in the evening as peak generation had improved to 12,700MW. He said the power generation had improved on Saturday and as a result about 10 hours of equitable load management was carried out throughout the country but some plants were closed down later. He said two power houses of Muzaffargarh thermal power station were closed because of technical reasons on Saturday but one of them had now been restored. “We have to keep on fighting with the old system,” he said. In the private sector, only two power plants of 400MW capacity — Liberty Power and Hubco Narowal — were non-operational. In the public sector, only one of the Guddu power plants was functional while Jamshoro station was getting only 1,000 tonnes of furnace oil against its requirement of 3,000. As a result, it was producing only 160MW even though it could generate 650MW with sufficient fuel supplies. The NTDC official said while he was pushing the Pakistan State Oil to improve supply to Jamshoro, the Petroleum Ministry had also been requested to divert 100mmcfd of gas so that its four machines could become operational. In reply to a question, he said he had received reports that lower loadshedding was being applied to some feeders even though chief executives of distribution companies had been directed through letters, video conferencing and the apex court’s orders to ensure equitable power sharing. The NTDC official said it would be of great help if he was informed about unfair power distribution because he would be directly responsible for the anomaly before the apex court on June 10 when he would submit a report on the matter to it.
PPP wins 2 NA, 4 PA seats in Sindh KARACHI, June 2: The PPP has won the two NA and four provincial constituencies in Sindh for which re-polling and recounting were held on Saturday. . The director, office of the Provincial Election Commissioner for Sindh, Mohammad Najeeb, told Dawn that the PPP had won five constituencies in Kashmore and Tharparkar districts where re-polling was carried out on Saturday under strict security arrangements. The party also emerged victorious after recounting of ballots in PS-14 Jacobabad. Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah congratulated the winning candidates.
Support for Dr Malik’s nomination: Mengal wants govt fully empowered By Our Staff Correspondent QUETTA, June 2: Balochistan National Party-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal has welcomed the nomination by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif of National Party leader Dr Abdul Malik Baloch for the post of chief minister, but said the Balochistan issue could not be resolved unless the provincial government was fully empowered. . “The decision of the PML-N and its allied parties to nominate Dr Baloch for the top post in Balochistan is welcome… however, it is clear that the government will have to face great challenges — recovery of missing persons, ending target killings and dumping of bodies of missing persons and violation of human rights,” he said while talking to reporters here on Sunday. Mr Mengal said the BNP-M’s political course would be decided by its central committee on Monday. He said it did not matter which party held the posts of governor and chief minister of Balochistan because the fact was that no government could resolve the issues unless it was fully empowered to do that. “The authorities will have to take serious steps to resolve the Balochistan issue if they are sincere in restoring the confidence of people in the mainstream politics,” he said. Mr Mengal said 279 people had gone missing, over 100 had fallen to target killings and 50 bodies had been dumped during the tenure of the caretaker governments of Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso and Chief Minister Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Barozai. He said that elements that had made Balochistan their colony would obstruct the process of bringing about a positive change in the province. The establishment always harmed democratic governments sabotaged democratic movements. He said his party had participated in the elections for the sake of progress and prosperity in Balochistan but its candidates had been defeated by planned rigging.
JUI-F to back PML-N in speaker’s election By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, June 2: The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) announced on Sunday that its members would vote for PML-N candidates for the offices of the National Assembly speaker and deputy speaker despite a deadlock in talks with the party over the issue of power-sharing formula. . JUI-F spokesman Jan Achakzai told Dawn that the party had decided to vote for the PML-N’s nominees in the Monday’s elections as a “goodwill gesture”. Mr Achakzai said that after getting a cold response from the PML-N, the JUI-F leadership had now started weighing the option of sitting on the opposition benches. He, however, said a final decision in this regard would be made after a meeting of the party’s Majlis-i-Shura in Islamabad on Tuesday. The spokesman expressed the hope that the two parties would reach an understanding, saying the PML-N had also supported the JUI-F candidates in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly which was a positive sign. Mr Achakzai said the party had been discussing the power-sharing formula with the PML-N at the committee level for the past couple of weeks and the two parties had even reached an understanding on a number of issues, but the PML-N now appeared to be reluctant to give the agreement a final shape. “If the PML-N is not interested and an agreement is not reached in the next couple of days, we will then sit on the opposition benches,” he said.
Lawmaker of PTI killed; curfew in Hangu By Abdul Sami Paracha KOHAT, June 3: In a painful reminder to the harsh reality that restoring peace in the violence-plagued Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and adjoining tribal region could be a distant dream for the new government, a newly-elected MPA from Hangu was assassinated in Mohallah Sangerh along with his secretary on Monday.. Officials said that gunmen opened fire as soon as Fareed Khan, who was elected as an independent candidate from KP-42, Hangu, but joined the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf afterwards, disembarked from his vehicle. A brother of the MPA suffered bullet wounds and was fighting for his life in hospital. A guard and a child who was passing by were also injured. The cold-blooded murder triggered riots in town as enraged protesters set on fire a couple of shops and the office of a religio-political party, forcing the local administration to place the district under a curfew for an indefinite period. Hangu Deputy Commissioner Tahir Zafar Abbasi handed over the control of the district to police and army. Four suspects were picked up during a search operation carried out after the incident. The entire area was cordoned off after the attack and banned for public. Police collected bullet shells from the place and interviewed eyewitnesses. Police described it a case of target killing. Hangu has seen a wave of killings over the past couple of years. Mr Fareed Khan was against a group of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan which had been warning him. The MPA, who belonged to a respectable family, has been reportedly killed by a rival group of the TTP. The Hangu City police registered a case against unknown killers under Sections 302 and 324 and the Anti-Terrorism Act. CONDEMNATION: President Asif Ali Zardari condemned Mr Fareed Khan’s murder and directed the authorities concerned to thoroughly investigate the incident and bring the assailants to justice.
House elects new custodians: Renewed vows in NA against dictators By Raja Asghar ISLAMABAD, June 3: All major parties made high-sounding vows on Monday to resist future dictators as the new National Assembly elected nominees of the majority Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) party as house speaker and deputy speaker, who got votes also from the main opposition party.. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which headed the previous coalition government for a full five-year term as the largest single party in the then lower house but was reduced to nearly a third of its size in the disastrous May 11 elections, said it had withdrawn its own candidates and voted for the PML-N’s Sardar Ayaz Sadiq for speaker and Murtaza Javed Abbasi for deputy speaker as a gesture not to make their offices controversial. But the two candidates faced a token contest in the secret ballot from Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI), which emerged as the third largest party in the new house, and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a PPP ally in the previous government. Mr Sadiq, a soft-spoken businessman from Lahore who earned some across-the-board respect for his work in the previous house’s committees, polled 258 votes out of the 313 lawmakers who voted, defeating PTI’s Shaharyar Afridi and MQM’s S.A. Iqbal Qadri , who got 38 and 23 votes respectively while one vote was declared invalid, in the election overseen by outgoing speaker Fehmida Mirza of the PPP. Mr Abbasi also won by the same margin against PTI’s Munazza Hassan and MQM’s Kishwar Zehra though one vote less was cast in the deputy speaker’s election, which was overseen by Mr Sadiq after he was administered oath as speaker by Dr Mirza. Earlier, possible after some backstage contact, the PPP withdrew the candidatures of its veteran lawmaker Nawab Yousuf Talpur from Sindh for speaker and Ghulam Rasool Koreja from Punjab for deputy speaker. Just before the outgoing speaker called for balloting for the new speaker after administering oath to some more new members of the house — 301 had taken oath on the first day of the session on Satuday — Mehmood Khan Achakzai, chief of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), created a stir in the house by raising a question as to how the assembly could fulfil its oath to defend the country’s constitution while the house was “full of people who had supported the previous dictator”. He sought a commitment by all parties never to support violation of the constitution, and said: “At least Nawaz League, the PPP and PTI should make a pledge not to give membership to any person who had supported dictatorship.” That seemed to have caused some unease on PML-N front benches, with some senior leaders apparently seeking advice from Mr Sharif about how to respond, though it was not clear whether the swipe was directed at some individuals or at one or more parties where numerous former loyalists of military dictators like General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq and General Pervez Musharraf had taken refuge, won election with their tickets or joined them after winning the election as independents. But the outburst of Mr Achakzai, whose party is about to be part of a coalition government in Balochistan province along with PML-N, seemed likely to encourage finger-pointing at PML-N leadership as well as some likely future cabinet ministers. While Mr Sharif, the prime minister-in-waiting and a one-time protégé of Gen Zia, remained quiet, two of his close colleagues, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Khawaja Mohammad Asif sprang to action to voice agreement with Mr Achakzai but they seemed to deflect his call for an immediate pledge. Chaudhry Nisar, who was leader of opposition in the previous house, recalled that oaths had been taken and broken for the past 65 years of Pakistan’s life, and called “self-analysis” and respecting every lawmaker’s mandate in the present difficult period facing the country. Khawaja Asif earlier called for making a “break with the past” and, while apparently condoning what had happened in the past, said “some step must be taken” in this respect. Mr Amin Fahim, the PPP’s parliamentary leader in the house, spoke twice, recalling sacrifices of his party and its leaders like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto to oppose dictatorship and said his party would “stand like a wall” against any future attempt to impose dictatorship. While pledges to oppose dictatorship also came from PTI leaders Javed Hashmir and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who, when in office, once proudly declared Gen Musharraf as “my boss” and joined the PML-N only recently after being elected an independent, seemed quite angry with the discourse outside the day’s agenda and said: “We have also come here with some mandate and now we are being asked to seek another mandate.” Disagreement was apparent also from General Zia’s son Ejaz-ul-Haq, who has assured support to PML-N after being elected to the house on his own from Punjab, as he saw “nothing new” in Mr Achakzai’s “sentiment” and said the constitution also required protection of the country’s independence and sovereignty “which are now under attack”. In another speech afterwards, Mr Achakzai demanded an official inquiry now into the May 12, 2007, massacre in Karachi during a visit there by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, then under suspension, to implement a commitment made by an All Parties Dermocratic Movement conference held in London before the 2008 elections with participants including Mr Sharif, PTI chief Imran Khan and the late Jamaat-i-Islami leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed. In remarks before leaving her chair, Dr Mirza recalled achievements of the house under her stewardship, as the Islamic world’s first parliamentary Speaker, like historic constitutional amendments and “creating a balance” between political and state institutions, and said she was handing over to a new speaker with a “sense of satisfaction”. Mr Sadiq too paid tribute to his predecessor’s wisdom and said he too would run the house impartially and ensure high efficiency and austerity. He later adjourned the house until 11am on Wednesday, when the house will elect the new prime minister, for which nomination papers must be filed by 2pm on Tuesday.
Dubai court orders Sadiq’s deportation By Syed Irfan Raza ISLAMABAD, June 3: A Dubai court ordered on Monday deportation of Tauqeer Sadiq, former chairman of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), to Pakistan within one month.. According to an official of the National Accountability Bureau, the court passed the order on a request from the government of Pakistan. Tauqeer Sadiq has been accused of having been involved in a Rs82 billion scam. The Dubai court gave the accused the right to appeal against its order. The order requires Tauqeer Sadiq to be deported before July 3. NAB spokesman Ramzan Sajid said the bureau had submitted documents in the court through Pakistan’s embassy for deportation of the accused. The NAB official said a team was in Dubai to bring the accused back and take him to court. It is learnt that the NAB has also sent a request to Interpol to issue a red warrant for the accused. Meanwhile, NAB has again summoned former prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf on June 7 in a case relating to controversial appointment of Tauqeer Sadiq as Ogra chairman. “We sent fresh notices to Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf last Friday,” the NAB spokesman said. The two former prime ministers, he said, would have to appear before NAB investigators this week. A second notice is being sent to Mr Gilani because he did not comply with earlier notice to visit the NAB headquarters on May 30, he added. According to the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance, a person not complying with three notices may be jailed and fined. Mr Gilani and Mr Ashraf have been accused of having illegally appointed Tauqeer Sadiq who is said to be a close relative of PPP leader Jehangir Badar.
Shahbaz meets army officers By Mohammad Asghar RAWALPINDI, June 3: Chief minister-designate of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif met some senior military officials at Chaklala Garrison on Monday night.. Sources said Mr Sharif reached the Chaklala Garrison at about 8pm. He discussed with the army officials issues relating to security. He left for Lahore in his special plane at 9.30pm. Maj Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, spokesman for the Inter-Services Public Relations, refused to comment on the matter. However, a source in the military confirmed Mr Sharif’s visit to the garrison and said the PML-N leader had actually gone there to condole with Quarter Master General Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani over the death of his mother.
JUI-F washes its hands of talks with Taliban By Amir Wasim ISLAMABAD, June 3: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said his party is no more interested in playing any role in bringing the Taliban to the negotiation table after concluding that the establishment is not in favour of any such process. . The JUI-F’s spokesman, Jan Achakzai, on Monday quoted Maulana Fazl as having said that after the withdrawal of offer for peace talks by the Taliban and because of “disinterest shown by the establishment, there is no opportunity or atmosphere for the negotiations and the JUI-F playing any role in this regard is out of question”. According to him, the Maulana had information that the establishment had no interest whatsoever in peace talks and reconciliation. “Neither there has been any indication nor has the government approached the JUI-F. In such an environment we have no intention to play any role,” the JUI-F chief said. He said peace talks and reconciliation were a serious task but it was being conducted in a ‘non-serious’ manner. “So until the new government takes over, all media reports about the JUI-F’s role in peace talks are baseless and should be ignored,” Maulana Fazl said. When asked to explain the term ‘establishment’ used by the JUI-F chief, Mr Achakzai said it meant ‘army’ which, according to him, had been controlling the country’s foreign, security and Fata policies over the past many years. But the spokesman said the party could review its stance after gauging the attitude of the new government. Soon after the May 11 elections, the JUI-F and the PML-N had started talks on a power sharing formula and formed committees to finalise it. Despite having a simple majority in the National Assembly, the PML-N had asked the JUI-F to join its coalition government with the sole purpose of getting the latter’s support in the Senate for carrying out the legislative business smoothly. The JUI-F had told the PML-N that before agreeing to join the coalition, it wanted the latter to make clear its position on key issues like the militancy in Fata and legislative business on controversial matters. The two parties had held a number of meetings at the committee level last month, but there have been no contacts between them over the past one week. The JUI-F had earlier claimed that the two sides had agreed that the talks with the Taliban would be held through a “grand peace jirga”, as suggested by all the mainstream political parties in a “declaration” at the all-party conference (APC) organised by the JUI-F in Islamabad on Feb 28. It said the PML-N leadership had already endorsed the JUI-F’s viewpoint that “indigenous conflict resolution mechanism” should be adopted for peace in the country. But the JUI-F now feels that the PML-N is not interested in getting it onboard, particularly after the withdrawal of talks offer by the Taliban because of the killing of their important commander in a drone attack last week. The JUI-F, which supported the PML-N candidates in elections on Monday for the posts of National Assembly speaker and deputy speaker as a goodwill gesture, has already started weighing the option of sitting in the opposition because of what it called a cold response from the N-League. Mr Achakzai said Maulana Fazl had convened a meeting of the party’s Majlis-i-Shoora in Islamabad on Tuesday to take a final decision whether it would sit with the treasury or the opposition. He said the JUI-F had been discussing a power sharing formula with the PML-N at the committee level for the past couple of weeks and the two parties had even reached an understanding on a number of issues, but the N-League now appeared to be reluctant to give the agreement a final shape. On the other hand, Senator Pervez Rashid, the head of PML-N’s committee negotiating with the JUI-F, said there had been no deadlock. He told Dawn that his party had been busy in finalising its candidates for the posts of speakers and deputy speakers in the national and provincial assemblies and in other issues for the past one week and, therefore, the two committees could not meet. Mr Rashid said the PML-N was thankful to the JUI-F for its support in the elections for the NA speaker and deputy speaker. “We will also respond to this love with love,” he said, adding that Sardar Mahtab Ahmed, a member of the committee, had been in constant touch with JUI-F leaders.
Caretaker premier makes another controversial move By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD, June 3: Caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso continues to create controversies with ill-timed decisions. . The incoming PML-N government is scheduled to take charge on Wednesday evening. But retired Justice Khoso approved on Monday deputation of 100 officers from Balochistan, his home province, to various ministries, divisions and departments of the federal government in grades 17 and above. According to the media wing of the prime minister’s secretariat, the process of selecting officers for deputation was initiated on April 23 and on its completion, with the due involvement of the establishment division, Prime Minister Khoso signed the decision. “This decision has been taken by the prime minister in order to meet the shortfall in representation of the province in federal services and to promote national harmony,” an official statement said. Talking to Dawn, an aide to the prime minister said the transfer of the officers was part of the Aghaz-i-Haqooq Balochistan package launched by the PPP-led government. Justified or not, it is learnt that the PML-N government may object to the induction of such a large number of officers without its consent. When asked, the Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Shafqat Jalil said selection of the officers for deputation had been made after scrutiny by the establishment division, but “the next government by all means will be independent to accept or reject the decision”. However, a federal secretary said the issue was not whether the caretaker prime minister could depute a civil servant but of prudence of the decision at this time when the caretakers were on their way out. “After the 18th amendment to the constitution, the centre is left with fewer departments than it used to govern prior to the legislation. Therefore, the accommodating such a large number of people in the officer cadre will surely be taken with a pinch of salt by the incoming PML-N ministers, if at all the new cabinet doesn’t reverse the decision,” he said. Secondly, the coming set-up in Balochistan which is already short of civil servants may also find it difficult to fill the gap created by the large-scale transfers. “Ideally speaking, the caretaker prime minister should have left the decision to the new provincial and federal governments,” the secretary said. POLIO CELL: In a belated attempt to make up for his last week’s decision of dissolving the polio monitoring cell at the prime minister’s secretariat, Mr Khoso appointed on Monday Dr Saadia Sarwar as focal person in charge of the cell. Dr Sarwar was already working at the secretariat. The prime minister issued directives that the cell should start functioning forthwith and expressed the hope that honest and dedicated persons would be co-opted to achieve the goal of eradication of polio from the country, an official statement said. The decision of appointing the focal person was in continuation of the prime minister’s order to restore the cell, it added. About the decision to wind up the cell, an official said PM Khoso had been misled by the bureaucracy. He said the bureaucrats wanted to keep the anti-polio programme with them, whereas the bosses of the newly created ministry of health services, regulation and coordination were eyeing transfer of the cash-rich subject to their control.
MQM to back Nawaz for PM’s slot By Our Staff Reporter KARACHI, June 3: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement has decided to extend its unconditional support to PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif in the election of the prime minister.. According to an MQM statement on Monday, party chief Altaf Hussain endorsed a decision of the coordination committee to give support to Mr Sharif as ‘a goodwill gesture’. Talking to members of the coordination committee, Mr Hussain said it was heartening that the democratic government had completed its five-year term and the formation of a new government was in the process. He said it was his desire to give unconditional support to the PML-N candidate in view of the critical situation in the country and challenges to be faced by the new government.
Treason charges: SC requested to hold Musharraf guilty By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, June 3: A petitioner seeking prosecution of retired General Pervez Musharraf on treason charges requested the Supreme Court on Monday to close the doors of military intervention for all times to come by holding the former dictator guilty of subverting the constitution.. Advocate A. K. Dogar, representing Maulvi Iqbal Haider, argued before a bench comprising Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan hearing a set of petitions seeking initiation of high-treason trial against Mr Musharraf by the federal government. The counsel referred to the July 31, 2009, verdict which had declared the November 3, 2007, emergency as unconstitutional and said the apex court had held in the judgment that Mr Musharraf had failed to abide by his oath of office to protect and preserve the constitution. The judgment had also stated that Article 6 of the constitution which dealt with high treason was an inbuilt mechanism provided to safeguard the constitution. Now what is the meaning of this “inbuilt mechanism”, the counsel asked and then ventured to suggest that it meant declaring a person guilty of abrogating the constitution. This would also help safeguard the constitution so that there would be no martial law in future, the counsel said, adding that it was the duty of judges and lawyers to see that the happening of Nov 3 (proclamation of emergency) was never repeated. The Supreme Court, the counsel argued, had always used the theory of successful revolutions in the famous cases like the 1958 Dosso, the 1977 Nusrat Bhutto, 2000 Zafar Ali Shah and 2007 Iqbal Tikka cases thus keeping open the gates for future military adventurism. It is the duty of the court to close these gates for all times to come. He argued that the gates would be permanently closed if the person responsible for abrogating the constitution was held guilty, instead of extending red carpet treatment to him as if he was VIP and providing him with bullet-proof vehicles. Such treatment may also encourage young officers in the army tomorrow to aspire to become president, Mr Dogar argued. He said that it was not a chance that Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah who created Pakistan, the first Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and even national poet Allama Iqbal were all lawyers. Referring to the arguments by lawyers defending Mr Musharraf that the latter had been condemned unheard in the July 31 verdict, Mr Dogar stressed that the apex court had itself answered it in its judgment by holding that both electronic and print media not only in Pakistan but the world over had highlighted and widely covered the summoning of Mr Musharraf through a notice by the 14-judge bench hearing the Sindh High Court Bar Association that delivered the July 31 verdict. Mr Musharraf was at liberty to join the court proceedings by appearing before it, Mr Dogar said and reminded that his client had pleaded before the Sindh High Court through a petition later to declare the former dictator guilty of high treason for abrogating the constitution by proclaiming PCO (provisional constitution order), imposing emergency and amending the constitution on Nov 3. “I will be happy if the Supreme Court in its order writes a line: Let action be taken against Musharraf under the law,” the counsel said, adding that it would be a moment to celebrate. The counsel then quoted the May 28, 1999, verdict of the Supreme Court in which it had asked for extending fundamental rights to the people of Northern Areas and emphasised that the apex court exercised the jurisdiction to order the federal government to take administrative and legislative measures to ensure fundamental rights to the people of Northern Areas. He referred to the famous 1989 Sharaf Faridi case regarding the separation of judiciary from the executive and said it was the duty and the function of courts to ensure compliance of the constitution. Mr Dogar may conclude his arguments on Tuesday.
Pakistani among five sentenced to death CAIRO, June 3: An Egyptian court sentenced five foreigners, including a British sailor, to death on Monday after they were convicted of drug smuggling, a court official says. The official says the court in Red Sea Province ruled the defendants were “an international gang” that tried to smuggle three tonnes of hashish into Egypt via its southeastern coast. In addition to death sentences, the court imposed a fine of $12 million, according to the official.. The condemned are all sailors who were arrested aboard a ship near the Red Sea coastal town of Marsa Alam, and include a Pakistani and three individuals from Seychelles. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press. The British Foreign office expressed concerns and said its consular team is following up the case. “The British government is extremely concerned at the death sentence passed down to a British national,” a spokesman said and added, “we are opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances. Our consular team in Cairo is in contact with the British national involved and we will do our utmost to prevent this execution.”—AP
Pakistan protests to India over diplomat’s beating By Baqir Sajjad Syed ISLAMABAD, June 3: Pakistan protested on Monday with the Indian government against beating of its diplomat in New Delhi and demanded security for the High Commission staff.. “A protest has been lodged with the Indian government with a call to investigate the matter thoroughly and bring perpetrators to book,” Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said. The High Commission in Dehli made a demarche to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs over what was described as a “planned attack”. First Secretary (Trade) Zargam Raza and his driver Haider were beaten up by a group of men while the former was returning home from the High Commission. High Commission spokesman Manzoor Ali Memon told journalists in Dehli that two men on a motorbike hurled abuses at the diplomat. When Mr Raza objected, he was thrashed by some men. The FO spokesman said both first secretary and his driver suffered serious injuries and were given medical treatment by the High Commission doctor. A report of the incident, usually referred to as the First Information Report (FIR), has also been lodged with the local police. The High Commission demarche also demanded of the Indian government to ensure safety and security of its staff as per Vienna Convention and international diplomatic practices. Last such incident took place in April 2011 when a Pakistani mission driver was beaten up in Chandigharh where he had gone with High Commission officials to receive then prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for the Pak-India World Cup semi-final match. In an apparent tit-for-tat attack an Indian High Commission official was a day later roughed up in Islamabad.
Balochistan Assembly speaker, deputy speaker: Jan Jamali, Qudoos Bizenjo elected unopposed By Saleem Shahid QUETTA, June 3: Mir Jan Mohammad Khan Jamali of the PML-N and Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo of the PML-Q were elected unopposed as speaker and deputy speaker of Balochistan Assembly on Monday.. They will take oath of their offices on Tuesday after official announcement of the results. Outgoing speaker of the provincial assembly Syed Mantilla Agha will administer the oath. A meeting of the provincial parliamentary party of PML-N held here on Monday evening nominated Mr Jamali and Mr Bizenjo. After the meeting the candidates who had filed their nomination papers for the posts of speaker and deputy speaker withdrew from the contests. Sardar Mohammad Saleh Bhootani, Sardar Dur Mohammad Nasar, Mir Asim Kurd (PML-N) and Sardar Raza Mohammad Barrach of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) filed nominations for speaker and Samina Khan for deputy speaker. Sources said the parliamentary party also decided to make Sardar Bhootani a senior minister in the coming coalition government in the province. Mr Jamali had earlier served as chief minister of Balochistan (1998-99), deputy chairman of Senate for two terms and provincial minister twice. Mr Bizenjo was a provincial minister in the cabinet of former chief minister late Jam Mir Mohammad Yousuf. He obtained only 544 votes in the May 11 general elections — lowest tally ever in a provincial assembly constituency. The sources said the parliamentary party of PML-N also took some other decisions. One of them was formation of next cabinet to be headed by Dr Abdul Malik Baloch of National Party (NP).
Blast razes post; two injured By Our Correspondent MIRAMSHAH, June 3: A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a security checkpost in Razmak area of North Waziristan on Monday, leaving two security personnel injured. . It was raining hard when the bomber hit a wall of the Dam Del checkpost at around 3:30pm. Two security personnel were injured but others escaped unhurt as they were sitting inside a nearby bunker because of rain. The post was destroyed. The injured, whose names could not be ascertained, were taken to hospital.
Nawaz Sharif set to make history today By Amir Wasim ISLAMABAD, June 4: After remaining in the political wilderness for almost 14 years, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif is set to become the country’s prime minister for the third time as the National Assembly meets here on Wednesday to elect its leader of the house. . Although two political heavyweights — Makhdoom Amin Fahim of the PPP and Makhdoom Javed Hashmi of the PTI — are also in the run for the coveted office, Mr Sharif’s election is a foregone conclusion because of the numbers the PML-N has in the assembly that has come into existence after the May 11 elections. The PML-N’s nominees, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Murtaza Javed Abbasi, were elected as the NA speaker and deputy speaker in one-sided contests on Monday, both securing 258 votes. Mr Sharif’s vote tally is expected to be higher in Wednesday’s elections after the announcement of unconditional support by the MQM for him as a “goodwill gesture”. The 23-member MQM had fielded its candidates for the offices of speaker and deputy speaker. JUI-F chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and Aftab Sherpao of the QWP also announced after their separate meetings with PML-N delegations on Tuesday that they would vote for Mr Sharif. The process for the election of the prime minister began on Tuesday with the submission of nomination papers. The papers of Mr Sharif were submitted to the office of the NA secretary by Ishaq Dar, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Khawaja Mohammad Asif and Mehmood Khan Achakzai. On the other hand, Mr Fahim and Mr Hashmi visited the parliament house to submit their nomination papers. The PPP, which had withdrawn its candidates from the race for the offices of speaker and deputy speaker, is determined to contest the election this time, saying it will not leave the field open for Mr Sharif. Talking to reporters after submitting his papers, Mr Hashmi said the PTI would play the role of a constructive opposition. Mr Hashmi, who had served the PML-N as its acting president when Mr Sharif was in exile, said the PTI would point out the mistakes and wrongdoings of the government and would cooperate with it if it takes steps for the betterment of the nation. The election will be held through a division vote under the Second Schedule and Rule 35 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007. The members will be asked to proceed to the lobbies designated for the candidates for recording their votes. The PML-N chief is scheduled to take oath from President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday evening. So far, there has been no official word from the PML-N about the federal cabinet. However, it is expected that a small cabinet will also take oath on Wednesday. Mr Sharif, 63, started his political career in 1980 and served first as Punjab’s finance minister and later as chief minister. He became prime minister for the first time in Nov 1990 in mid-term general elections held after the dissolution of a PPP government, led by the late Benazir Bhutto. He, however, was ousted by the then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan in 1993 because of political differences between the two. Although the Supreme Court restored his government, he resigned from the office and dissolved the NA, paving the way for new elections as a result of which Ms Bhutto became prime minister for the second time. When elections were held in 1997 after dissolution of the second PPP government by the then president Sardar Farooq Leghari, Mr Sharif became prime minister for the second time after his PML-N acquired a two-thirds majority. Mr Sharif also entered into a conflict with then chief justice Syed Sajjad Ali Shah and faced contempt of court charges which were later dismissed. It was during Mr Sharif’s second term in government that the country conducted nuclear tests in 1998, days after India had carried out its own. Later Mr Sharif developed differences with his newly-appointed army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf on the Kargil issue. This conflict resulted in the ouster of his government in a bloodless military coup by Gen Musharraf on Oct 12, 1999, after a day of dramatic events. He was subsequently arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment by an anti-terrorism court in April 2000 on two counts of hijacking and terrorism over the diversion of Gen Musharraf’s plane when it was low on fuel. A deal was later negotiated by the late Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri and Mr Sharif’s sentence was commuted to exile in Saudi Arabia. He returned to Pakistan in Nov 2007, a month after Ms Bhutto’s homecoming, and resumed political activities. In the 2008 elections, his party won about a quarter of the National Assembly seats and went on to form a coalition government with the PPP both at the centre and in Punjab. However, due to disagreements over reinstatement of judges deposed by Gen Musharraf and unilateral nomination of Asif Zardari as a presidential candidate, the PML-N withdrew from the PPP-led coalition and joined the opposition at the centre. During his campaign for the May 11 elections, the PML-N chief had vowed that his party would turn Pakistan into a new, modern and developed country if the people voted it to power. Mr Sharif has been vocal on the issue of Balochistan and missing persons.
MQM holds key to race for opposition leader By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD, June 4: Soon after the general elections in which the PML-N emerged as the largest party and secured a simple majority in the National Assembly, it became almost certain that the party chief, Mian Nawaz Sharif, will be the next prime minister. . However, who will hold the charge on other side of the aisle on opposition benches, remains unclear, though the PPP leads the numbers game at the moment. As of Tuesday, according to the official website of the National Assembly, the PPP carries a clear majority on the opposition benches with 39 votes, followed by the PTI’s 29 seats and the MQM’s 23. Although the PTI, with the support of Jamaat-i-Islami’s four seats, PML-Q’s two, one each of the Awami Muslim League (AML), All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) and some independents, can catch up with the PPP, the MQM’s 23 members of the National Assembly will actually determine which party will head the opposition benches. Talking to Dawn, a leader of the MQM said both the PPP and PTI had sought the party’s support for slot of the leader of the opposition. The MQM leader said the party had yet to take a decision on the matter. He said: “Since the MQM has decided to sit on opposition benches in the Sindh Assembly against the PPP, the two can’t join hands on opposition benches in the National Assembly.” On the other hand, if the MQM and PTI resolve their differences, they can put up a joint candidate for the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, he added. The Peoples Party has given an open offer to the MQM to become part of the provincial government in Sindh. In that case, the PPP, with the Muttahida’s support, can take charge of opposition in the National Assembly. There is a third possibility: if the MQM joins the PML-N on treasury benches at the centre or decides to contest for the leadership of treasury benches, eight members of the National Assembly who have opted to remain as independents will determine who becomes leader of the house. At the moment, however, the election for the leader of the opposition seems quite open, with the PPP having clear advantage over the PTI and MQM. Talking to Dawn, former information secretary of the PTI and sitting member of the National Assembly, Shafqat Mehmood, said the party wasn’t making any serious effort to secure majority on opposition benches. He said it was immaterial for the party as the nation knew that the “real opposition” in the National Assembly would be represented by Imran Khan. According to rule number 39 of the rules of procedure and conduct of business of the National Assembly, soon after election of the prime minister which is due on Wednesday (today), the speaker can announce a date, time and place for submission of the name for the leader of opposition. Any member sitting on opposition benches having the support of majority of members can become leader of the opposition, for which, he/she is supposed to get their signatures in his/her support. After verification of the signatures, the speaker declares the name of the leader of the opposition. Newly elected speaker of the National Assembly, Ayaz Sadiq, on Tuesday said whichever party would command majority on the opposition benches, would be given the charge of the opposition without any delay. Meanwhile, the leader of the house in the Senate, Senator Farooq Naek and leader of the opposition, Senator Ishaq Dar, resigned from their positions on Tuesday.
SC hints at looking into Swiss case follow-up By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, June 4: The Supreme Court dropped a hint on Tuesday that it might take up again the NRO implementation case to look into the outcome of the Swiss case saga. . The reopening of the NRO case may irk President Asif Ali Zardari who was allegedly involved in $60 million graft cases. This is the same case in which former prime minister Raja Parvez Ashraf had escaped a possible conviction by writing a letter to Swiss authorities in compliance with the apex court directions. The bombshell was dropped by a three-judge Supreme Court bench hearing illegal appointments of NRO beneficiaries when Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry asked the prosecutor general of National Accountability Bureau whether after the disposal of the illegal appointments case the court might examine the possibilities about bringing back the money lying in Swiss banks because it was public money. The chief justice said that although the government had written a letter regarding reopening of Swiss cases but it would be necessary to know about the money. On Feb 9 the Swiss attorney general, in response to the letter written by the government of prime minister Ashraf, had told the law ministry through a communication that the case against President Zardari could not be reopened because it had become time-barred under Swiss laws. The government of Pakistan had dispatched the letter to Swiss legal authorities in the first week of November last year in line with the Supreme Court order in the famous NRO case seeking revival of the graft case involving President Zardari for allegedly receiving kickbacks in the award of a pre-shipment contract to a Swiss company during the second term of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 1994. The letter was addressed to the Swiss attorney general and had been sent through the Foreign Office and the Pakistan’s embassy in Switzerland.
Balochistan leaders vow to restore peace By Amanullah Kasi QUETTA, June 4: Chief minister-designate of Balochistan Dr Abdul Malik Baloch and other members of the provincial assembly expressed on Tuesday their determination to make efforts to steer their province out of crises and to restore peace there. . They said that dumping of mutilated bodies, target killing, kidnapping for ransom and corruption were the major problems confronted by the people of the province. Mir Jan Mohammad Jamali and Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo were sworn in as speaker and deputy speaker of the Balochistan Assembly, respectively. Outgoing speaker Syed Matiullah Agha administered the oath to Mr Jamali who in turn swore in Mr Bizenjo. Mr Jamali and Mr Bizenjo were elected unopposed to the offices on Monday. In a brief speech after taking the oath of his office, Mr Jamali thanked members of the house for reposing trust in him and assured them that he would try to remain impartial while running the business of the house. The speaker regretted that members of the previous assembly had failed to form standing committees and assured the house that he would form the committees to review the performance of the government. Chief minister-designate Abdul Malik Baloch and other lawmakers in their addresses expressed determination to make efforts for steering the province out of the existing crises. They said that bad security situation, target killings, kidnapping for ransom and corruption were the major issues confronted by the province. They said continuation of democratic process in the country was the fruit of a long struggle and sacrifices rendered by political leaders and workers. They said no compromise would be made on the rights of people. The legislators said the province was facing numerous problems because of the wrong policies of the civil and military establishment, adding that people had now elected new members to solve their problems and restore peace. They said their prime responsibility would be to fulfil promises they had made during their election campaigns. They asserted that officials belonging to government departments and security forces would have to follow policies farmed by the elected government. Those who spoke included Mir Khalid Lango, Nawab Mohammad Khan Shahwani, Yaseem Lehri, Dr Shama Ishaq, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, Sardar Saleh Mohammad Bhootani, Zamarak Khan Piralizai, Mir Karim Nausherwani, Maulana Wasay, Dr Hamid Khan Achakzai, Nawab Ayaz Khan Jogezai, Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal, Sardar Mustafa Tareen, Nasrullah Zeray, Manzoor Kakar, Obaidullah Babat, Spozmi Achakzai, William Barkat, Dur Mohammad Nasar, Mazharullah Musakhel, Gul Mohammad Domarh, Mir Asim Kurd, Mir Azhar Khoso, Rahila Durrani, Shahid Rauf, Sardar Abdur Rehman Khetran, Santosh Kumar, Sarfaraz Bugti, Mufti Gulab Shah, Handey Mesiah, Syed Reza, and Mir Al Majid Abro.
Violence in Hangu continues; 11 killed By Abdul Sami Paracha KOHAT, June 4: At least 11 people were killed and a number of shops, houses and a petrol pump set on fire as violence spiralled in Hangu after the murder of a lawmaker belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). . The riots erupted after the death of Fareed Khan, a member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, in a case of targeted killing on Monday. It was followed by torching of four shops, three houses and a petrol pump in which initially two people were killed, SSP Sajjad Khan told reporters on Tuesday. “The administration is trying its best to quell the riots and disengage extremist groups. The army has been called out to restore normality. The curfew is still in force, but rioters are operating secretly and have so far succeeded in keeping clear of security personnel,” the SSP said. Officials said that armed men of a ‘peace committee’, purportedly headed by the slain MPA, had killed nine loyalists of Tehreek-i-Taliban’s Maulana Nabi Hanafi in different incidents. Preliminary findings by investigators have held the Hanafi group responsible for Fareed Khan’s murder. The MPA-led ‘peace committee’ had taken on the Hanafi group, which controls access to the Kurram and Orakzai agencies, and warned it to keep off “undesirable activities”. The names of the nine victims were Ayaz, Abdul Aziz, Abdul Razaq, Monir Gul, Hussain Akbar, Sifat Khan, Abdullah, Abidullah and Samiullah. Eleven people have been arrested in a search operation undertaken after Fareed Khan’s death. Funeral of the slain MPA was held in Hangu amid tension, a relaxation in curfew notwithstanding. Shopping centres remained closed as businessmen opted for caution amid fear of arson and rampage by protesters. . The army and Frontier Constabulary personnel patrolled the main bazaar and all other sensitive places. The deputy commissioner and the SP took repeated rounds of the bazaar. ROCKETS FIRED: Four rockets were fired at the residence of former provincial irrigation minister Ghaniur Rehman by enraged demonstrators who took to the streets to protest the MPA’s killing. Unknown armed men fired with automatic guns at the house of Atique ur Rehman, son of Ghaniur Rehman, who lost in the recent elections to Fareed Khan. The culprits managed to flee the area.
Rs6.5bn released to reduce power shortfall By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, June 4: With electricity shortfall persisting at the crisis level, the government injected on Tuesday another Rs6.5 billion into the power sector to enable it to maintain generation between 12,500MW and 13,000MW during summer.. A senior government official told Dawn that the fresh injection of funds had taken the total power sector subsidies paid by the federal government to Rs350bn, much more than the budgetary allocation of Rs120bn. The allocation for the tariff differential subsidies was increased to Rs291bn on March 7. The official said the power sector was estimated to consume another Rs35-50bn during the current month and by the end of the financial year the total subsidies would range between Rs385bn and Rs400bn. The latest payment was made because of the amount owed by the Karachi Electric Supply Company to the National Transmission and Dispatch Company on account of tariff subsidy. The amount was, however, directly paid to the ministry of power for onward disbursement to the Pakistan State Oil to ensure fuel supplies. After this payment, the finance ministry released about Rs21.5bn to the power sector from Rs22.5bn approved by the caretaker prime minister before the general elections. Officials said the total generation on Tuesday stood at about 12,700MW even though the peak generation from hydropower plants had improved to 5,000MW against its maximum capacity of about 6,700MW. But the computed demand in the national grid was about 17,000MW, leaving a shortfall of about 4,300-4,500MW on Tuesday, resulting in an average loadshedding of about nine hours. Meanwhile, incidents of inequitable shortage sharing were reported from some areas. For example, consumers in Rawalpindi reported about 12 hours of loadshedding compared with less than six hours in VIP feeders providing electricity to federal lodges, parliamentary residences and ministers’ enclave in Islamabad. In an informal interaction with journalists, chief executive of the Islamabad Electric Supply Company Malik Yousaf Awan did not contradict reports, but said that because of system constraints field formations had to take prompt decisions on ground to protect infrastructure.
India regrets attack on diplomat By Baqir Sajjad Syed ISLAMABAD, June 4: The Indian foreign secretary expressed on Tuesday regrets over the incident in which a Pakistani diplomat and his driver were assaulted in New Delhi and vowed a thorough probe. . Acting promptly to prevent the Delhi road incident from turning into a diplomatic row with Islamabad, Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai called up his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani to convey Indian government’s regrets. “The Indian Foreign Secretary had called Foreign Secretary Jilani to express his regrets over this unfortunate incident and assured him that the matter would be thoroughly investigated,” Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said in a statement issued to the media over the conversation. Mr Mathai further informed Mr Jilani that the Delhi police had arrested two accused in the case.The first secretary in the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, Zargham Raza, and his driver Haider Zaman were beaten by a group of people, when the former was returning home from office on Monday evening. The two men were injured in the attack. The High Commission had protested with the Indian External Affairs Ministry over the incident described as a “planned attack” and sought a swift and objective investigation. The Foreign Office appreciated the Indian foreign secretary’s gesture and called for preventing recurrence of such incidents. “While noting the actions being taken by the government of India in resolving this matter, the government of Pakistan calls upon it to ensure that such incidents do not recur and reminds the Indian government of its obligation under diplomatic conventions and norms of providing adequate safety and security of all Pakistan High Commission personnel, premises and vehicles,” Mr Chaudhry said. Meanwhile, the Indian deputy high commissioner was summoned to Foreign Office to receive a formal protest note over the roughing up of the diplomat and his driver. The spokesman said “serious concerns” were raised about the unpleasant incident in which the diplomat and his driver were “physically abused”. “The Indian Deputy High Commissioner was informed that such incidents are uncalled for, unnecessary and do not augur well for the overall bilateral relations, especially at a time when the leadership of the two countries is desirous of improving and normalising relations,” the statement on summoning of senior Indian diplomat said. PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif had said in his conversation with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh soon after his party’s victory in May 11 elections that he desired to take forward the peace process towards full normalisation of ties. Mr Singh’s special envoy Satinder Lambah had visited Mr Sharif in Lahore for follow up discussions on how to progress with the peace process that had been virtually put on hold since this year’s cross-LoC incidents. Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal, who is currently in India, is returning to Islamabad to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Mr Sharif as prime minister on Wednesday. Heads of foreign missions are invited to attend the event.
Court suspends all postings, transfers made by Khoso By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, June 4: On the last day of the caretaker government of Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, the Supreme Court suspended all postings, transfers and deputations ordered by him. . In continuation of a directive given by the court on May 22, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry asked the secretaries of the establishment and cabinet divisions and the health ministry to furnish by Wednesday the list of appointments, transfers, postings and removal of government officers done by the interim government. The fresh directive was issued when PML-N leader Khawaja Asif complained to the bench that despite the May 22 order more than 100 officers of grade 17 and above of the government of Balochistan had been posted on deputation in federal ministries, divisions and departments in violation of rules and regulations. The caretaker prime minister belongs to Balochistan. A petition filed by Mr Asif had challenged the transfers, postings and shuffling of top government officials. The PML-N leader said the caretaker government had terminated the services of several officers. An adviser to the finance ministry was removed four days ago when the annual budget was being prepared. On May 22, the court had suspended the transfers and postings of top officials perceived to have been made outside the caretaker government’s mandate which was limited to transfers for the sake of holding free and fair elections and running the day-to-day business. OMBUDSMAN: On an application filed by Syed Adil Gilani, adviser to the Transparency International-Pakistan, against the appointment of Salman Farooqui as acting federal ombudsman by former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in December last year, the court asked the applicant to appear on Wednesday. The matter was fixed before the bench along with the petition of Khawaja Asif. The court ordered the federal law secretary and the Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Khawaja Siddiq Akbar to submit replies. Attorney General Irfan Qadir contended that Adil Gilani had provided wrong information about the appointment. The court made it clear that he would face consequences if he had submitted a false statement. It said the case of transfer, postings and deputations was significant and it would lay down principles in this regard. The court asked Khawaja Asif to assist it through his counsel if he was busy. The chief justice again cautioned the PML-N leader that the newly elected government should ensure that appointments were made on merit and in a transparent manner. Khawaja Asif assured the court that everything would be done in a transparent manner. About the appointment of retired Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokhar as chairman of the Anti-Dumping Tribunal on May 16, Mr Qadir informed the court that he had resigned from the post on May 22. Advocate Tariq Asad said a few doctors of the Federal Government Services Hospital had also been transferred.
SC asks police to pursue missing persons issue with ISI, MI By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, June 4: The Supreme Court ordered the Rawalpindi police on Tuesday to pursue the matter of missing persons and find out from the directorate generals’ offices of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence (MI) their whereabouts, especially when it has tangible evidence about disappearances.. A bench comprising Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, hearing a number of cases about missing persons, asked Superintendent of Police (SP) of Potohar Division Haroon Joya to pursue the matter vigorously because it was his duty to trace and produce before the court the persons alleged to have been picked up by intelligence agencies. “Sections 154 to 176 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) give ample power to the police to hold any kind of inquiry and examine any witness,” observed Justice Khawaja. “You have to trace these people and you need to really get after these people,” the judge observed, adding that if the police got afraid or if ever it was felt that they were not pursuing the case diligently then God may help you. “You are the long arm of the law,” the court said. SP Joya had been asked by the court during previous hearings to recover and produce before the court Mohammad Jameel, son of Haji Jalal Khan, who mysteriously disappeared in 2011. Haji Jalal also appeared before the court but he was in critical health because he had recently suffered a severe cardiac problem. The SP informed the court that he had already dispatched the May 28 production order of the apex court regarding Mohammad Jameel to the directorate generals’ offices of the ISI and MI. A report about his disappearance was registered at the R. A. Bazaar police station in Rawalpindi on April 10, 2011. His sister Nasreen Jan informed the court that members of her family had received an anonymous phone call on October 13, 2011 with a message from Jameel that he was fine but did not know where he was. Similarly on October 24, 2011, Lt Col Ghulam Abbas of the ISI directorate had contacted Nasreen informing that Jameel was alive. Justice Khawaja directed SP Joya to contact Lt Col Abbas and ask him to take him to internment centres to determine Jameel’s whereabouts. Justice Ejaz Afzal also suggested to the police officer to report to the court if he was obstructed in any way by any officer during investigation. The court granted 10 days to SP Joya and said he had tangible leads in the case to follow. He was also asked to record the statement of Nasreen Jan and her father Haji Jalal Khan who already had given information, including telephone numbers of persons who had contacted the family. In the case of Mirza Saleem Beg who had disappeared on April 14, 2011 from Rawalpindi, Superintendent of Police Saddar Waheed Khattak informed the bench that Mr Beg was a member of the proscribed militant outfit Jamaatud Dawa which expelled him because his views did not conform to those of the organisation which had never been involved in anti-state activities. He also was picked up by some intelligence agencies from his home at Dhamial, Rawalpindi. Police had written a letter to the ministry of defence about the disappearance of Mr Beg on previous dates, but the ministry did not reply, SP Khattak said. Mr Beg’s father Mirza Abdul Khaliq Beg appeared before the court and conceded that his son had been associated with Jamaatud Dawa and said they respected the organisation having learnt religion from them. He said the day his son was picked up he had gone to a nearby gym for exercise, but was asked by someone to reach Liaquatabad at dusk. Since that day his whereabouts were not known, he said, adding that a computer and a diary maintained by his son were also missing from the house. SP Khattak told the court that three or four months after the disappearance, two people, one of whom identified himself as Amir, met Abdul Ghafoor, the brother of Mr Beg, and told him that his brother was a member of the ‘Badar-Mansoor’ militant group and not Jamaatud Dawa. A few months later the two men again met Abdul Ghafoor at Dhamial and expressed annoyance over the passing of information to police. The court adjourned the case for June 19 and directed SP Khattak to trace Mr Beg and produce him before the court since they had ample evidence and leads to follow.
Six injured in Kashmir grenade attack SRINAGAR, June 4: A policeman and five others were injured in a grenade attack on Tuesday by suspected militants on army vehicles in India-held Kashmir, police said. . “Militants hurled a grenade at two army vehicles that were parked along the highway, injuring a head constable and five civilians,” superintendent of police, Ramesh Jala, said by phone. No militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion in Anantnag town, 50km south of the main city of Srinagar. The attack comes less than a week after militants of Hizbul Mujahideen killed two soldiers in an ambush in which one militant also died.—AFP
MPA jailed for holding fake degree By Tariq Saeed Birmani DERA GHAZI KHAN, June 4: Mir Badshah Qaisrani, a newly elected member of the Punjab Assembly was jailed for two years and fined Rs5,000 for holding fake degree.. The Taunsa police had registered the case against Mir Qaisrani on Feb 6 last year on a report of the deputy election commissioner of Dera Ghazi Khan. The MPA, who is the chief of the Qaisrani tribe, was taken into custody and sent to jail soon after the announcement of verdict by District and Sessions Judge Wajahat Hussain Khan. In 2002, Mr Qaisrani won the PP-240 seat on a PML-N ticket. He won the seat again in the 2008 elections and in a by-election in 2010. He retained his seat in the 2013 elections, but on a JUI-F ticket. Mr Qaisrani is the lone member of the Punjab Assembly belonging to the JUI-F.
Munir Malik likely to be attorney general By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, June 5: Munir A. Malik, the Karachi-based lawyer who galvanised the legal community for the historic fight for reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in 2007, is likely to be the country’s next attorney general.. The appointment of the non-partisan lawyer to replace the incumbent Irfan Qadir may come as a surprise for many, but will be a sign of change. According to sources, Mr Malik was invited to Lahore last week to meet PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and he was offered the coveted office considered to be a bridge between the judiciary and the government. Mr Qadir said he had no knowledge about the planned substitution. “I don’t know anything,” he said, adding that no-one served in any office forever. “It is always until the pleasure of the president,” he said. He was appointed by President Asif Ali Zardari on April 13 last year under Article 100 of the constitution that allows him to continue to serve in the capacity till the president decides otherwise. It is the duty of the attorney general to advise the federal government on legal issues and he has the right of audience in all courts and tribunals. Mr Malik, a former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), was in the forefront of the famous lawyers’ movement for the independence of the judiciary when Chief Justice Chaudhry was deposed by retired Gen Pervez Musharraf on March 9, 2007. He was a member of the team which fought the legal battle in the Supreme Court for the reinstatement of the chief justice. But Mr Malik had to pay a heavy price for his steadfastness during the movement and his opposition to the military ruler and not only he but his family were terrorised by bullets flying outside his home in Karachi in May 2007. He was also kept in confinement in the Attock jail. “Malik was always in the forefront during the lawyers’ campaign but the biggest leadership quality he demonstrated was that he always kept us along with him during the movement,” said Tariq Mehmood, another former SCBA chief. Mr Mehmood also praise the PML-N leadership and said it had shown political maturity by thinking outside the box and outside the party fold and chose a capable and competent person like Mr Malik from Sindh, knowing well that it had many knowledgeable and experienced persons in the party. After the reinstatement of the chief justice along with other superior court judges on March 16, 2009, Mr Malik kept a low profile although several others exploited the situation by claiming the ownership of the movement and their closeness with the judiciary, retired Justice Mehmood said. He expressed confidence that Mr Malik, known for his legal acumen, would skillfully play a positive role by acting as a bridge between the new government and the judiciary, contrary to the antagonistic attitude of the previous government. A source close to Mr Malik told Dawn that if appointed AG he would, as always, stand for the rule of law.
Nawaz wants ‘common agenda’ By Raja Asghar ISLAMABAD, June 5: Voted prime minister by the new National Assembly on Wednesday for a record third term, Nawaz Sharif proposed making a “common agenda” with political allies and foes to wade through a “jungle of problems” that he said had grown in Pakistan.. In a speech to the assembly immediately after being elected leader of the house by more than two-thirds majority and over three hours before being sworn in by President Asif Ali Zardari at the presidency, he cited electricity shortages, law and order, poverty, corruption, agricultural and industrial progress and building infrastructure among the major priorities that he said his PML-N government would tackle without relent. But contrary to media speculations that he would do it, he withheld details of what he called a “comprehensive plan” prepared to tackle these problems, saying they would be disclosed in an address on an unspecified later date. The main focus of his 30-minute speech to a packed house and overflowing and often noisy visitors’ galleries was on domestic problems and his professed desire to reach out to leaders of all political parties represented in parliament to share one another’s thoughts and giving federal cooperation to all provincial governments no matter which party governed there. “They should either share our vision or we will share their vision,” he said about leaders who he said he would contact “very soon”. “Let us make a common agenda about how to extricate the country from its difficulties,” he said, stressing that “we all need to be on the same page” — political parties and other stake-holders — to solve national problems. And the new prime minister seemed echoing the views of President Zardari by acknowledging that the enormity of Pakistan’s “so many problems” was beyond the strength of a single party and said: “If we get together all these problems can be resolved. Let us get together for the sake of Pakistan.” Mr Sharif, whose induction as prime minister ended more than 13 years in wilderness since being toppled in the Oct 12, 1999, coup by then army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf, secured 244 votes in the election through the parliamentary mode of open division — by recording one’s preference in a register placed in different lobbies rather that secret ballot — with a token contest from Makhdoom Amin Fahim, parliamentary leader of the previously ruling PPP who got 42 votes and Makhdoom Javed Hashmi of PTI who got 31. That winning total, including new support from the 23-seat former PPP ally MQM and some other smaller groups, was 14 votes less than 258 votes each received by PML-N’s Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi on Monday when the PPP had voted for them after withdrawing its own candidates for the two offices while the MQM and PTI had put up their own candidates for the offices. FOREIGN POLICY: Mr Sharif spoke very little about his government’s foreign policy plans except a fleeting reference to US drone attacks on suspected militant hideouts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), which he said should stop, and what he called a proposed plan to build rail and road links from the fabled Chinese town of Kashgar to Gwadar port in Balochistan, which he said he had discussed with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang when Mr Li visited Pakistan last month. While praising the PPP government’s decision to hand over the port’s management to a Chinese state-run company, he did not talk about a recent agreement of that government with Iran to build a pipeline to bring natural gas, or about the fate of Mr Musharraf, his nemesis now in jail facing several charges, including an alleged responsibility for the 2007 assassination of PPP leader Benazir Bhutto and detention of judges of superior courts whom he sacked after declaring a controversial emergency in November 2007. But Mr Fahim took up the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline issue in his speech to congratulate Mr Sharif and said that important project, which is opposed by the United States on grounds of US economic sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear programme, should be implemented. The reference to drone attacks came after Mr Sharif talked about the need to eliminate lawlessness and militancy, without naming Taliban or touching speculated plans to negotiate peace with them, when he said international concerns had to be addressed to see a halt to frequent drone attacks. Amidst cheers from the galleries, he said while Pakistan respected sovereignty of other countries, its sovereignty must also be respected and for this also he called for a “joint course of action”. HOOLIGANISM: The historic ceremony of the first smooth transition to a new elected government from another that completed its full five-year term and Mr Sharif becoming the first Pakistani to become prime minister for the third time was somewhat marred by hooliganism by scores of apparent PML-N supporters who tried to storm into the house galleries, including the press gallery where they roughed up some journalists who objected to their intrusion. The incident brought the new speaker to the press gallery to get it vacated from the intruders and an apology later by him in the house, besides protests by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf members Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Shireen Mazari, who said she feared a threat to members’ security as visitors who failed to enter the galleries continued banging doors and shouting slogans even during Mr Sharif’s speech. Mr Sharif, who stayed in the house during congratulatory speeches from some major parties before the house was prorogued after a three-day session, said he would not let his team sit idle nor himself indulge in that luxury in search of solutions to problems. Talking about corruption, he said heads and boards of governors of state enterprises would be appointed on merit and advertisements to bring talent would be placed in international media. Mr Fahim, like most others who followed him, promised support to Mr Sharif’s government in its steps for national good but vowed to oppose it when seen doing otherwise. But, while speaking of “some role of (intelligence) agencies” in the defeat of his party outside Sindh, he advised the new government to refrain from undemocratic methods like those of formation of an anti-PPP Islami Jamhoori Ittehad allegedly by these agencies in 1990 and what he called offers made to him by Mr Musharraf to induct his son as Sindh chief minister and for an unspecified “pagri”, or high position, to him if the Makhdoom family quit the PPP. Mr Fahim named a former prime minister under Mr Musharraf, Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who was present in the house on a PML-N front bench, for repeating the offer on behalf of the military ruler. Mr Jamali remained quiet. PTI’s Javed Hashmi, who vowed “opposition for speaking truth” rather than being a friendly opposition, made a sentimental reference to his previous association with the PML-N, saying: “Nawaz Sharif had been my leader and is (my) leader”. Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai wanted action not only against Musharraf for his acts but also against all those who had supported him, including judges, lawyers and media persons, and demanded compensation for judges, or their scions, for wrongs done to them for opposing military takeovers in the past. Muttahida Qaumi Movement parliamentary leader Farooq Sattar called his party as an opposition party despite having voted for Mr Sharif and said it would support all good actions of the government and would oppose any anti-people actions or policies.
Delay in cabinet formation sets off speculation By Amir Wasim ISLAMABAD, June 5: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who took oath of office on Wednesday surprisingly withheld the announcement of his cabinet although his party claims that the list of ministers has already been finalised.. When contacted, a senior PML-N leader who is expected to be in the new cabinet, said that Mr Sharif had already made up his mind about members of his cabinet and the first batch of 10 to 12 ministers would take oath in a day or two. He said the prime minister wanted the cabinet to be sworn in on Thursday and the Presidency had already been informed about it. It was now up to the Presidency, he said, to arrange the ceremony as early as possible. On the other hand, President’s spokesman Senator Farhatullah Khan Babar said no oath-taking ceremony had been planned at the Presidency on Thursday. He said he was not aware if the Presidency had received any request from the Prime Minister’s House or the Cabinet Division for such a ceremony. Sources in the Presidency said President Zardari wanted to administer the oath to the new prime minister and his cabinet on Wednesday since he had other engagements over the next few days. However, they said, it appeared that Mr Sharif had deliberately delayed the cabinet’s oath-taking since he wanted to be in the limelight on the day he was elected the prime minister with more than two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. There was no official word from the PML-N about the reason for delay in the announcement of the cabinet. Sources in the PML-N told Dawn that Mr Sharif was taking time in finalising the cabinet because there was a long list of aspirants and he wanted to have a small cabinet. They said Ishaq Dar, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Zahid Hamid, Khurram Dastagir Khan, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Abdul Qadir Baloch, Sardar Yousuf, Kamran Michael and Pervez Rashid were among those expected to take oath as federal ministers in the first batch. The sources said Pir Sadaruddin Shah Rashidi of the PML-Functional and Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi of the National People’s Party (NPP) were also expected to be in the cabinet. The NPP leaders have already announced merger of their party into the PML-N. Besides, the sources said, the leadership was also considering names of Anusha Rehman, Saira Afzal Tarar and Sumaira Malik for inclusion in the federal cabinet with a view to giving representation to women.
MQM’s ‘day of mourning’ today KARACHI, June 5: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement announced on Wednesday that it would observe a ‘day of mourning’ on Thursday to protest the killing of its three ‘sympathisers’ in Malir earlier in the day.. Police said three young factory workers were kidnapped and shot dead while another man was critically wounded in Khokhrapar. While the Sindh government constituted a team of senior police officers, led by the DIG East, to investigate the killing of the three factory workers, MQM activists and leaders carrying coffins staged a sit-in in front of the Chief Minister’s House and demanded action against the People’s Amn Committee, a banned organisation it blamed for the killings.
IHC removes FBR chairman By Malik Asad ISLAMABAD, June 5: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared on Wednesday that the appointment of Ali Arshad Hakeem as chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) was illegal and ordered the government to appoint a suitable person to the post by June 30. . Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui had reserved judgment on a challenge to the appointment by Ashfaq Ahmed, a grade 19 officer of the FBR. On April 8 the court suspended the notification of the appointment and the government assigned the charge of acting chairman to Ansar Javed. The PPP government had appointed Mr Hakeem as FBR chairman on July 10 last year. He had earlier served as chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority on contract. Mr Hakeem was also given the charge of revenue secretary. The IHC also set aside the notification for the additional charge. Justice Siddiqui said in his order that the appointment had been made without any competitive process. He said he “totally failed to understand how the qualification, experience, eminence and performance of an individual can be gauged without inviting others to compete” for appointment to such an important and sensitive post. Barrister Zafarullah Khan, the petitioner’s counsel, had informed the court that the government had relaxed at least 10 essential requirements for the appointment. The post was not advertised and the candidature was not examined by a selection committee. He said the summary for the appointment had not been moved in accordance with the law. He said several senior officers were eligible for the post but they had not been considered. Mr Hakeem’s counsel Ashtar Ausaf had contended that the IHC lacked jurisdiction over the matter and the Federal Services Tribunal was the right forum for hearing such a petition. He said there was no prescribed criterion for appointment of FBR chairman and the court could not examine the allegations in the absence of a set procedure. He admitted that the vacancy had not been advertised in the press. He claimed that the petition was not maintainable because the petitioner was not an aggrieved person and none of his rights had been infringed because of the appointment.
Would-be ministers already in talks: Plan in the works to overcome electricity crisis By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, June 5: The PML-N government is reported to have finalised a macroeconomic framework for next year and an energy conservation plan that will require trade and business activities to close before sunset to partially offset the energy crisis. . Informed sources told Dawn on Wednesday that likely incoming ministers for petroleum, water and power and finance, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Khawaja Mohammad Asif and Ishaq Dar, respectively, had been interacting with officials of these ministries, including caretakers, in informal meetings over the last few days to fine tune energy conservation measures and the macroeconomic framework for next year. While Mr Dar has been giving input on the new macroeconomic framework to the Planning Commission through Dr Shahid Amjad Chaudhry, the caretaker prime minister’s adviser on finance, Mr Abbasi and Khawaja Asif have been receiving briefings from outgoing Water and Power Minister Dr Musadik Malik, including the one on Wednesday. Informed sources said the first thing the new government planned to announce in its 100-day plan would be to allow commercial activities between 8am and 7pm. The sources said the business community’s leadership in Lahore, Faisalabad and Gujranwala had already been taken into confidence over to closing of markets before sunset and the step is expected to reduce electricity demand by 2,500MW in peak hours. It has been explained to them that keeping businesses open till midnight has been one of the main contributors to electricity shortfall. In compensation, they will be ensured minimum loadshedding during daytime business. Such a decision was also taken by the Council of Common Interests about two years ago but could not be implemented because of the half-hearted implementation strategy of the previous government and resistance from traders in Karachi. Policy guidelines will be issued immediately for generating over 2,500MW of additional electricity from imported coal through conversion of some of Wapda’s inefficient thermal power stations and giving incentives to some independent power producers to shift to coal in the short-term period. In the long run, new power plants will be allowed to be set up near ports to reduce transportation cost. According to an official, the Asian Development Bank is already assisting the government in coal conversion but the project is moving slowly though it was the considered to be the most fast-track option to improve the generation capacity. He said consumers would be informed at the very outset that with the existing infrastructure generation could not go beyond 14,000MW except for five to six weeks in a year when it increased to 16,000MW during the peak hydropower generation. Reducing electricity generation cost from the current Rs14 per unit to about Rs9 would be one of the priorities of the government to be achieved in about four years but that would require immediate tariff adjustments by withdrawing subsidies to consumers using more than 300 units per month. Increasing the generation capacity to about 21,000MW in 3-4 years would be another priority area for which implementation schedule of some of the ongoing projects would be accelerated. The sources said the Planning Commission and the State Bank had finalised the macroeconomic framework with input coming from Mr Dar. The framework envisages an economic growth rate of 4.5 per cent, inflation at about 9pc, current account deficit of about 1.6pc of GDP, export forecast at $26 billion and imports at about 42.5pc.
Shahbaz becomes CM for third time By Intikhab Hanif LAHORE, June 6: PML-N’s Mian Shahbaz Sharif became on Thursday the chief minister of Punjab for the third time.. He took oath of office at a ceremony in the sprawling lawns of Governor’s House in the afternoon. Governor Makhdoom Ahmad Mahmood administered the oath. The provincial assembly elected Mr Sharif as the leader of the house with record 300 votes. Besides his PML-N which has an overwhelming majority in the house, he got votes also from the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazal, Jamaat-i-Islami, Bahawalpur National Awami Party, PML-Zia and some independents. Seven members of the assembly belonging to the PPP did not cast their vote. Nawabzada Abdur Razzaq, an independent MPA from Khanewal, arrived late and could not take part in the election. But he said afterwards his vote was for the PML-N leader. Mian Mehmoodur Rashid of the PTI who contested against Mr Sharif bagged 34 votes — 26 of his own party and eight of the PML-Q. Speaker Rana Iqbal announced the victory of Mr Sharif amid thumping of desks and sloganeering by some emotional MPAs as Mr Sharif smiled broadly. Addressing the house after his election, Mr Sharif spoke about steps he planned to take to improve conditions in the province, especially to contain the loadshedding of electricity and crackdown on electricity thieves. In his policy statement he offered to work in cooperation with the opposition. In response, the opposition expressed willingness to work jointly for the betterment of the province and its people. But, it said, it would watch the chief minister’s steps and stand up against any overstepping.
Up to 12 ministers to be sworn in: Federal cabinet takes oath today By Syed Irfan Raza ISLAMABAD, June 6: Federal ministers will be sworn in at a ceremony at the presidency on Friday afternoon.. Although there has been no official word about the size of the cabinet and ministers’ portfolios, it is learnt that up to 12 ministers will be sworn in by President Asif Ali Zardari. According to sources in the PML-N, Ishaq Dar, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Ahsan Iqbal, Khawaja Asif, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Pervez Rashid, Khawaja Saad Rafiq and Khurram Dastagir Khan are expected to take oath at the ceremony. The sources said that Mr Sharif was likely to include a couple of ministers from his coalition partners — the PML-F, the National People’s Party and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party. Speaking at a TV programme on Thursday, Khawaja Asif said if he was given the portfolio of the water and power ministry he would perform his duty with dedication. He said the PML-N had chalked out a programme to contain and eventually resolve the electricity crisis. “We have decided to form a cabinet committee on energy to be headed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,” he said. He said Senator Ishaq Dar would be the finance minister and a member of the committee on energy. He said Shahid Khaqan Abbasi might get the ministry of petroleum and natural resources and he would also be a member of the committee. The PML-N leader said his party had decided to minimise the duration of loadshedding, especially during the holy month of Ramazan. PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS: The sources said the government was considering to convene a joint session of parliament for the mandatory address of the president. But there was no official confirmation either from the PPP or the PML-N. PML-N’s Information Secretary Mushahidullah Khan had stated that the president should address the parliament since it was a constitutional requirement. Presidency’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar has stated that the president will definitely address parliament if he is invited by the prime minister to do so.
Militants blow up themselves, 2 women and child By Saleem Shahid QUETTA, June 6: At least two militants, two women and a child were killed and 15 security personnel injured during an operation in Kharotabad on Thursday morning. . The Frontier Corps, Anti-Terrorism Force, police and Balochistan Constabulary carried out the pre-dawn operation after receiving information about the presence of militants in a house. “When police cordoned off the house where militants were residing along with their family, the militants hurled hand grenades and opened indiscriminate fire at them,” Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Fayyaz Sumbal said. The militants resisted for about four hours and the security personnel retaliated. “Two militants blew themselves up with explosives in a room in the house and killed two women and a child when security personnel tried to enter the house to arrest them at about 8am,” the police official said. Mr Sumbal said the militants had used sophisticated weapons along with grenades against the security personnel. “About 20 blasts took place, including four of improvised explosive devices,” he said. According to sources, most of the injured personnel belonged to the Frontier Corps. They said four personnel of intelligence agencies were also injured. The bodies were taken to the Sandeman Civil Hospital. One of the dead was identified as Habibullah. DIG (Investigation) Mubeen Ahmed said police had cordoned off the house in Killi Barat after receiving intelligence reports and after facing resistance they sought help from Frontier Corps and called in police commandos. Police sources said the militants belonged to a banned religious group.
Nawaz’s message to Pak missions: No major shift likely in foreign policy By Baqir Sajjad Syed ISLAMABAD, June 6: Foreign policy priorities spelt out by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday made it amply clear that his third term in office would not usher in a significant shift in policy; rather there would be an enhanced emphasis on diplomacy to cope with domestic challenges of economic meltdown, energy shortages and terrorism. . But significantly Mr Sharif took a strong line on terrorism directing security agencies to block financing of terrorism from other countries. He also appealed for global and regional cooperation to deal with the menace which has claimed thousands of innocent Pakistani lives. The newly elected prime minister on his first full day in office sent a message to the country’s envoys abroad listing his preferences. Mr Sharif’s foreign policy view fits in with wider strategic thinking of the military establishment that has long dominated the foreign policy agenda and many aspects also represent the continuation of the policy pursued by the last PPP government. Foreign policy is nevertheless set to get added attention during PML-N government’s tenure with Mr Sharif intending to keep the portfolio of foreign affairs with himself and running the Foreign Office through Ambassador Tariq Fatemi as his adviser. PML-N’s victory in the May 11 elections had raised many questions about the future of Pakistan’s foreign and security policies: how would the relationship with the US be carried forward, would the reset in relations with Russia continue, the future of normalisation with India, approach towards peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan and balancing ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Mr Sharif’s message would, however, answer many of those queries. To put it in one word, the message was that of continuity of the policy. “National interests shall drive our foreign policy in all circumstances, and there is an across-the-board consensus on this,” Mr Sharif said in the message whose preamble read: “The people of Pakistan have pronounced themselves clearly on the future direction that our country should take. They have also been abundantly clear in underscoring their priorities.” One part of the message, which can be broadly divided into two sections, pertained to the challenges confronting the new government while the other was about the hardcore political aspect of the foreign policy — relations with the rest of the world. The attitude of the West over the past decade or so was an important factor because of which the previous and the new governments appear to be on the same page. Because of not enough respect for the sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in the war against terrorism, lack of understanding of issues being faced by the county today and the habit of giving short shrift to Pakistani problems, the region-first approach has permeated into the political psyche. “The immediate attention of government will be focused on our neighbours. Unless the region is peaceful, our efforts for growth and development will not meet with success,” the prime minister said. Former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar had introduced the region-first policy at the Foreign Office and remained unequivocal about it. She remained intensely focused on improving ties with Afghanistan, India and Iran. Mr Sharif, in his message, also emphasised on developing regional consensus on peace and stability in Afghanistan and “affirmed that a policy of an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned process of peace and reconciliation will be pursued”. Similarly on India, he wants the normalisation process to be “progressively pursued” while actively seeking resolution of all outstanding issues. Pakistan and India had in 2011 resumed the formal dialogue process which had broken off in the aftermath of 2008 Mumbai attacks. The process has continued with some improvements in trade ties and people-to-people contact, but the core issues have largely remained unaddressed. The peace process has been on an unannounced halt since LoC violations earlier this year. In his conversation with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh soon after his party’s victory in the elections, the PML-N chief had desired to take forward the peace process towards full normalisation of ties. Mr Singh’s special envoy Satinder Lambah met Mr Sharif in Lahore for follow-up discussions on how to progress with the peace process. Mr Singh’s positive response to Mr Sharif’s call for improved ties was appreciated in Pakistan and the (Pakistan) High Commission in New Delhi asked for “shed(ding) the old way of thinking and using of stereotypes”. In the message, the prime minister hoped to have “close cooperative relations” with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran and other countries in the Middle East. Pakistan, it is expected, will be depending heavily on Saudi Arabia for a bailout in the form of oil on deferred payment and financial assistance. But while doing so it may face pressure from Riyadh on ties with Tehran. Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline inaugurated in March after years of negotiations and international pressure is also doubtful with Mr Sharif’s foreign policy aides publicly hinting at reviewing the agreement. On the most crucial relationship with Washington, Mr Sharif’s policy would be that consolidating ties by building on strengths and resolving the differences. “We will build on convergence and wherever there are divergences we will work to try to minimise and remove such divergence,” the prime minister noted. Pakistan and the US have differed over counter-terrorism strategies, including drone attacks and nuclear programme. Mr Sharif chose not to speak on either of them, though he had in his inaugural speech in the National Assembly on Wednesday said his government would like to see an end to drone attacks. Mr Sharif, who has been a vocal critic of the US policies towards the region, has since his election softened his stance and has been endeavoring to develop a working relationship with Washington. With China, whom Mr Sharif described as “a great friend and significant economic partner”, his government would work for strengthening the strategic relationship. Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, who last month visited Pakistan, was the first world leader to have met Mr Sharif after his party’s victory in the elections. In his felicitation message, Mr Li said he looked forward to working with Mr Sharif for elevating “the China-Pakistan strategic cooperation relations to a new high and bring even greater benefit to the people of the two countries”. Mr Sharif said improvement in ties with Russia would continue. One of the foreign policy highlights over the past few years has been the Pak-Russia reset. The rapprochement was partly dictated by Pakistan’s worsening relationship with the West and the consequent desire to find new friends, but also because of acknowledgment in Moscow that Pakistan was an important stakeholder in Afghanistan as the coalition forces move towards complete withdrawal in 2014. Tempting prospects of economic and energy cooperation further brought the two closer.
Anti-state elements have no basic rights, argued caretakers By Wajih Ahmad Sheikh LAHORE, June 6: A week before the end of its tenure, caretaker government had directed its law officers to maintain a firm stance in superior courts on cases about missing persons, terrorism and drone attacks in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), Dawn has learnt. . In its May 29 directive, the government through the Ministry of Law and Justice asked all deputy attorneys general and standing counsel to stick to their “line of argument” before the courts. The law officers were also asked to keep in mind legal ramifications of Article 245 of the constitution while contesting such cases. The said article deals with functions of armed forces. The directive contained 16 points on which the law officers were required to base their arguments, including the powers of the federal government to call armed forces for acting in civil authorities in case of external aggression or threat of war. It stated that the validity of any direction under Article 245 (1) could not be questioned in any court and the jurisdiction of high court under Article 199 was barred when Article 245 was in force. It said all pending proceedings stood suspended till the time armed forces were acting in civil power. The government said there existed a grave unprecedented threat to the territorial integrity of Pakistan which fulfilled the parameters of Article 245 (1) of the constitution. It further said that the fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution were only available to persons loyal to state and obedient to the constitution and law. The government said that the rights in Articles 3, 4 and 5 and the offence of high treason were segregated from the fundamental rights because Articles 8, 199 and 184 referred to rights in chapter 1 of Part II of the constitution and not the rights in Articles 3, 4 and 5. It said immunity under Article 248 would not be available even to a prime minister if he or she was found acting contrary to the law. A prime minister under clause (2) of the Article 5 is bound to obey the constitution and the law. It maintained that even in civil cases, an alien can sue under section 83 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, and such aliens (if they were enemy aliens) needed permission from the federal government to sue in any court in Pakistan. The directive further maintained that section 3 of the Security of Pakistan Act, 1952 empowered the federal government to detain any person who was attempting to act in a manner prejudicial to the integrity, security or defence of the country or attempted to commit any act leading to anti-national activity. All persons who are subjects of a country at war with Pakistan will be alien enemy, including the Pakistani nationals who attack the state. The directive stated that this line of argument would facilitate the courts in understanding the sensitivity of the issues and adjudication in correct perspective.
Which authority let COAS to proclaim emergency, asks SC By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, June 6: The Supreme Court hearing a set of petitions seeking prosecution of former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf asked on Thursday which authority empowered an army chief to proclaim emergency when he himself did not feature in the constitution. . Whence this power to issue proclamation of emergency by the army chief had come, asked Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, who heads a three-judge bench seized with the case. The army chief did not feature in the constitution, he observed. After Advocate A.K. Dogar, representing Molvi Iqbal Haider, concluded his arguments on Thursday, Advocate Ahmad Raza Kasuri, the counsel for Mr Musharraf, requested the court to adjourn the proceedings till the attorney general made a statement about the new government’s stance. Otherwise, he said, the case would be an exercise in futility. “It is time to ascertain the point of view of the new government,” Mr Kasuri said and recalled that the caretaker government had declined to initiate treason cases against Gen Musharraf under Article 6 of the constitution. But Justice Khawaja made it clear that the hearing would not be an exercise in futility. “Rest assured there is no question of futility and if need be the court will go extra mile for implementation of Article 6 of the constitution,” he said. “You will be satisfied when you will hear the order in the case,” Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, a member of the bench, told the counsel before the court postponed the proceedings to June 24. Advancing his arguments, Advocate Dogar said the power always was more deadly than the drugs and whoever took it always wanted to take it back. “This is what has brought Gen Musharraf back (to the country) because it is the power he seeks,” he said. “Why no action has ever been taken against the usurpers though the constitution was subverted several times in the past,” the counsel asked. He cited the example of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was a popular leader elected by the people but preferred to step into the shoes of Gen Yahya Khan by becoming a civilian martial law administrator. He then cited the example of the PML-Q leadership which had supported Mr Musharraf and even announced that the party would like to elect him 10 times in uniform. “These are the politicians who are responsible for marital laws in the country,” Mr Dogar said. No-one could presume that he was more patriotic than others and, therefore, had the right to throw out an established system, the counsel said, adding that the sacking of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry by Mr Musharraf on Nov 3, 2007, brought a ‘moral renaissance’ as the nation stood up and rejected with vehemence the proclamation of emergency. The counsel recalled that in its July 31, 2009 judgment, a 14-judge SC bench had held that unconstitutional and illegal actions would always be unconstitutional and illegal. He said he would be quite satisfied even if he got a one-line order on his petition by the apex court directing the federal government to take action against Musharraf under Article 6 of the constitution. He said the country had suffered repeated martial laws like cancer. “Let the law takes its own course even if it opens a Pandora’s box and let justice be done even if heavens fall,” he said. Justice Khilji explained that the court had to examine the plea for implementing Article 6 as back as from 1956 realising the fact that the Nov 3, 2007, action had not been validated by parliament, but previous martial laws had always been indemnified by courts and parliament by inserting provisions in the constitution.
SC urged to review its order on missing persons By Our Staff Reporter LAHORE, June 6: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) requested the Supreme Court on Thursday to review an order of disposing of a petition filed in 2007 for recovery of a large number of victims of enforced disappearance. . Through a short order on May 18, the court had disposed of HRCP’s constitutional petition and said the petitioner could pursue the matter before a commission established to deal with the issue of missing persons. The HRCP is of the view that the short order did not address the grievances cited in the petition and has, therefore, filed the review plea. It contended that the jurisdiction of the court under Article 184(3) could not be replaced by a commission whose majority comprised non-judicial authorities, especially since the matter raised was of public importance and clearly involved violation of fundamental rights the enforcement of which fell squarely within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. The HRCP highlighted that 47 people on its list submitted to the SC were still untraced and their families had not been given any access to the commission set up by the government. The HRCP noted that so far the court had not rendered a detailed judgment on the important matter of violation of fundamental rights pending before it for the six years, nor on the several hearings it had held and several statements it had recorded during the proceedings of the case which clearly identified the perpetrators of enforced disappearances.
Departments set up in secretariat to be devolved: Aftab appointed PM’s chief spymaster By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD, June 6: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has appointed Aftab Sultan, a BS-22 officer of the Police Services of Pakistan (PSP), as his chief spymaster. He will head the intelligence bureau as its new director general. . Mr Sultan had also served at this position under the previous PPP government from Oct 2011 to July 2012. He left the post after former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was removed from office as a result of a Supreme Court decision. A law graduate from Punjab University, who later did LLM from the University of Cambridge and also MSc in jurisprudence/legal studies from the University of Edinburgh, he is known for keeping a low profile. Throughout his career in police, he avoided getting closer to people in power. In 2002, as regional police officer in Sargodha, Mr Sultan refused to assist the administration during the referendum called by then chief executive, Gen Pervez Musharraf. He paid for his defiance when he was made OSD. The highlight of his career is a 5,000-page report which he prepared on the directives of the Supreme Court as additional inspector general of police about the famous Bank of Punjab case. The SC had appointed Mr Sultan as investigation officer after expressing dissatisfaction over the investigations conducted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Talking to Dawn, a senior official said Mr Sultan’s non-controversial career in police was believed to have led to his appointment as new DG of the IB. The official said that since Mr Sharif had come back to the helm of affairs after a gap of over 13 years, he needed somebody for this key position with a clean background. “During the PPP government when fingers were pointed at every second government official, Mr Sultan was one of the very few top functionaries who worked with the federal government but was not charged with corruption,” he said. As the IB chief, Mr Sultan will be working as eyes and ears for the new prime minister, particularly on the law and order conditions. In the past, governments have used the IB for their political agendas. However, with the recent paradigm shift in which role of intelligence agencies in politics has come under increasing scrutiny, it is believed the new IB chief will be focusing on his primary job to gather intelligence for the prime minister against unscrupulous elements creating law and order problems. PM OFFICE: By declaring the secretariat as Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Sharif has decided to devolve to ministries a plethora of departments which had been created in the past for the premier. As per the new scheme of things, the prime minister will only have his key officials directly reporting to him and the rest of the staff will be sent back to their departments. An official said there would be no more departments like public affairs division, grievances wing, economic affairs wing, foreign affairs wing and many others headed by a whole lot of civil servants officially deputed to the erstwhile prime minister’s secretariat with additional salary packages. “A civil servant who works at the prime minister’s secretariat draws twice the salary his contemporaries get in other government departments. Hence everybody used to try to get a posting here in any section,” the official said. The new move will help cut down on expenditures. Meanwhile, PM Sharif has brought in his new team of officials, manning various departments, from his personal staff to his security detail. Nasir Mehmood Khosa will be secretary to the prime minister instead of principal secretary. Other key officials posted at the new office include Brig Mohammad Akmal as military secretary, Mohyuddin Wani as press secretary, Dr Zeshan of the police services as chief security officer and Mujahid Sher Dil of the DMG as his personal staff officer. About reports that the new prime minister may be staying at the Punjab House, outgoing press secretary Shafqat Jalil, who has yet to relinquish his charge, said Prime Minister Sharif, after taking oath, had spent his first night at the Prime Minister House. “I think he is staying here and there is no truth in reports that he is shifting to some other place.” The PML-N’s information secretary, Senator Mushahidullah Khan, also dismissed the reports as mere speculations.
FO rejects Indian allegation of fanning Sikh militancy ISLAMABAD, June 6: Pakistan on Thursday firmly rejected Indian allegations that its intelligence agency was exporting terrorism to India. . During his weekly briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry refuted the allegations by the Indian home minister against the Pakistani agency, terming his statement uncalled for and counter-productive. “This can undermine efforts aimed at normalising the relations between the two countries,” he added. The spokesman said Pakistan itself was the victim of terrorism and had rendered matchless sacrifices in the war against terrorism. He called upon New Delhi to share any evidence with Pakistan before hurling such accusations. Mr Chaudhry said the timing of the Indian statement was not good as the new leadership in Pakistan had expressed its desire to normalise relations with India. “It is time to focus on building relations and resolving all the outstanding disputes, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir,” he added. Answering a question about drone attacks, the spokesperson declared them as counter-productive and in violation of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had articulated Pakistan’s position and called for an end to the drone strikes. The spokesperson said: “Our foreign policy is based on national interests and reflects the aspirations of the people of country.” When asked about a protest demonstration organised near the Pakistani embassy in Kabul, Mr Chaudhry expressed concern over it and said that under the Vienna Convention it was the responsibility of the host country to provide full security to the diplomatic staff. Regarding the expulsion of Pakistani workers from Saudi Arabia, the spokesman said the Pakistani mission in that country was providing guidance to the Pakistanis. “We have engaged legal counsel at the deportation centres to facilitate the Pakistani workers.” In reply to a question, he said ambassadors to the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Muscat had been asked to relinquish their charges. About US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Pakistan, he said it was on the cards but the date had not been fixed yet. Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had alleged on Wednesday that ISI was pressuring Sikh militant leaders to target Punjab and other parts of India. Mr Shinde said that there had been “some significant development on the Sikh militancy front” and accused the ISI of seeking to further its “terror plans” in India. —Agencies
Talks with Taliban: JUI-F asks govt to create conducive environment By Amir Wasim ISLAMABAD, June 6: The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) which has already decided not to play any mediatory role in peace talks with Taliban warned the PML-N government on Thursday of a “complex situation” after withdrawal by the militant organisation of its offer for talks. It urged the government to create “conducive environment for reconciliation”. . “Let us try to create a conducive environment for talks and reconciliation, otherwise we will end up fighting insurgency for years and the chance for national building will be lost for decades,” a JUI-F spokesman Jan Achakzai quoted Maulana Fazlur Rehman as saying. Talking to Dawn, Mr Achakzai said that Maulana Fazlur Rehman believed that reconciliation with the Taliban would not be possible if coercive measures continued to be taken. “We have to take them on board, otherwise we will not be able to maintain sovereignty in Fata whether because of Taliban challenging the writ of the state or drones violating our sovereignty,” said the Maulana. According to the JUI-F chief, nearly 50,000 people had so far lost their lives because of terrorism, but if “we do not find a solution, there will be more losses incurred”. Maulana Fazl said it was understandable that the establishment was not ready to talk to Taliban as “our officers and soldiers are dying”. But, he claimed, military operations had not contained militancy over the past decade and it was time “to face it straight”. The JUI-F chief suggested that “work should start soon to remove the disconnect between all stakeholders on Fata and the Taliban insurgency.” A few days ago, the JUI-F chief had stated that his party was no more interested in playing any role in bringing Taliban to the negotiating table after realising that the country’s powerful establishment was not in favour of any such process. He claimed to have the information that the army had no interest whatsoever in peace talks and reconciliation and, therefore, there was no environment for any talks. Soon after May 11 elections, the JUI-F and the PML-N had started discussing a power-sharing formula and the two parties had also constituted committees to finalise it. Earlier, the JUI-F had claimed that both parties had agreed that talks with Taliban would be held through a “grand peace jirga” as agreed by the mainstream political parties in a “declaration” at all-party conference organised by the JUI-F in Islamabad on Feb 28. But now the JUI-F feels that the PML-N appears to have lost interest in it after the Taliban withdrew the talks offer in the wake of the killing of their important commander in a drone attack.
UN concerned over falling aid for Pakistan UNITED NATIONS, June 6: A UN humanitarian relief official has said he is concerned about the falling international community’s response to meet Pakistan’s requirements to provide relief to its citizens in times of emergency.. The situation in Pakistan is also “very complex” because of a drop in funding in recent years, John Ging, Director of Operations of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told journalists in New York on Wednesday. The humanitarian appeal in 2010 was 70 per cent filled, but only 44pc in 2011 and 29pc last year. “This is again evidence of failing of the international commitment to do what we are there to do,” Mr Ging said. “As a humanitarian organisation, it is frustrating to work with productive partnerships and not be able to deliver.” The situation is especially alarming given the upcoming monsoon season which usually results in flooding. Unlike in previous years, the humanitarian community in Pakistan does not currently have the prepositioned stocks in the region to respond productively.—Masood Haider
Judges’ detention case: ATC fixes June 15 for Musharraf indictment By Malik Asad ISLAMABAD, June 6: While an anti-terrorism court (ATC) fixed June 15 for indictment of retired General Pervez Musharraf in the judges’ detention case, the special police prosecutor told the Islamabad High Court on Thursday that there was no evidence that the former president had issued orders to detain the judges.. During the hearing of a bail plea of Mr Musharraf, special prosecutor Amir Nadeem Tabish told the court that a joint investigation team had not received any response to two letters it wrote to the SC registrar seeking necessary documents and statements of seven apex court judges deposed after proclamation of emergency on Nov 3, 2007. The prosecutor told the bench comprising Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi and Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan that the prosecution had no evidence except newspaper clippings, statements of 23 lawyers and a CD with a recording of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani saying ‘the judges should be released’. He said the prosecution needed to verify the material by recording statements of journalists, who had covered the post-emergency events, lawyers, deposed judges and members of their family under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Earlier Advocate Ilyas Siddiqui, counsel for Mr Musharraf, informed the court that there were 14 witnesses, including police officials and lawyers, in the interim challan of the case. He said the SC judgment of July 31, 2009, clearly says that Pervez Musharraf had proclaimed the emergency on the advice of the prime minister. Justice Qureshi asked the counsel if it should be presumed that the president of Pakistan was totally ignorant of law? What about his personal responsibilities? Advocate Siddiqui said that after the proclamation of emergency, judges were asked to take fresh oath under the provisional constitution order (PCO). Some of them took the fresh oath while others did not, he said. He said that after the 2008 elections, the PPP-PML-N coalition government accepted Mr Musharraf as president and its ministers took oath from him. The counsel said if Mr Musharraf was accused of abrogating the constitution, why did the government not initiate an impeachment process against him? He even received a guard of honour while leaving the presidency, he argued. He said Section 344 under which the FIR had been lodged against Mr Musharraf was a bailable offence. Justice Qureshi said that an IHC bench had ordered for insertion of sections from the Anti-Terrorism Act. But the counsel said the court could not insert anything in the FIR, only the investigation officer could do it. The court put off the hearing till June 11. Also on Thursday, IHC Chief Justice Mohammad Anwar Khan Kasi approved jail trial of Mr Musharraf after the court’s registrar submitted a satisfactory report. After the IHC approval, ATC Judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi heard the case in the sub-jail and fixed June 15 for indictment of Mr Musharraf.
Zardari signs notification on new AG promptly By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD, June 7: President Asif Ali Zardari continues to send positive signals towards Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif.. On the occasion of Mr Sharif’s oath-taking ceremony on Wednesday, President Zardari, accompanied by his family holding a large bouquet, received the new prime minister outside the main building of the presidency. On Friday, the president signed an advice of the prime minister for the appointment of new attorney general immediately after it was put before him. At 4.36pm, the Prime Minister’s Office issued a press release, saying the premier had advised the president to appoint Munir A. Malik as new attorney general of Pakistan. At 6.44pm, the PM’s Office sent out a second release which said that on the concurrence of the President to the advice sent by the prime minister, the government was issuing a notification for the appointment of Mr Malik as attorney general of Pakistan. President Zardari, on the advice of the government, has summoned a joint sitting of the two houses of parliament on June 10. It’s likely that the PML-N government will invite Mr Zardari to address the sitting. It’s also the requirement under Article 56 (3) which says: “At the commencement of the first session after each general election to the National Assembly and at the commencement of the first session of each year the President shall address both houses assembled together and inform the Majlis-i-Shoora (Parliament) of the causes of its summons.” The legal fraternity has welcomed Mr Malik’s appointment, which is being seen as yet another good move by the PML-N government. Last week, Mr Sharif nominated Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, head of the National Party, as chief minister of Balochistan, a decision which drew wide appreciation.Talking to Dawn, Mr Munir Malik said as attorney general he would ensure implementation of the Supreme Court’s orders in letter and spirit. The Supreme Court, he added, was the final interpreter and arbitrator of the constitution, and it was the duty of the executive to fully implement its rulings without delay. He said that under Article 184(3) of the constitution the apex court and executive should have a collaborative relationship for the enforcement of fundamental rights in the country. About the question of invoking Article 6 against retired Gen Pervez Musharraf for subverting the constitution, Mr Malik said he would take instructions from the federal government on the issue. Mr Malik will replace Mr Irfan Qadir, who has been serving as attorney general since April 2012. Mr Malik, a former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, was one of the lawyers who boldly challenged Gen Musharraf when he deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on March 9, 2007. Many in the lawyers’ community believe it was on Mr Malik’s insistence that the lawyers’ movement was launched. He was also a member of the team which fought the legal battle in the apex court for the reinstatement of the chief justice and other judges. In the process, he was persecuted by the then military regime. However, despite playing a crucial role in the struggle for the reinstatement of the chief justice, Mr Malik, unlike others, took himself out of the spotlight and led a low-key life afterwards.
• Cabinet sworn in • Dar gets finance portfolio, Nisar interior: PML-N keeps faith in old guard By Syed Irfan Raza ISLAMABAD, June 7: The process of transfer of power from one civilian government to another was completed on Friday with President Asif Ali Zardari swearing in the cabinet of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. . The 25-member cabinet — 16 ministers and nine ministers of state — has mostly the old guard and a few new faces. The president administered the oath at a ceremony held at the Presidency. Besides Mr Sharif, it was attended by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, the services chiefs, parliamentarians, diplomats and senior bureaucrats. In the oath, the ministers pledged to discharge their duty honestly to the best of their ability in accordance with the constitution. The cabinet division issued a notification on late Friday night about portfolios of the ministers and advisers to the prime minister. According to sources, the ministries of defence and foreign affairs will work under the direct supervision of the prime minister. Most of the new ministers are Sharif loyalists and have been with him in his previous government which was overthrown by then army chief retired Gen Pervez Musharraf in 1999. Not a single PML-N woman leader has been made a federal minister; two women are in the cabinet as ministers of state. Talking to reporters after taking oath, Chaudhry Nisar said the federal government would provide assistance to provinces in intelligence sharing and matters of security. “Such support will be across-the-board where and when required.” He said a framework on law and order would be devised after a meeting on Monday, adding that Islamabad would be brought under an effective surveillance network. Pervez Rashid said the government would not conceal facts from the masses, adding that secret funds of the information ministry would not be used for personal or political gains. “Not a single rupee of the secret fund was used in Punjab over the past five years.” Answering a question about governance, he said the heads of public sector corporations would be appointed through a transparent process and strictly on merit.
Drone kills seven in N. Waziristan By Our Correspondent MIRAMSHAH, June 7: Missiles fired by a US drone killed seven suspected militants and injured three others in North Waziristan on Friday, in the first such attack since the swearing-in of Mian Nawaz Sharif as prime minister. . According to local intelligence officials, the drone fired two missiles at a compound in Mangluti area of Shawal sub-division. The identities of those killed in the attack could not be known. In his first speech in the National Assembly after his election as the prime minister, Mr Sharif called for an end to the drone attacks and said other countries should respect Pakistan’s sovereignty just as they respected theirs.
Death penalty for Shahzeb’s killers By Our Staff Reporter KARACHI, June 7: An anti-terrorism court sentenced to death on Friday two young men for murdering 20-year-old Shahzeb Khan in December last year. Two of the co-accused in the case were sentenced to life in prison. . Some time after the murder it appeared that some influential people were influencing the investigation and helping the accused to escape punishment. But an uproar fuelled by social media and protests by political groups and intervention by the superior judiciary ensured the case would be taken to its logical conclusion. Judge Ghulam Mustafa Memon of the ATC-III sentenced Shahrukh Jatoi and Nawab Siraj Ali Talpur to death and Nawab Sajjad Ali Talpur and Ghulam Murtaza Lashari to life term for shooting Shahzeb Khan to death in the Defence area of Karachi. According to the prosecution, Shahzeb had an altercation with the accused who had tried to tease his sister and the issue was settled by some elders. But the culprits opened fire on the vehicle of Shahzeb and killed him. In his 95-page verdict, the judge also sentenced accused Lashari, the servant of the Talpurs, to one-year imprisonment for teasing the sister of Shahzeb. The court rejected Jatoi’s plea of alibi. He had produced his elder brother, Ashraf Ali Jatoi, as a defence witness to state that he was with him at the airport at the time of the incident. The court observed that the alibi plea was required to be taken at the earliest available opportunity but it was taken at a later stage in the instant case. “It was not taken before the investigation officers, it was also not taken by the accused [persons] in their plea when the charge was read over and explained to them by the court,” it added. The court discharged the names of absconding accused Asif Lund, Suleman Jatoi and Khurram Muhammed because no evidence against them had been produced by the prosecution. Initially, the case (FIR 591/12) was registered under Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 109 (abetment) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code on a complaint of the father of the deceased, DSP Aurangzeb, However, during investigation, Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modestly) of the PPC and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, were incorporated in the FIR. Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry had taken suo motu notice of the case and directed the trial court to hold hearing on a daily basis.The incident also triggered a widespread debate over whether the country’s elite could be held accountable for their crimes because the father of the prime accused belonged to a powerful feudal family of Sindh.
Khurshid Shah Leader of Opposition By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, June 7: National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq notified Syed Khurshid Shah of the PPP on Friday as the Leader of Opposition in the house. . Talking to Dawn, Mr Shah confirmed his notification as new Leader of Opposition, saying the assembly secretariat through a telephone call had formally conveyed to him the speaker’s decision. Soon after the election of the prime minister on Wednesday, the speaker following rule number 39 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007, had set Friday as the last date and asked members sitting on opposition benches to submit names for the position. According to sources, neither the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) nor the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the other two main parties sitting on opposition benches, submitted any name for the position. Hence the speaker declared Mr Shah, the only applicant for the position, as Leader of Opposition. The PTI information secretary, Dr Shireen Mazari, told Dawn that her party did not apply for the position because of the absence of its chief, Imran Khan. Ideally speaking, the speaker should have waited until Mr Khan took oath as a member of the house, she added. Second, she conceded, the only chance for the PTI to stake claim to the position of opposition leader was by forming an alliance with the MQM, which at the moment seemed not possible for the party. On opposition benches in the NA, the PPP leads with 42 members followed by the PTI with 29 and the MQM 23. Ms Mazari, who has been elected to the house on reserved seats for women, said since the PTI had taken a strong stand against the MQM in Karachi, the two parties couldn’t join hands even on opposition benches. The PTI chairman had held MQM chief Altaf Hussain responsible for the murder of his party’s senior vice president in Sindh, Zahra Shahid Hussain, who was shot dead in Karachi on May 18. A staff member of the National Assembly clarified that any member of the house sitting on opposition benches can lay claim to the leader of opposition slot if he/she has support of the majority on opposition benches. Unlike for the election of the leader of the house (prime minister), the leader of opposition can be replaced any time just by moving a simple application carrying signatures of majority of the members in support of the applicant. The speaker is bound to declare the applicant enjoying majority on opposition benches. According to rule 39, after the general election and at any time thereafter the speaker shall declare leader of the opposition as early as possible after the ascertainment of the leader of the house. After the ascertainment of the leader of the house, the speaker shall inform the members about the date, time and place for submission of a name for the leader of the opposition under their signatures. The speaker shall declare a member as leader of the opposition having the greatest numerical strength after verification of members’ signatures. JOINT SITTING: President Asif Ali Zardari has summoned a joint session of parliament in the Parliament House on Monday at 4.30pm in exercise of powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 54 read with clauses (1) and (3) of Article 56 of the constitution. It is expected that the president will address the joint sitting. The National Assembly secretariat will issue special invitations for the sitting to all the chief ministers, services chiefs, governors and diplomats. If the PML-N government invites President Zardari to address the joint sitting, it will be recorded in history as a unique parliamentary occasion: a president will address the parliament for sixth consecutive time during his five-year stint.
Pakistan denies LoC firing allegation By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, June 7: The Pakistan army on Friday denied having targeted Indian positions across the Line of Control.. “No Pakistani troops carried out any firing across the LoC on Indian positions,” a military spokesman said in response to Indian allegations that one of its soldiers was killed in a cross-LoC attack by the Pakistan army. The Indian army had initially accused the Pakistan army of firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades on Indian posts in the Poonch sector. A junior commissioned officer identified as Naib Subedar Bachan Singh of Garhwal Regiment was reportedly killed when a rocket hit the Lonwali post. However, Fox News later quoted Indian military spokesman S.N. Acharya as having said that it was not yet clear whether the firing had been carried out by Pakistani troops or Kashmiri militants trying to cross the LoC. The latest LoC incident has been reported a day after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif outlined his foreign policy priorities, calling for normalisation process with India to be “progressively pursued”. A 2003 LoC ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and India has so far been respected by both sides despite sporadic violations. In January, such violations intensified leaving a number of soldiers on both sides dead. Those violations led to a diplomatic row between the two countries and the resumed peace process was put on an unannounced halt. A couple of LoC violations were also reported last month.
SC’s detailed verdict on NAB chief’s removal: Common citizens can be tried under NAO By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, June 7: Ten days after ordering removal of retired Admiral Fasih Bokhari from the post of chairman of the National Accountability Bureau, the Supreme Court said in its detailed judgment on Friday that even an ordinary citizen who did not hold any public office could be tried under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999. . “We hold and declare that the provisions of NAO are applicable even to a person who is not holder of a public office,” said the 42-page verdict issued by a three-judge bench comprising Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa and Justice Amir Hani Muslim. Authored by Justice Asif Khosa, the judgment explained that the NAO had the jurisdiction to try any person who had not even aided, assisted, abetted, attempted or acted in conspiracy with a holder of a public office. “It is clarified that a stand alone private person can be proceeded against under the ordinance if other conditions mentioned in the NAO in that respect are satisfied,” the order said. The court issued the judgment on a number of appeals and petitions moved by people who were either proceeded against under the NAO or those who claimed that they did not come under the jurisdiction of the ordinance because they did not hold a public office. These two features in these appeals and petitions, the verdict said, gave rise to a common question whether or not provisions of the NAO applied to a person who was not holder of a public office. “Thus before taking up these appeals and petitions for decision in terms of their individual factual and legal merits we have decided to resolve and answer the said common question in the first instance and have heard the arguments of the learned counsel for the parties regarding the said issue,” the verdict said. The court ordered its office to fix all the appeals and petitions for hearing before appropriate benches for a decision on the basis of their individual factual and legal merits. The verdict said that the perils of corruption in a society were far greater than the hazards of narcotics. Besides by virtue of Section 3 of the NAO 1999 which asked about the implementation of the law in the entire country, including Fata and Pata, the ordinance would have an overriding effect on any other law in force for the time being, it said. The court also answered the arguments suggesting that the NAO provisions were very stringent, harsh and oppressive in matters of transfer/withdrawal of cases, bail, remissions, freezing of property, transfer of property, presumption of guilt, higher sentences and disqualifications. The court noted that all such aspects of the NAO had already been taken up in the 2001 Khan Asfandyar Wali case in which constitutional validity of different provisions of the ordinance was affirmed. In that verdict the apex court had held that stringent provisions of the NAO were identical or similar to many provisions which already existed in many other statutes, including the Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997, the Establishment of Office of Federal Tax Ombudsman Ordinance 2000, the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, the Banks (Nationalisation) Act 1974, the Offences in respect of Banks (Special Courts) Ordinance 1984, the Anti-Narcotics Force Act 1997, the Conciliation Courts Ordinance 1961, the Criminal Procedure Code 1898 and the Employment of Children Act 1991. The court also found that such provisions of the ordinance were quite justified in view of the gravity of the menace of rampant corruption which the ordinance was meant to tackle.
Ogra on safety in public transport: Provinces told to implement CNG rules By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, June 7: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) directed provincial governments on Friday to implement its directive of banning the filling of CNG cylinders fitted beneath the seats and in passenger compartments of public service vehicles and taking action against violators.. In view of the importance of protecting human lives, “it’s once again reiterated to implement in letter and spirit the same (ban/action) and take punitive action against defaulters as per provincial government rules and policy,” said a fresh Ogra directive to the provincial governments. “CNG stations violating the ban should be sealed in accordance with provincial government’s law and rules for the sake of public safety,” Ogra said. An Ogra official said that fitting of CNG cylinders under passenger seats or within the passenger compartment was illegal and was banned forthwith. But the ban would not apply to public service vehicles with cylinders on their roofs. He said that while the directive had been sent to provincial chief secretaries and inspectors-general of police of the provinces, AJK, National Highways and Motorways and Islamabad capital territory to take action against vehicles and CNG stations violating the rules, the Ogra’s special teams had themselves taken the initiative to check CNG stations to detect violations of the ban. The official said that Ogra teams had disconnected gas supplies to 22 CNG stations and cancelled CNG marketing licences of another two stations for violating the rules. He said CNG licences of two stations in Hyderabad had been cancelled while raids had been carried out in Khushab, Mianwali, Sargodha, Chiniot and Jhang. The action has already been started in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. The official said Ogra had been asking the ministry of petroleum and natural resources to completely ban the filling of CNG in public service vehicles but it swung into action after a recent incident of fire in a van in Gujrat and suo motu notices taken by the Supreme Court and Lahore High Court. On the other hand, chairman of the All Pakistan CNG Association Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha said the CNG was being provided to public service vehicles under Ogra Rules of 1992 and the ban and action being taken against CNG stations, were in violation of Ogra’s own rules. He said if the government or Ogra had formulated any rules they should have informed the CNG association about them. He said the association had written letters to the petroleum ministry and Ogra for a clarification or for providing the rules that they might have formulated, but it was yet to receive a response. Last week, Ogra had asked the government to impose a complete ban on filling of CNG in public service vehicles and directed the transport authorities to launch a massive crackdown against vehicles with uncertified CNG and LPG cylinders. Ogra said that the CNG fire-related accidents in public sector vehicles were on the rise despite the fact that extensive time and energy had been spent on formulation of Standard Operating Procedures. The Chief Justice of Lahore High Court had also taken a serious notice of the loss of precious life and property in such accidents and a case was still pending before the LHC.
Editorial NEWS
Democratic project: New National Assembly WHAT a difference five years have made. Five years ago, a surprisingly credible and reasonably acceptable parliament was elected in the dying months of the Musharraf regime but took office in an atmosphere fraught with uncertainty. Would the government last more than a few months, many wondered, and was it really possible for parliament and the provincial assemblies to complete their terms? Five years on, the class of 2013 have entered their names in the history books amidst an unprecedented consensus that this parliament has an unprecedented chance to complete its term. The democratic project is well and truly on its way and for that thanks must go to both the previous coalition at the centre, for paving the way to contin-uity and gracefully accepting its recent electoral defeat, and to the PML-N for steadfastly supporting the democratic project in opposition and now appearing to be responsible custodians of democracy as the ruling party.. As with all things democracy and statecraft, however, the ‘work in progress’ sign cannot yet be taken down. Far from it in the Pakistani context actually, where the electoral process may be maturing but other democratic institutions have still a long way to go before establishing their durability and substantive role. Parliament in particular can only be said to perform one of its functions reasonably well: electing a government. For much of the rest — holding the government and the state apparatus accountable; legislating on social, economic and security issues; and vetting the federal budget to keep it in line with the country’s needs and aspirations — parliament will need to do much more. The details can seem technical and obscure — the function and role of parliamentary committees; call-attention notices; private members’ bills; etc — but as with all complex institutions, the details are almost as important as the overall structure and sense of direction. In the newly inducted parliament, dominated as it is by right-of-centre representatives, there will also be an extra onus to not only protect but also nudge forwards social and legal protections for swathes of the population that are normally a focus of the left: women, non-Muslims, and workers and peasants. The PML-N’s focus is rightly on growth, the power sector and stabilising the macro-economic environment but Pakistan is a vast mosaic and different segments of the population have different, though equally important, needs. Balochistan too ought to be a focus, a decade-old, low-level insurgency there having rendered most of the province a no-go area. The political capital has been collected; now the people’s representatives must spend it judiciously.
All eyes on PTI: New KP government THE tone of the new government in KP is remarkably different from the more cautious approach being adopted by the emerging set-ups in Islamabad and Karachi, the one in Quetta requiring further thought before it can materialise. The PTI government in Peshawar is decidedly more vocal in its vows, which can be ascribed to the enthusiasm of a party that has come to power for the first time. Chief Minister Pervez Khattak says his government will prove itself in two months’ time. Perhaps the party needs to come out of its election mode and be a little circumspect about the promises it makes to the people now that it is at the helm. Mr Khattak says the voters have “thrown out garbage and elected clean and credible people”. This is surely not a statement becoming of a man who has sat in the assembly for many terms. He is a seasoned enough politician in a province that harbours all kinds. He must not require a reminder of how crucial it is to take everyone along on a road beset with problems.. The PTI’s pledges will take some fulfilling. Among the items on its daunting agenda, the early holding of local government polls will be a real test as will be the restoration of law and order — which Mr Khattak wants to address urgently to attract foreign investment. Along with these two crucial subjects, the PTI’s performance on the whole will determine the course of politics not just in KP but the entire country. An inability to effectively tackle the issues that PTI leaders have spoken about, such as the US drones, could just as quickly reinvigorate its opponents. This would not only benefit the PML-N, but also raise the hopes of the PPP and ANP, even the MQM in Karachi, to regain some lost ground. KP will to a large extent determine the future course of Pakistani politics, and the PTI, a party with national aspirations, is on the front line.
From the slums to Harvard: An inspiring journey A GIRL from the slums works her heart out through her academic career and earns a place in the summer programme of an Ivy League university that students from elite backgrounds all over the world aspire to join. It’s the kind of endearing story that has universal appeal, and for good reason. The young lady in question, 23-year-old Anum Fatima, lives with her family in Ismail Goth near Karachi’s Steel Town. Her father, a driver for a private com-pany, could only afford to educate his five children at substandard schools until The Citizens Foundation came to his notice. This non-profit offers highly subsidised yet quality education at purpose-built schools in underprivileged areas across Pakistan. Anum’s sterling academic performance at the TCF school first earned her a place at the local Institute of Business Management, and now a three-month summer term at Harvard University. . Uplifting though this news is for a nation weary of largely bleak tidings, there’s a sobering sub-script to this story. In education, as in health, the government has increasingly taken its foot off the pedal, preferring instead to relegate to the private sector services that are its duty to provide and for which funds — however insufficient — are allo-cated in the budget. The decline in the quality of education offered by most government schools, and even private schools in low-income areas, is such that children who study there scarcely have a hope of a better future. Anum’s journey illustrates how quality education can unlock a child’s potential and transform his/her life. Government education too must be a vehicle for the younger generation to meet the challenges of the times, rather than function as an obstacle to progress.
A sound move: Balochistan politics IN a bold and impressive gesture, Nawaz Sharif has handed the top political and executive jobs in Balochistan to the National Party and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party. After a difficult and controversial election in Balochistan, Mr Sharif appears determined to reinvigorate the democratic process in the province and what better way to do that than to support Abdul Malik Baloch, the NP supremo, for the chief minister’s slot and hand the governorship of the province to a PkMAP nominee. That Mr Sharif ensured Sanaullah Zehri, the PML-N leader in Balochistan and fierce contestant for the chief minister slot, was also in attendance at yesterday’s press conference in Murree reinforced the impression that the incoming prime minister is serious about giving Balochistan a fresh start: Mr Zehri’s downcast body language told a tale of its own but he too pledged his support to the coalition government to be led by Mr Malik.. However commendable the initial political choices in Balochistan are, they are just that: a very small step in a province that is terribly far removed from normality. The real hard work will begin once the government is in place and the biggest hurdle still looms — Balochistan, for all the denials by the army-led security establishment, is still essentially run by the Frontier Corps and the army-led intelligence apparatus. Quite how — indeed, if — the control of security policy in Balochistan can be wrested from the army remains to be seen. For now, there is little reason to believe that the election and the new coalition in Balochistan will automatically lead to a change of policy in the province. Nevertheless, as indicated by President Zardari in a TV interview yesterday, Balochistan’s problems during the past five years were compounded by the absence of a genuine and legitimate provincial leadership. The government of former chief minister Aslam Raisani was essentially a beneficiary of the boycott by the moderate Baloch and Pakhtun parties of the 2008 elections. Now the moderates are back in force and though the BNP-M did not fare as well in the elections as the party had hoped, Balochistan will once again be represented by a leadership that will almost certainly be more competent and capable than what has been witnessed in the immediate past. There is no quick fix for Balochistan’s manifold and varied problems and expectations must be tempered but for now at least, Balochistan has provided a welcome surprise.
Downward spiral: Bloodshed in Iraq THE past few weeks have been incredibly bloody for Iraq, as fears resurface of a return to the sectarian carnage that was unleashed in 2006. The UN says over 1,000 people have been killed in the country in May while April (over 700 deaths) was not much better. Iraqis — both Shia and Sunni — have died on a near daily basis as militants have bombed mosques, markets and neighbourhoods, with civilians targeted along with security forces. The violence has sectarian overtones as many minority Sunnis feel Nouri al-Maliki’s Shia-led government has been ruling with a heavy hand. Al Qaeda and other extremist groups have stepped in to exploit communal differences; sectarian passions were already running high due to the civil war in neighbouring Syria.. Contemporary Iraq’s situation is the legacy of America’s experiment in regime change. After the US invaded in 2003, various types of militant outfits sprang up as the Iraqi state collapsed with the fall of Saddam Hussein. Al Qaeda’s Iraqi affiliate has emerged as probably the deadliest of them all, while there is also a working relationship between the extremist group’s Iraqi and Syrian wings. What is more, a confessional, Lebanon-like system with power divided between the dominant religious and ethnic players has failed to work in Iraq. This shows that even the most well-intentioned system imposed from the outside will not function for long. All efforts must be made to prevent Iraq’s disintegration. A failed state will only add to Iraqis’ miseries, and give more space to jihadi elements. The Iraqi government should concentrate on two areas; it needs to make increased efforts to reconcile with all of the country’s religious and ethnic communities so that the democratic process can continue. Secondly, it must take firm action against Al Qaeda and other extremists who seek to use Iraqi soil to destabilise the region. A divided, ethnically and religiously fractured Iraq is an unwelcome prospect and if not contained, the country’s internal sectarian unrest can flow beyond its borders.
Removing encroachments: Cities’ clean-up BETWEEN city authorities’ general inability to control encroachment, and the fact that security concerns have increased sharply over the years, the country’s urban areas have been turned into a minefield of impediments to traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian. Offices such as consulates, army and police installations — established in central areas in happier times — have installed barriers, gates and guardrooms, in the process frequently shutting off or restricting pathways. In several affluent residential areas, residents’ committees have for similar reasons cordoned off roads and installed barriers or security guards. Meanwhile, unregulated built structures such as shops or pavement vendors with pushcarts are a characteristic feature of every city. City administrations do carry out various drives from time to time, giving rise to great outcry, but the flood seems to return as inevitably as the tide.. In this scene of anarchy, any push for order must be appreciated wherever it occurs. Traffic impediments must, within reason, be removed without fear or favour. Two news items reported on Saturday demonstrated the seeds of such will in Lahore. The city district government has asked the US consulate near Shimla Pahari — a central and congested city area — to remove gates and pillars that it says have been built illegally, and that have for several years represented an inconvenience to the public. Meanwhile, as part of the clean-up of the Walled City — where the encroachments and congestion are of legendary proportions — structures around the historic Wazir Khan Mosque are being removed, revealing after a long time its remarkable façade in detail. Such moves need to be undertaken by other city administrations, too, Karachi in particular. It is essential to the beauty of a city and to the smooth flow of traffic. Unauthorised barriers and encroachments should be removed wherever possible.
Unequal burden: Electricity complaints EVERYONE would like to see at work the principles of fair play and equitable distribution in managing the scarcities of electricity. This sentiment is understandable when citizens of one city have to endure long hours of loadshedding while they keep hearing stories of the relatively less stressful lives of people in other cities where there is little load-shedding. It is equally frustrating to learn that vast exemptions from load-shedding are being enjoyed by certain categories while the great mass of the citizenry, especially those who are prompt in paying their bills, are suffering on account of the outages. Different sectors of industry are also pressing their respective cases for exemption.. Managing these scarcities is a difficult job, at par in fact with the job of eliminating the scarcities. But a realistic view of the situation confirms that the scarcities are here to stay, they can be mitigated but it is not reasonable to expect that they will disappear altogether. Therefore, how the scarcities are managed is a permanent problem that requires proper redressal at the highest levels of policymaking. Just and equitable distribution is easy enough to demand, but it is not so easy to deliver. The distribution has to occur geographically, as well as across various categories of stakeholders. In order to do this, it is necessary to generate a regime of entitlements in the first place, so a merit order of priority can be decided. And generating equitable entitlements for scarce public resources is something the state in Pakistan has always struggled with, whether it is the allocation of water or that of fiscal resources. What is needed is a policy framework that establishes how the allocations are to be governed over a long-time horizon. Something along the lines of the water-sharing accord of 1991 or the NFC award is required in the electricity sector to put to rest resentments that are naturally arising from the way current allocations are being carried out. One model of achieving this is through purely commercial logic, like what KESC is doing in Karachi where the burden of load-shedding falls largely on those communities where bill recoveries are weak. This model cannot be applied at a national level though. One cannot imagine how it would work in deciding allocations between entire distribution areas, or even between different sectors of industry. Therefore a more nuanced policy framework needs to be developed to mana-ge the scarcities on a national scale. Developing this framework is something the new government should include in its agenda for tackling the power crisis.
Tricky issues: President’s points SPEAKING about his party’s latest term in power, President Asif Ali Zardari has offered the new government considerable food for thought. He has made three important points which will be central to the performance of Mian Nawaz Sharif’s government, both as popular politics goes and also in the context of Mr Sharif’s relationship with the establishment’. In the president’s latest interview on Sunday, the tackling of militants and handling of the Gen Musharraf case are two themes that should be of immediate significance to the PML-N. Mr Zardari also appeared to back the PML-N’s effort to include the nationalists in Balochistan in running that restive province where politicians have always had to balance their act to not incur the displeasure of the security set-up: “…more progress could have been made [during the PPP’s term] had the Baloch people participated proactively in the development of their province”. Put differently, Mr Sharif’s ability to create conditions where the Baloch can assert themselves politically will be tested. . The PML-N has so far remained tight-lipped on Gen Musharraf, even though in one of his post-victory statements Mr Sharif did say he had forgiven all as he prepared to start afresh. If he is ready to do as he says, he will need to convince supporters such as his ally Mahmood Khan Achakzai who remarked during the speaker’s election yesterday that the National Assembly was ‘overcrowded’ with Gen Musharraf’s remnants. The drones are as impossible to wish away; their downing, the president has indicated, not without serious repercussions. The PML-N would want to establish its credentials by first attending to matters such as the economy and the energy sector. In time, however, it will have to face up to the more sensitive affairs in today’s Pakistan that will have a profound impact on politics in relation to the establishment. Mr Zardari has had a go. Now it is up to Mr Sharif to get the balance right.
No experiments, please: Polio cell’s status AFTER placing the Prime Minister’s Polio Monitoring and Coordination Cell under the federal ministry for national health services, regulation and coordination in late May, the decision has apparently been reversed by the caretaker government. The move to de-link the cell from the prime minister’s office was criticised by various quarters, including the World Health Organisation and Unicef. The cell, established by the former PPP government in 2011, was apparently doing useful work in the fight against polio. Though the battle is far from won polio cases in the country came down by around 70 per cent in 2012 as compared to 2011, while some estimates suggest that the number of cases recorded this year so far is also less than the number in the corresponding period last year. Hence such indecision on part of the state — throwing this key anti-polio cell back and forth between government bodies — is troubling, all the more so as it caught many stakeholders off guard.. While health is a devolved subject, some sort of national coordination is needed considering the challenge polio poses and the fact that it is an inter-provincial problem. In fact, due to our inefficiency in tackling polio Pakistan is considered an ‘exporter’ of the crippling ailment to parts of Asia and Africa. It is the new elected government’s call whether to keep the polio cell under the PM’s office or to make some other arrangement. However, it must be kept in mind that any decision should be taken after thorough consultations with all stakeholders — the provinces, multilateral donors and experts. Also, it must be ensured there are no hiccups in the immunisation programme due to bureaucratic shuffling. The simple fact is that Pakistan cannot afford to indulge in experiments where polio is concerned.
Democracy speaks: No room for dictators ON cue from Mahmood Khan Achakzai’s speech in the National Assembly on Monday, a sentiment is resonating in the country for the establishment of a solid democratic order free of dictators and their cohorts among politicians. The PkMAP chief wanted political parties to shut their doors forever on those who have betrayed democracy. The underlying desire in parliament is for the politicians to be allowed to run the affairs of the country — a job for which they are elected by the people and for which it is ultimately the electorate that must hold them accountable. The country’s first smooth transition from one elected government to another is a good occasion for making this vow. While in Mr Achakzai’s case, it may also establish his independence soon after his party’s support for the PML-N in the interest of Balochistan, the sentiment itself should reassure Pakistanis. Betrayed frequently, they will need to be constantly told that the change towards democracy is for real and permanent. . This call for respect and supremacy of the popular mandate is as much a celebration of the positives that Pakistan has finally been exposed to as it is a warning to old interventionists and their easy allies among the politicians. It could be further interpreted as a sign of caution to any individual and group against exceeding their constitutional authority at the cost of parliament. No less significant is the message inherent in it for the politicians. The real empowerment through a continuation of democracy must put greater responsibility on the shoulders of the politicians and leave them with fewer excuses for not delivering. The voices against dictators and their accomplices did make some uncomfortable in a house “full of people who had supported” Gen Pervez Musharraf. But it should be seen more as a mission statement than a lament and a complaint. In effect, it was a call for a charter of democracy whose aims were not dissimilar to the famous charter signed by Ms Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif in London in May 2006. Clearly, Mr Achakzai was looking to create a broad base for making a joint pro-democracy statement. Responses to the idea will vary from party to party, from the treasury to the opposition, from those who made compromises in the past to those who must continue to make them now. Consensus will take time and it is the closing of the gaps between various positions that will determine the distance that Pakistani democracy has covered so far.
Turkish unrest: Excessive use of force by police WITH a left-leaning trade union representing a quarter million workers joining the protest movement, it is difficult to agree with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the stir in his country is dying down. Even though he went ahead with his Morocco visit to show confidence in his administration’s ability to ride out the storm, his government is paying the price for the excessive use of force by the police. The protest against a development project in the heart of Istanbul was initially peaceful; it turned violent when the police fired teargas shells and burnt the protesters’ tents. Matters then went out of control in Istanbul, with demonstrations spreading to other cities. What, thus, was an innocuous local protest acquired a political and nationwide anti-Erdogan character. . Even though his Justice and Development Party (AKP) has won three general elections consecutively and enjoys a majority in parliament, Mr Erdogan has of late been accused of showing authoritarian tendencies. He also seems to have discarded the caution he initially exercised while dealing with Turkey’s deeply entrenched and powerful secular establishment. He has moved quite fast in such matters as abortion, scarves, alcohol sale and public display of affection, and in that process annoyed a cross-section of Turkey’s middle class. What is important to note, however, is that last week’s protests were a non-political, leaderless and harmless expression of dissent against a park demolition. The trade union’s decision to join the protest has obviously given the stir a political touch, with Mr Erdogan blaming the opposition Democratic People’s Party for instigating the riots, which have so far cost two lives. Nevertheless, Mr Erdogan is right when he pooh-poohs the ‘Turkish spring’. A ‘spring’ of the kind seen in the Arab world was a reaction against decades of brutal and corrupt military dictatorships. Turkey is a democracy. The protesters may have several reasons to release their pent-up anger, but the method should be peaceful and democratic. The best course for the malcontents should be to vote out the AKP government in the next elections.
A wake-up call: PTI leader’s assassination THE murder of Fareed Khan, a PTI provincial lawmaker in Hangu on Monday, is a brutal reminder of the challenges the party faces as it begins its rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The legislator was gunned down along with an associate while leaving his vehicle. As of now the motives behind Mr Khan’s murder are not clear. Though he was elected as an independent and later joined the PTI, Fareed Khan was also said to have links with sectarian outfit Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat. Hence there may be a sectarian angle to the killing as communal violence is not uncommon in Hangu. But it has also been reported that the slain lawmaker had been receiving threats from a TTP faction and a local leader of the militant outfit has been arrested in connection with the murder. While only a proper investigation can uncover the motive behind the killing, the MPA’s murder highlights the considerable task of maintaining law and order in KP.. In essence the honeymoon is over for the PTI-led provincial government as it now faces the stark reality of tackling militancy. While the ANP has borne the brunt of the militants’ bloody campaign over the past few years, the extremists are not averse to targeting individuals with similar ideology. In the past Maulana Fazlur Rehman has escaped assassination attempts while in May militants bombed an election meeting of JUI-F candidate Muneer Orakzai in Kurram. Militancy is a complex phenomenon and simply stating that dialogue with the insurgents will end the violence is naïve. The MPA’s murder should serve as a wake-up call to the PTI and other parties who believe the militants can be won over simply by inviting them to the negotiating table. The reality of tackling the militant threat is much more complicated.
Three is history: Mr Sharif returns — cautiously THE tables have turned. Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif is back in the prime minister’s chair and Gen Pervez Musharraf is under arrest and facing trial. Mian Sahib is the first man to be elected prime minister in the country for a third time. He is unparalleled as a Pakistani head of government ousted in a military coup and brought back by popular vote. There may be more reasons why the occasion needs to be celebrated just as it has to be marked with some solemn vows.. In his speech after his election in the National Assembly by an overwhelming majority, the new prime minister made a conscious effort to build on this reputation as a politician who has undergone the course and has learnt. He solicited political consensus, his emphasis on the economy in accordance with the PML-N’s line since its victory in the May 11 elections. He spoke of merit, about economic and social mobility manifest in his promise to have a train run between Khunjerab and Gwadar and before that he talked about respecting the mandates given to political parties. Nevertheless, it was clear that there are a few issues which he is not ready to take up as yet. Mr Sharif did not address terrorism and his mention of the drones was too cautious and too fleeting a remark to qualify as a statement of intent, let alone one of policy. It was a mild protest, a polite complaint, a question left hanging in the air. China in Gwadar was easier to handle and it did elicit a word of praise from the new incumbent for the previous government which had handed over the port’s management to the Chinese. The supremacy of democracy, a call for consensus, the protest against the drones, the respect for popular mandates — the themes were not out of the routine. Five years ago, the stress was on reconciliation, on the need to shape a national policy on many issues. Those who spoke after Mr Nawaz Sharif’s speech in the assembly on Wednesday did highlight some of the issues where consensus is hard to achieve: law and order in Karachi and elsewhere, and lack of local governments, which was a big subject missing from the first address of a prime minister aspiring to empower people as were energy and terrorism. The new prime minister’s promise in dealing with these problems lies not so much in the numbers he has by his side but in the belief about the security and resultant maturity of the elected collective. Politicians will err and then correct their mistakes, so long as they have the time and the security of tenure.
Inside job: Convicts operating from prison THE Sindh High Court chief justice’s recent observation that convicts on death row are operating their networks from within jails is worrying. Though many familiar with the state of the criminal justice system in Pakistan will say this is old news, it is still a matter of grave concern that terrorists and hardened criminals can operate with impunity right under the noses of jail staff. Perhaps the most high-profile case in this regard was that of militant Omar Saeed Sheikh who, while incarcerated in Hyderabad jail, placed a hoax call through his mobile phone to this country’s president and army chief following the 2008 Mumbai attacks. In another incident, a raid on Karachi jail in 2011 yielded mobile phones and drugs from prisoners, some of whom were linked to militant outfits. Yet the problem is not limited to Sindh. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, for example, jailed militants reportedly maintain contacts with accomplices on the outside while kidnappings are also said to be organised from inside prisons. Jail authorities are hesitant of taking action, fearing reprisals from militants.. As it is, the conviction rate in Pakistan is miserably low. It is unnerving that even the small number of terrorists and criminals that do end up behind bars are able to carry on with their activities with relative freedom. That convicts can carry on like this without the knowledge and connivance of prison authorities beggars belief, and that is why the onus for putting a stop to such activities lies squarely on prison administrations’ shoulders. Pakistan’s jails are overcrowded and ill-managed, while corruption within the jail authorities is rife. Yet the status quo cannot continue. Failing to arrest and convict terrorists and murderers is bad enough. Allowing those that are caught and convicted to carry on with business as usual from inside jail is simply unforgivable. All provincial administrations need to make a thorough assessment of jail conditions to ensure convicts are unable to carry out criminal activities from within prison.
Good intentions: Fata development plan THE priorities are right. According to a Fata secretariat handout, the financial year 2013-14 annual development plan for Fata places emphasis on the completion of ongoing schemes as well as those with immediate and visible socio-economic benefits, and discourages projects which would have little impact. Unlike many other parts of the country that are also backward, Fata — despite the extension of the political parties act to the area — is still not part of the national mainstream, and international crises on its periphery have added to its misfortunes. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the US-led attack on the Taliban-ruled country, and the wave of militancy that spilled over into Fata in the wake of these events destroyed such industry as it had and threw the tribal people decades back into time. While the degree of militancy varies from one agency to another, the cumulative effect on the entire region is hostile to all development activity.. However, the Fata population in its entirety must not be tarred with the same brush. As last month’s elections have shown, the majority of Fata people and tribal elders are keen to shake off retrogressive attitudes and become part of the mainstream. This arms the federal government and Fata authorities with a moral authority to work for the welfare of the majority and disregard the minority standing between the tribesmen and a better life. Yet, going by the fate of annual development plans over the last few years, it is unlikely that the Fata administration will be able to utilise even half of the nearly Rs19bn allocated for 2013-14, particularly if steps to bring the law and order situation under control are not simultaneously undertaken. Much more concerted efforts are required to bring the area at par with the rest of the country.
The next big moment: Budget looms up ahead WITH the inaugural address behind us, the next big moment when the newly minted government of Nawaz Sharif will speak will be the budget speech. In between there are likely to be various addresses and chats with the press corps, but it is the budget speech where the team will, for the first time, unveil its mettle. It’ll be in the budget speech that we will hear how far its ambitions extend, how much its thinking is out of the box, as they say. All eyes and thoughts are now going to steadily swivel towards the team working on the budget, and the macroeconomic challenges as well as the power crisis, to see what it has come up with. . The immediate danger is that after all the hype, after all the build-up and all the talk of a stable mandate and taking the bull by the horns rhetoric, the government will pull little more than a few rabbits out of its hat on that momentous occasion. A tweak or two to federal excise duties, an adjustment in the sales tax rate or other tinkering will only hasten the day when people start to ask aloud, “what’s the difference between this government and earlier ones?” On the other hand, a bombastic approach, signalled perhaps by an overambitious revenue target and an equally pie-in-the-sky expenditure target, will draw groans of disappointment. People are looking for both from this government: realistic promises as well as solutions to enormous problems. Living up to both ends of this bargain pulls the government in two opposing directions. Therefore, it is important that the planners drawing up the budget realise the complexity of the task they face. They need to slowly dissipate the ballooning expectations, without letting the populace down too hard. Towards this end, they should focus first and foremost on the revenue side and ensure that at least one new revenue measure is introduced to send the message that new ground will indeed be broken in the pursuit of macroeconomic stability. They should also announce the beginning of public sector enterprise reforms, and signal their seriousness by bringing down the allocations for untargeted subsidies. Further, they should use the opportunity to send a signal on normalising trade ties with India. With realistic and visible adjustments on both the revenue and the expenditure side, the government can then claim that its budget will be the benchmark by which to measure its success, and real change may finally be upon us.
Guess who? Shahbaz Sharif in for third term BEFORE a ballot was cast, before the first election speech was made, one thing was clear as crystal: Shahbaz Sharif was on his way to his third term as the chief minister of Punjab. He had absolutely no opposition at a time when the experts were not so sure about the likely composition of some other assemblies after the May 11 polls. Given his trademark emotional statements, one point needing clarification was whether Mr Sharif actually meant it when he said he could opt out of the chief minister’s office and instead take charge of the ministry of power. Once it was duly clarified, there was little in the way of a continuation of the PML-N government in Punjab under the old tried and tested leadership. The formality was completed on Thursday when Mr Shahbaz Sharif was re-elected with a record 300 votes. The chief minister echoed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as he promised to take everyone along. He vowed to persist with his old policies, such as the computerisation of the revenue record, and said his government will invest heavily in education.. By virtue of his previous terms Mr Shahbaz Sharif is best placed to identify and intervene. Proud of his feats and sure of his goals, it would be in his government’s interests, however, that he lives up to his pledge of taking all people and all areas along with him to avoid the re-emergence of allegations about favouritism. Hopefully, this pledge of his signifies greater room for consultancy and reflection in his new term than was the case in the previous one. Even the flagship projects — the Danish schools, Lahore’s metro bus system — should be reviewed coldly before they are expanded and replicated. Militancy is a crucial area requiring some earnest, quick thinking by Punjab. Health, energy and other sectors where the province must have good coordination with the centre should take up less of the energies of CM Sharif now that he has good, brotherly relations with Islamabad.
Apathy towards history: Taxila lab closure NOT many in Pakistan appreciate history, and this attitude has resulted in the neglect of our historical heritage. As reported in this paper, the Taxila Museum’s Archaeological Conservation and Research Laboratory is in bad shape. Set up at a cost of Rs30m, the lab was shut down after the ministry of culture was devolved two years ago. Presently, both the museum and the lab are under the Punjab government’s control. Even while the lab was functioning it suffered chronic staff and expertise shortages. In a rather bizarre example of ad hoc measures, for example, apparently cleaning staff were deputed to look after the museum’s relics in the absence of technically trained staff. The central issue behind such a state of affairs is a neglect of and apathy towards history. There is a general lack of interest in — and perhaps even disdain for — the past. Perhaps that is why no one bats an eyelid when flood victims set up camp on historic burial grounds, or when world heritage sites and ancient artefacts are treated carelessly. In Taxila’s case, beyond neglect of the lab and museum, encroachments and industrial activity around the area are also threatening this essential link to Pakistan’s past.. Where the research lab is concerned, though finances are tight the Punjab government needs to make efforts to restore the facility to working condition and hire staff with the necessary expertise to care for the priceless relics. If there is a shortage of trained experts in Pakistan, people from beyond our borders could be sought and students with an interest in history be trained and equipped to look after our heritage. In the big picture, society needs to change its outlook on history so that we can appreciate our past — and, hopefully, learn from it.
Short on vision: Foreign policy priorities PRIME Minister Nawaz Sharif’s initial despatch to Pakistani diplomatic missions mapping out his government’s foreign policy priorities is a document shorn of ambition and short on vision. Essentially, Mr Sharif has said that his focus will be on economic diplomacy and on stabilising the region on the security front — with a few words, platitudes really, thrown in about relations with the usual countries foreign policy tends to focus on. Perhaps the less-than- invigorating despatch is rooted in Mr Sharif’s decision to, for now, keep the foreign minister’s portfolio with himself and so he would prefer to unveil his major foreign policy initiatives himself at a later date. However, to the extent that the initial despatch is indicative of Mr Sharif and his team’s foreign policy thinking, it appears that a return to first principles is required.. What does the world see first and foremost when it looks at Pakistan? In his note, Mr Sharif has talked about boosting trade, foreign investment and economic cooperation. He has also talked about promoting peace in the region, with specific mentions of the attempted reconciliation process in Afghanistan and the pursuit of “normalcy” in ties with India. All laudable goals, written in Foreign Office-speak, but they miss the point. When the world looks at Pakistan, rightly or wrongly, it tends to see a security threat emanating from this soil. China, the perennial ally, looks to some investment opportunities but always returns to the issue of Islamists traipsing up the Karakoram Highway and into western China, where the rising power’s Muslim population is located. Afghanistan sees a role for Pakistan in the Afghan reconciliation process — largely because it’s tied to its fundamental complaint of Afghan Taliban sanctuaries on this side of the border. India, the central focus of the security state here, worries about another Mumbai, in addition to the original rivalry over Kashmir. The US worries about another 9/11, this time traced back to our tribal areas; the UK fears another 7/7-type attack linked back to Pakistan. Russia worries about Islamist ingress into its zone of influence in Central Asia. The list goes on. The point is that Pakistan has a perception, reality and credibility problem: we have yet to convince the world that we are not a threat to ourselves and it. Until that changes, it will taint every aspect of Pakistan’s foreign policy. While Pakistanis fret over external violations of our sovereignty by external actors, the outside world wonders why we are unable to take on the threat within and re-establish the state’s writ.
What’s the rush? Replicating the MBS IT will take some time before the Lahore metrobus service can be established as an economically feasible project that has provided a lasting solution. For that reason the PML-N government’s plans to go for similar projects in Karachi and Rawalpindi-Islamabad look hasty. That all of Pakistan’s fast-expanding cities need comfortable transport systems goes without saying. But each city’s requirements differ, and the Lahore model cannot necessarily be considered applicable to all. Consider Karachi: countless plans drawn up, approved and even guaranteed funding were abandoned because of bureaucratic sloth or political indifference. A Japanese-aided plan is still there, but it is anybody’s guess whether the scheme to revive the Karachi Circular Railway will see the light of day. Islamabad, which otherwise has many features worthy of a modern city, has no government-run public transport system. This is a matter of shame for all governments and shows the car-bound bureaucratic and political elites’ indifference to the people’s needs. If, therefore, Islamabad’s ‘common’ citizens are to have the benefit of modern transport, all they need are comfortable and fast buses, with subsidised fares. Rawalpindi, too, requires buses rather than a Lahore-type MBS for travel within the city and for links to Islamabad.. There are other cities also — Faisalabad, Multan, Peshawar and Hyderabad — where fast and convenient modes of public transport are conspicuous by their absence. What is to be welcomed, however, is the Planning Commission’s reported decision to include the “notional” cost of Rs30bn for each MBS project in the annual development plan. This undoubtedly shows awareness on the part of the government that it recognises transport as a problem. But there is no room for a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Karachi would be much better served if the KCR revival plan became a reality. Instead of insisting on an MBS, the federal government would do well to ensure that no bureaucratic hurdles are allowed to delay the KCR project, whose first phase is due for completion in 2017.
Challenging the norm: Shahzeb case convictions IN Pakistan the norm is that the rich and well-connected operate as though they are above the law. That is why the sentencing in the Shahzeb Khan murder case is significant. On Friday, an anti-terrorism court in Karachi handed down the death sentence to Shahrukh Jatoi, the main accused, along with Siraj Talpur; the convicts’ families have said they will appeal the sentence. The case made headlines and sparked outrage across the country when young Shahzeb Khan was murdered in December last year after getting into an argument with one of the convicts’ servants, who had reportedly been harassing the victim’s sister. While this newspaper does not support capital punishment, justice has run its course and was not perverted by power and influence. For the impartial dispensation of justice in Pakistan all those who break the law — regardless of their connections or financial might — must be held responsible.. The conviction should also renew the debate on young people — and their handlers — carrying guns in urban Pakistan. Due to the weaponisation of society and the proliferation of armed private guards, schoolyard brawls and rivalries — that in the past usually resulted in cuts and bruises — can today end up with the loss of life. In a case similar to that of Shahzeb, another young man, Hamza Ahmed, lost his life in April when he was reportedly gunned down by an equally young rival’s guard in Karachi over a petty dispute. There needs to be introspection, especially within the upper and upper-middle classes in Pakistan, specifically regarding the value of human life. Pulling out a gun is no way to resolve an argument. This is something parents need to realise and communicate to their children and associated persons — drivers, guards, domestic staff etc.
Columns and Articles
Flawed perceptions By Muhammad Amir Rana ACADEMICIANS, analysts and policymakers in the West are extremely interested in understanding the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). In particular, universities and other academic and policy institutes in the US and the UK encourage students and scholars of Pakistani origin to research and develop their expertise on the group.. The extraordinary focus on the group is based on a widespread perception or fear in the West that the LeT has the potential to become a global terrorist organisation. Some commentators even describe the group as an ‘Al Qaeda in the making’. Certainly, this interest in the LeT has been instrumental in generating extensive research and policy literature on the group. But most of this literature is based on secondary sources, many of which are not even reliable. The Combating Terrorism Centre at West Point has recently published another study on the LeT. Don Rassler and C. Christine Fair are the lead authors of the report titled The Fighters of Lashkar-e-Taiba: Recruitment, Training, Deployment and Death. The study claims that it is more fundamental in focus and tries to establish a link between the group’s internationalism and its local strengths through a study of biographical information extracted from four Urdu-language publications produced by the LeT from 1994 to 2007. The study claims that the LeT’s local activities and infrastructure are and will remain the key source of its strength, even if the group decides to become more active in the international arena. The study comes up with some interesting findings about ages, location, education, family and recruitment of LeT militants. According to the study, the average age when a recruit joins the LeT is about 16.9 years while the militants’ average age at the time of death is 21 years. According to the study, the most common level of non-religious education before entry into the group is matriculation and the majority of the LeT’s fighters are recruited from across Punjab. This particular finding challenges the notion held by many Western and Pakistani scholars that south Punjab is a major militant recruitment base. The study also found that 94pc of militants list Indian-held Kashmir as a fighting front and the districts of Kupwara, Baramulla and Poonch in Indian-held Kashmir account for almost half of all LeT militants’ death since 1989. These results are valid and somewhat endorse previously conducted similar studies. But these are not unique features of the LeT’s militant profile. The same can be applied to other Pakistan-based militant groups such as Jaish-i-Muhammad, Harkatul Mujahideen and Harkatul Jihad-i-Islami (HuJI) etc, which were once engaged in Kashmir and Afghanistan. With regard to family connections, which is a critical feature in the recruitment process, the study concludes that siblings and parents are central characters in the biographies and play important roles in the militants’ entry into LeT. The biographical information, which is the basis for key arguments put forth by the study, is built upon the ‘wills’ of the militants that were frequently published in militant publications. It was compulsory for each recruit to submit his will to his in-charge after the completion of training and selection for jihad. Again, not only the LeT but all other militant groups practised this. The wills were later used to highlight the jihad achievements of militants and ‘martyrs’ with a view to inspiring and recruiting youths. The reliability of militants’ wills published in different militant groups’ periodic publications has always remained in doubt. As writing a will had been a compulsion, most militants would usually reproduce wills previously published in their respective groups’ publications and simply change names and locations. A review suggests that the wills published in the LeT or other groups’ publications were increasingly identical. The details about families were the most unreliable part of these wills. There is credible evidence available to prove such details fake or wrong. In most of the cases, the first recruit from a family had faced serious resistance. Secondly, most militants kept their relationship or association with a militant group secret even from their families. The situation was, however, different after a militant was killed. Families also reacted differently in such situations. While the notion of martyrdom gave a sense of pride and exaltation to certain middle-class families, for lower-income groups the death of siblings offered enhanced interaction with militant groups and also financial benefits. In many cases, these factors also encouraged parents to send their other offspring for jihad. Many families of the dead militants were located in Punjab. Militant groups had not allowed their recruits to try to establish contact with family members, and many families registered complaints that could be found in police stations. Another important aspect of militants’ biographical notes or wills is that these belong to the first generation of militants. Militant groups stopped publishing wills after they faced a second ban in 2003 and resurfaced with different names. In that context using these biographical notes to determine some recent trends does not seem relevant. At the same time, the study reflects a disconnect between analysis and the data used as evidence. The fact is that the post-9/11 scenario and the Lal Masjid saga transformed the characteristics of militants in Pakistan and that has renewed the threat as well. The traditional militant groups including the LeT, Jaish-i-Muhammad and HuJI have also undergone a major transformation. Their breakaway factions have become armies of Al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban. The leaderships of traditional militant groups have lost their grip over the militant infrastructure. To understand the traditional militant groups is essential, but an assessment based on old and obsolete data can compromise the threat perception of practitioners and policymakers. The writer is editor of the quarterly research journal Conflict and Peace Studies. mamirrana@yahoo.com
Bureaucrats or courtiers? By Tasneem Noorani UNTIL some years ago, one reason for joining government service rather than the more paying private sector was that young men wanted the self-respect and security that a government job gave them, rather than being under a seth in the private sector.. But now a government job has come to resemble one under a seth. A reminder of this are headlines that read: ‘Bureaucrats lobby Sharifs for plum jobs: reception tent at Raiwind packed with supplicants’. From the days of ‘brown sahibs’ we have come full circle to the era of darbaris (courtiers). A certain number of darbari civil servants always existed, but now such conditions have been created that the number has swollen to a level where you need a tent to accommodate them. The secretary/inspector general of police was the bastion of power and that is where the buck stopped for the provincial bureaucracy, the establishment secretary and secretary of the ministry for the federal bureaucracy. The chief secretary was supposed to interact with the chief minister and the establishment secretary with the prime minister; they were to ensure not only that the best men were posted to the right jobs but that an officer’s honour and reputation was protected when he took decisions on merit and in good faith. This gave the bureaucracy confidence and respect due to which the public accepted their authority. This is what is needed now. In fact, the government’s writ was on account of the respect and awe that the bureaucracy inspired. When that writ was challenged, it was firmly dealt with, without fear. Decisions taken by the officers were normally not reversed and the officer was confident that his boss would stand by him. In case the officer needed to be rebuked or disciplined, this was done privately so as not to lower his image in the eyes of the public. I remember that as commissioner in Faisalabad division, in one of many anti-encroachment operations we had demolished 103 car showrooms, three-storey high, in Faisalabad city. These had been built illegally and had remained on government land since the last 40 years. It was a dawn-to-dusk operation, using bulldozers and cranes. In another operation, 600 or so shops were demolished on Jhang road, actions which opened the city’s clogged arteries. I informed the chief secretary a night before the operation. There was no fear of the 103 well-connected, rich owners of those car showrooms or the 600 shopkeepers, or the courts; what was being done was in the public interest. I came to no harm. Unfortunately, that kind of confidence is not available to officers currently — for no fault of theirs. They have not been provided the environment, from the very start of their careers, to develop along the right lines. On leaving their training institution, the young, bright, idealistic young men and women are thrown to the elected representatives to find their patrons and godfathers. The senior officers, rather than taking them under their wing and guiding and protecting them, are unfortunately looking for their own patrons and godfathers. So officers at all levels head towards the ‘tents’ of the ministers, chief ministers and the prime minister rather than the waiting room of the chief secretary or their bosses. And you cannot blame them. A silver lining to this dismal and deteriorating state of affairs has been the recent order of the Supreme Court in the Anita Turab case that justiciable reasons will have to be recorded by the government before transferring any officer prematurely. While a brave officer put her career on the block by going to court against the government, one hopes the courts will have their ruling implemented without fear or favour. This matter of prime ministers and chief ministers surrounding themselves with the best and most loyal officers, and leaving the rest of the bureaucracy in the lurch is neither good for bureaucracy nor for the rulers. The latter can only deliver if the bureaucracy delivers and establishes the writ of the state in all sectors. The office of the establishment secretary and the chief secretary should be restored to its old powers, and we should strive to have bureaucrats as servants of the state and not the servants of political parties. The maturity being shown in politics, in recognising each other’s mandate, should also trickle down to the bureaucracy. All officers who held decent posts under previous governments need not be placed on the list of suspects by the new government, unless they are known to flaunt their loyalties. There is also another counterproductive management style that has developed; this is governance that stems solely from the ruler’s priorities. This results in the officers attending only to the numerous, unending priorities of the ruler, leaving them with no time to attend to the public’s routine problems. Because the official is under constant pressure exerted by the ruler to meet deadlines, he has no time for the ordinary public. This causes misery to the public. Everyday affairs that do not fit in with ‘breaking-news’ type of issues comprise 90pc of governance issues in a well-functioning government. Just being available to the public itself is a relief as against being always at the beck and call of the ruler’s office. As we celebrate the continuity of the democratic process, let us also be conscious that there is a need to wind up the tents full of supplicating government servants and restore their honour and self-respect in the interest of the elusive dream of good governance. The writer is former secretary commerce.
A new script By Cyril Almeida AND with it, perhaps now will start to die the conspiracy theories.. As parliament was sworn in, the normality of it all belied a fundamental shift: for the first time ever — and really, ever — a civilian parliament begins its term with the confidence that it will complete its term. And before that, the election that produced this parliament was freer and fairer than most that have come before it. And before that, the election itself happened, on time, on schedule. Neither of the chiefs intervened: not Gen K, not CJ Iftikhar. The US stayed clear and the Brits squeezed Altaf. The Taliban threatened, but didn’t quite wreak havoc — the low-level violence only serving to deny the public the undiluted rejection of the PPP and ANP. And after the election, a mandate was born at the centre — and in Sindh, a chance at redemption; in KP, an opportunity. Balochistan was a black hole but Sharif’s equanimity has rescued some credibility for the un-credible elections there. Why? How did the stars align so — reasonably promisingly instead of visions of the apocalypse? Nobody knows, and perhaps nobody knows because there’s really no one pulling the strings anymore. Ah, but there’s the PTI, still crying conspiracy, swearing an election was stolen from them, by the US, by the army, by the Sharifs. And there is Zardari, sullenly alluding to dark conspiracies by a new kind of establishment. Except no one really believes them. It helps that the Noon-ies are as surprised by their margin of victory as anyone else — conspirators tend to look either smug or defensive. Surprise is a more difficult emotion to fake. If there is a hidden hand, it’s the hand of the people, of Pakistan itself, nudging the country towards something better, or at least a shot at something better. But it’s hard to figure out why. Was it always there, repressed, forced below the surface by a leadership too callow and selfish to let the people show them the way? We don’t have the psephologist to explain, the historian to elucidate, the scientist to postulate. All we have is a hunch that it’s new, an urge to push on, upwards instead of in circles again. Where did it come from? The forces were supposed to be centrifugal, the tendency towards disarray and confusion, the impulse towards passive gloom, the result implosion. A fractured, regionalised electorate was supposed to be the final nail, or just one or two short. But the divisions are neat, and curiously enough, workable. Each gets to play in his own pen and the animus is at a minimum — the provincial devolution ensuring there are enough toys for everyone without necessarily looking at Big Brother Punjab with envy or resentment. If the people are a mystery, and a pleasant one at that, the leadership is a bigger one. Finally, we have leaders who appear to mean what they say. AZ, NS, Gen K, CJ Iftikhar — for five years, all pledged to let the democratic system run and let it lead to wherever the people wanted to take it. Other than Sharif, none seemed credible. And Sharif only seemed credible because it was his turn next. But when his turn has come, Sharif hasn’t put a foot wrong. The campaign was dignified, the controversies few, the concessions to excess minimal. With victory under his belt, there has just been sombreness and seriousness. Before that, Zardari didn’t try to steal the election. He thought he could buy it but when it looked like that wouldn’t work there was no crooked Plan B, no desperation or disruption. The big X factor was supposed to be CJ Iftikhar. But after the RO phase and all the silliness over initial disqualifications, the superior judiciary just quietly went away. The cries of rigging were a godsend for the X factor — grounds to stall the results and wade into the electoral arena. Centre stage beckoned. But nothing. Just silence, much to the chagrin of the aggrieved, some right, most wrong. And Gen K, the chief-for-life, the sponsor of memogate and Tahirul Qadri, the man and the institution with the most to lose were Punjab’s most popular man to return to power — again, nothing. Elections on time, the ISI kept under wraps in Punjab — which alone decides the country’s electoral destiny — and a chief ready to ride into the sunset. Leaders who meant what they said. That will take some time to absorb. The international establishment, led by the US and Britain in Pakistan? The theory was they had too much to lose. The Afghan drawdown is around the corner, a dignified exit necessary. Pakistan looms as the Next Big Problem: Fata a hive of conspiracy against American interests; Punjab’s extremism a worry for Britain struggling with its own Muslim problem. Pakistan was too important to be left to its own devices. The civ-mil imbalance too real and messy to not prefer one over the other or play favourites among the civilians. But, again, nothing. There was no leverage to begin with, yes, no NRO-type deal to imagine and foist off, but there was no attempt to find some either. Left to our devices to choose, by forces internal and external, and then choosing well, or at least clearly. It makes no sense, at least Pakistani sense. Yes, the world hasn’t changed entirely, the transformation isn’t complete, the old order lingers, the challenges extant, disillusionment is likely — but it does feel like we need a new playbook altogether to understand this place. The folk trying to understand Pakistan have to catch up with the people who are Pakistan. And that’s not a bad thing at all. The writer is a member of staff. cyril.a@gmail.com Twitter: @cyalm
The people’s will By Asma Jahangir PAKISTAN was founded in the name of Allah and He in turn has been immensely gracious in pulling the country out of numerous crises. . The 2013 general elections were held despite threats from militant groups and dharna crowds. The harrowing fall of Imran Khan and his recovery saved the country from another tragedy, while his immobility spared the country from a lethal agitation on allegations of electoral rigging. The 2013 elections were a blessing for numerous reasons. The participation of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf roused political parties from their complacency and presented people with another choice. This time the campaign was about issues rather than rants over irrelevant slogans to please power brokers within the country. No one promised to conquer Lal Qila nor lamented that Islam was in danger. Promises to end load-shedding topped the list. Countering terrorism and economic recovery were high on the agenda. Despite huge amounts spent on election campaigns every party vowed to bring in a clean government and accused their opponents of corruption. The people saw through such ploys. Better governance rather than corruption was the issue. The electorate simply expects future governments to make life safer and more comfortable. That is not asking much. The election results had other messages too. The people will punish rulers who perform badly. The electorate wants a change but not more experimentation. They are willing to give political parties a chance to prove themselves but will not allow them to exploit their emotions on the basis of past suffering or be swayed by hollow promises of a utopian future. The constant bickering between the judiciary and the last government took its toll on the country’s progress. Electing the PML-N may, at least, put this confrontation aside. Judges may now exercise the restraint expected of an independent judiciary. Some fear that cosy relations between the PML-N and the judiciary may prove costly, weakening other democratic institutions rather than strengthening them. Mian Nawaz Sharif has a challenging task. It will not be a friendly match. The establishment is bruised and will never surrender to a civilian leader they had unceremoniously dismissed. The transition to democracy is taking root. This will put numerous groups and individuals at the mercy of the people rather than allow them to be beneficiaries of the establishment’s largess, hurting those who’ve always enjoyed the limelight and influence in the absence of democracy. Such elements will continue to conspire for a ‘technocrat’ set-up. They exist in all political parties and surround their leadership. They are often the source of disinformation about their own leaders and for them as well. Sharif will have to remain focused and address the woes of the people, who alone can protect a democratic system. Take the PPP’s example. It was not the National Reconciliation Ordinance that rescued it but the fair-minded people of Pakistan. Once it turned away from the masses they too closed their doors. Sharif will have to take some hard, unpopular decisions to get the country back on track. The most important task is to convert his votes into voltage. The PPP found it an impossible task. The problem worsened, especially when the Supreme Court stopped rental power plants from operating. It threw out the baby with the bathwater. The entire debris has now fallen on the shoulders of the PML-N which will have to cut down on load-shedding and keep the economy afloat. This is not easy but can be modestly accomplished if hard decisions are properly implemented. Patience with dysfunctional governance has run out. Trade and dialogue with India and Afghanistan is critical for early economic uplift. Engagement with the International Monetary Fund for the time being is vital so that better terms are negotiated. International financial support will have to be sought. The support of the military as well as of the US will be required to pursue these policies effectively. They have to be convinced to let the civilians lead the way in building regional peace. Bringing national and global powers on the same page in line with the vision of a civilian Pakistan will be hugely challenging. The PML-N will require exceptional skills to achieve this. No one will be convinced that the route to world peace lies in the hands of Maulana Samiul Haq. It is not that simple. The route to a meaningful dialogue is engagement, reaching a position of strength and then resort to dialogue with clear terms and properly identified interlocutors. We cannot pretend that the militants are simple people who will listen to pleadings or good sense or be swayed by promises of goodies. The PML-N has also to learn to be more tolerant of criticism and less susceptible to flattery. The fire-brigade style of governance will have to be complemented by the long-term strengthening of institutions, including the bureaucracy. The PPP lacked the skills to govern well but it did have some vision in devolving power to the provinces and the will to strengthen parliament rather than retain a powerful president. They were able to hold elections under a neutral caretaker government. In this regard the PPP, despite its ineptness, raised the bar in promoting a democratic culture. The PML-N has no such legacy. Nawaz Sharif played a mature role as leader of the main opposing party and hopefully will continue to promote political tolerance. Balochistan is a worry but discontent is increasingly brewing in Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Kashmir wants independence from the infamous Kashmir Council. Both have to be placated till an eventual solution is found to bring Gilgit-Balistan into the mainstream and to resolve Kashmiri woes. Eventually, it is the honeymoon period that allows governments to set their pace. The PML-N has a marathon session ahead. They had better get on with it or else they too will have to bear public humiliation. The writer is a lawyer and human rights activist.
Video killed the radio star By Hajrah Mumtaz IF we in Pakistan have reason to regret the passing of the glory days of radio, we’re hardly the only ones.. Back in the late ’70s, Woolley and the Camera Club recorded the song ‘Video killed the radio star’, lamenting the end of the golden days of the radio and celebrating singers whose stardom was cut short by the growing popularity of television in the ’50s and earlier ’60s. The song was more famously re-recorded by the British New Wave group The Buggles and went on to top the music charts in several countries. “Pictures came and broke your heart,” sang Trevor Horn in an initially digitally altered voice that gave the ‘telephone’ effect of early television broadcasts. “We hear the playback and it seems so long ago. You were the first one, you’ll be the last one.” In Pakistan, too, we hear the playback and it does seem so very long ago. There are several clips on YouTube — before the poor thing was stopped in its tracks, of course — of old Malika Pukhraaj and Noor Jehan recordings off Radio Pakistan broadcasts, just as those most unabashedly nostalgic amongst us remember them: voices slightly tinny and crackling, floating on the air just as they used to all those decades ago. Listening to them in an age when one is surrounded by all sorts of new music technology, then unimaginable, was quite an experience. (And can I take this opportunity to once again plead for the restoration of YouTube access? I promise, we’ll only listen to the music.) In recent years, what used to be primarily the domain of the Radio Pakistan behemoth has in many instances, particularly in urban areas, been overtaken by FM channels. To their credit goes the fact that they managed to revive a flagging radio listenership and bring new, young audiences into the net. But in terms of many people, what the radio has achieved over the past decade has gone unremarked, with the possible exception of the young men and women who are avid listeners of the music programmes. Yet there’s plenty worthy of remark. Since this is an arbitrary list of work that I subjectively consider meaningful, begin with Radio Pakistan (and its sister, Pakistan Television). During the ’60s and the ’70s, these showcased the best of the talent for writing, acting and music, with a special focus on classical music. (It can, in fact, be argued that they are a significant reason why interest in classical music did not altogether die out in this country in the days when it was under pressure.) Even today, Radio Pakistan is where you are most likely to find programmes of classical music in any appreciable quantity, and where you’ll find the folk and country musicians that, though far away from big-budget (and admirable) focus of undertakings such as Coke Studio or Cornetto Music Icons, are equally deserving of a listenership. Between the public-owned and the independent or otherwise funded radio channels, there is a fair amount of awareness-raising programming. For the rural areas, there have been several efforts to create programming that mixes entertainment with real and vital information. Scripts have been written that weave in hard information on subjects from animal husbandry to health and hygiene, or the existence of basic health units. In my village in the hills, I know several men and women who tune in. On the other side of the coin, in the north-western parts of the country, there have been a handful of radio shows seeking to open minds up to different views on topics from militancy and polio vaccination to tradition. These shows, a mixture of reports and live debates with listeners calling in and commenting, not only initiate a critical discourse about the issues that plague the region but also provide a voice to those that are the primary victims of the violence. During one episode, a woman spoke of losing her son in a bombing. In another, more than 80 people called in to comment on whether the religious leaders of their area were doing enough to promote peace. All this amounts to a praiseworthy body of work. And yet, there is one dimension of radio programming that still remains to be achieved. There is little happening any longer by way of the true radio drama, and while in recent years formats have been reimagined to produce shows that mix scripting with music, for example, or fact with entertainment content, there is little that focuses exclusively on dramatic entertainment content. With ennui of sorts beginning to kick in vis-à-vis (entertainment) television programming, this is an area that simply cries out for attention. There are several advantages to the radio drama format: costs are relatively lower and the reach is very wide. Further, the format could constitute a launching pad for new actors, but more importantly, for sound technicians and scriptwriters who could then feed into the television and film industries too. At the moment, unless a script idea is so solid as to be a predictable success, as a broad guideline television channels tend to not take risks on the untested writers and ideas because of cost concerns. But radio provides a comparatively simple bridge, and a chance to start talking about issues that television shies away from, including extremism or conservatism. In earlier decades, Radio Pakistan broadcast many such dramas; many of the dramas written by persons such as Imtiaz Ali Taj were originally written for radio. But now they’re all in some archive somewhere, gathering dust. If nothing else, can those be re-mastered if required and broadcast again? Can the managers of radio stations look into this niche too? ‘Video killed the radio star’ says, “We can’t rewind, we’ve gone too far.” But that needn’t necessarily be the case. The writer is a member of staff. hajrahmumtaz@gmail.com
Countering the insurgency By M. Zaidi THE Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s recent decision to withdraw the offer of peace talks with the incoming government may not alter the PML-N and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s position. . The two parties have advocated peace negotiations with the militants but it may be worth their while to review a list of policy options to ensure stability and peace in KP and Fata. There are a whole range of choices available in counterinsurgency (COIN) literature. States tend to target insurgent leaders who are at the core of articulating responses to counterinsurgency strategies and perpetrating violence against the state. Since insurgents tend to attack soft civilian targets, state infrastructure and organisations, it is a logical reaction on the part of authorities to dispatch security forces to counter the perpetrators. The process leads to a domino effect; the state attempts to challenge the authority of the insurgents with the display of equal or greater force in order to restore its writ and the confidence of the populace in the state. But this reprisal provokes greater resentment, especially when the state is perceived to be overstepping its bounds. Thus there needs to be a fine balance maintained by the state in its COIN operations amidst the risk of offending the sensibilities of the affected population. The need for ‘fine-tuning’ the COIN campaign is also complicated by the fact that an insurgency may diminish in intensity only after the militant leadership and cadres are more or less entirely eliminated — otherwise it continues to smoulder. Looking at COIN as a strategy that is 80pc political and 20pc military, it is easy to imagine the reverse process on part of the Taliban, who persuade the population that they share their political, economic or religious grievances and the state is against them. Any large-scale reprisals by the state tends to strengthen the idea. Meanwhile, Pakistan cannot afford not to respond to the terrorist threat, as that would give a negative signal to the Taliban to engage in more violence. According to the Small Wars Manual: “Delay in the use of force, and hesitation to accept responsibility for its employment when the situation clearly demands it, will always be interpreted as a weakness.” But force will have to be tempered with measures to reclaim the confidence of the affected populace which has witnessed massive internal displacement and rising instability. An option would be recognition of the Taliban as a party to ensuring peace in the region, which is being done by the US where the Afghan Taliban are concerned and is being talked about in our local context. In the Afghan Taliban’s context, for that to be credible, they would need to project themselves as an Afghan-Pakhtun entity rather than contribute to the perception that theirs is a pan-nationalist Pakhtun-based tribal insurgency with roots in Pakistan or a radical Islamist movement with Al Qaeda linkages. The Taliban insurgency (Afghan and Pakistani) gets its strength from the cementing bond of anti-Americanism, and Pakistan may not be able to escape its label as an ‘American ally’. A consistent theme in the Pakistani COIN is that the anti-America-driven insurgency may get a further boost if Pakistan relies openly on US alignment and support. It could also have the effect of making any subsequent ‘winning hearts and minds’ processes more difficult. Nevertheless, the effort should be to win the hearts and minds of people facing an insurgency in order to demonstrate that the state is serious in its resolve to fight terrorism. It remains to be seen how Pakistan, with its spiralling inflation and economic crunch, will handle this dimension of COIN. It may also be relevant to mention here that it is extremely tempting to attempt a divide and rule regime by offering trade-offs to selected warlords. In the long run, a ‘quick fix’’ is seen as cheaper than attempting socioeconomic reforms on a large scale; perhaps that approach explains Pakistan’s tendency to attempt trade-offs. However, socioeconomic uplift in Fata will pay greater dividends in the long term even if trade-offs are pertinent in the short to medium term; neither approach can be discounted. It is not advisable to rely on the ‘good Taliban’ to restore peace in the area, particularly because the leader in question could lose control of his cadres if he were to appear overtly pro-Pakistani and thus pro-American by default. Jihadist ideals are widespread and deeply entrenched among militant cadres, and warlords who have appeared openly amenable to negotiation have had to swallow their words and re-embrace their anti-state rhetoric to regain some control of their men. Whatever the methods used, Pakistan’s strategists will have to keep public indicators in mind or the insurgency will either enter a protracted phase or emerge in the country’s urban centres where it will smoulder on in the form of a guerrilla campaign. Any measures in COIN that do not cater to a public backlash or recognise the potential for subtle escalation through radicalisation are bound to fail eventually in their long-term goals. The endgame of a COIN regime, which is almost always up against the political, ideological, or economic agendas of the insurgency, is about providing better opportunities to the people. Whoever provides these opportunities wins. The writer is a security analyst.
Perils of appeasement By Zahid Hussain IS there anything such as a ‘moderate terrorist’? That is how the slain leader of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is being depicted by some analysts. . In fact, the most recent high-value target of the CIA drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal regions, Waliur Rehman, masterminded many gruesome militant attacks. To portray him as a moderate or a man seriously seeking peace talks is to play a cruel joke on thousands of innocent victims of terrorism. It was not without reason that Waliur Rehman was on Pakistan’s list of most wanted terrorists; the US had announced a bounty of $5 million on him. His role as the top operational commander of the TTP came to light during the bloody siege of the GHQ in Rawalpindi in October 2009. Intercepted messages showed that the attackers were constantly getting instructions on the wireless from Waliur Rehman. Putting aside the controversy on the legality of the CIA drone campaign inside Pakistani territory, it is a false argument that the strike killing Waliur Rehman was meant to scuttle peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban. Such debates only help Taliban apologists seeking to promote the militant cause. The demand by Maulana Samiul Haq, the self-appointed arbitrator between the next administration and the TTP, that Pakistan should apologise for the killing of Waliur Rehman is shocking. Not surprisingly the TTP has used the killing of its deputy leader as a pretext for withdrawing its so-called peace talks offer. From the outset it was never a serious pursuit for peace by the Taliban. But some political parties took the ruse seriously. The PML-N and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf made the support for peace talks part of their election campaigns. In his first speech to his party’s newly elected members of the National Assembly, Nawaz Sharif reiterated his position that negotiations were the only means to deal with militancy. “Why should we not talk to the Taliban?” he asked his party legislators and then himself replied in the affirmative. While blasting the previous government for not taking the TTP peace talks offer seriously, the new Pakistani leader completely ignored the atrocities the militants have wreaked on Pakistan. No homage was paid to the thousands of Pakistani soldiers who laid down their lives in fighting the militants and securing the tribal regions. Perhaps not to offend the TTP, Mr Sharif did not think it was important to talk about Malala Yousafzai who was shot by them for resisting their retrogressive worldview. The young girl from Swat has now become an international icon of bravery — but maybe not for our new ruling parties. The statement of the new chief minister of the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa declaring that his party “did not have any enmity with the Taliban” was equally pathetic. The statement came as the TTP had mounted at least six terrorist attacks in as many days. There was no condemnation of those attacks by the two most powerful parties now in power in the centre and KP. Such an apologetic position and pampering of the terrorists provides greater space to the militants and divides the nation. By giving the TTP a clean chit the new KP government is setting a very dangerous precedent. A serious concern is that lowering one’s guard and inaction by the provincial government could give the militants the space to regenerate and regain lost ground. One should learn lessons from the Swat peace deals. Soon after coming to power in the province in 2008, the Awami National Party pursued the same policy of negotiations on the militants’ terms with disastrous consequences. The militant commanders released after the peace agreement went back to Swat and killed hundreds of people who had cooperated with the administration and political opponents. Another failed peace deal in 2009 led to a military operation. Therefore the argument that negotiations were not given a chance is false. What is most dangerous is the widening divide between the new political leadership and the military over peace talks with the TTP. Gen Kayani has made it very clear that there could not be any negotiations unless the militants renounce violence and accept the writ of the state. The attitude of the civilian leadership reinforces the perception that it is only the military’s war against militancy and nothing to do with them. This makes for a very dangerous situation where the country’s internal security is concerned. There is no clarity among the parties supporting the peace talks about what is negotiable. The list of the TTP’s demands includes enforcement of its version of the Sharia and changing the country’s foreign policy and national security paradigm. It completely rejects democracy and constitutional authority. Can any state accept those conditions? An oft-repeated argument is that if the Americans are engaging with the Taliban in Afghanistan why can’t Pakistan negotiate with its own militants. This is an extremely ridiculous parallel. There is a huge difference in the two situations. There are no foreign parties in Pakistan — the TTP is not fighting foreign troops. Another apology for militant violence is Pakistan’s so-called involvement in US war in Afghanistan that according to Imran Khan and other political leaders has reinforced the jihadi narrative. It is, perhaps, the most unconvincing argument of all. How is Pakistan involved in the US war, especially when the coalition forces are in the process of withdrawing from Afghanistan? Do Imran Khan and others want Pakistan to support the so-called jihad in Afghanistan? Besides, the TTP are not a monolithic group and numerous TTP and other militant factions are operating in KP with their separate demands and agendas. Many of them are just criminal gangs engaged in crimes ranging from kidnapping for ransom to bank robberies. How are we going to negotiate with each one of them? Perhaps the government does not have a clear answer to this. The writer is an author and journalist. zhussain100@yahoo.com Twitter: @hidhussain
Restoring power supplies By Moazzam Husain TALK of efficient and inefficient power generation plants at this stage is largely a red herring. It detracts focus from the main issue. You cannot run a modern economy without electricity. . Expensive electricity or more expensive electricity is only a question of degree. Either one is better than no electricity. True there is no quick fix, no magic wand, but there is the immediate term and beyond that is the short-term. Apart from rental power there is no immediate fix. Inefficient plants are still cheaper than rental power. Under the present circumstances firing up all boilers would be the best choice. According to Ministry of Water and Power estimates, this would involve a running cost of Rs3.5 billion per day, mostly for fuel supplies. With all thermal plants running, plus the additional hydroelectric power that — with the dams beginning to release water — is being added to the grid each day, the load-shedding can be brought down to about four hours a day. Meanwhile the Planning Commission tells us the other half of the story. Of the Rs3.5bn sought by the Ministry of Water and Power, recoveries from consumers will fetch only Rs2.5bn while Rs1bn would be “lost” every day. Half of this would be in “tariff differential” — which is the difference between production cost and selling price — and the other half in line losses and outright pilferage. This is how a billion rupees get added to the mountain of circular debt each day. A sharp increase in electricity rates is therefore unavoidable. The public must be informed that prices will have to go up before they can come down, that is if they can be brought down at all by means of a more favourable fuel mix. Using a combination of tariff increases, better management of the utility companies and discriminate (as opposed to across the board) load-shedding, it is possible to minimise, if not eliminate, the Rs1bn daily losses. This can be achieved in the short term. While referring to the power bureaucracy the caretaker minister for water and power was recently heard saying that he had not seen such corruption and incompetence in his whole life. In other words, nothing short of a massive purge here would work and this would need to be coupled with bringing in a clean and efficient top management for all the generation companies, distribution companies and the National Transmission & Despatch Company. That too would be an interim solution, pending privatisation. Another required feature of this new management is for it to be pro-privatisation, which will be their main brief. Finally, if the brunt of load-shedding is made to fall on distribution zones with poor revenue recovery, then that measure can contain losses. The suggested approach has three payoffs. One, elimination of the Rs1bn daily losses means a steady power supply which is also economically sustainable. Two, the additional electricity brought into the system is the (presently scarce) factor of production that is most needed for economic revival. Three, it frees the government’s energy team from firefighting, to focus on the more fundamental issues of carrying out reform and enhancing generation capacity. As the lights come back on we can begin to talk about plant efficiencies. The public-sector plants offer the greatest opportunity for efficiency enhancement. This is achieved by retrofitting them with more aerodynamic turbines and with combined cycle technology. Because these initiatives aim to squeeze out more electricity from the same quantity of fuel, they offer a high return on investment and find willing financiers. On the other hand, we are hearing a lot of talk of coal-power generation. As I’ve cautioned in my article on April 28 ‘Will load-shedding end?’ this route has its challenges — not least among which is raising international financing given that coal is this century’s villain in a world where climate change is a major worry. In addition, building a coal supply chain requires extraordinary backhaul and logistic capabilities. To put things in perspective, the daily coal requirement of a 500-megawatt power plant is around 4,000 tons. If this is imported coal it equates to a train — a diesel locomotive pulling 30 wagons — leaving the seaport for the power plant every eight hours. If this is local coal it involves 150 large-sized dump trucks each day from mine mouth to plant, and a mining and engineering infrastructure in place that can steadily deliver coal in such quantities. These are continuous logistical operations on a scale that is unprecedented in Pakistan. Getting to this stage may take a few years and the proposal is not something that can be seriously considered for the short-term. Nevertheless, a short-term coal challenge for the government may be to rehabilitate the Lakhra coal-fired power plant for which local coal is available from nearby mines. Beyond that it can pick up the Karachi Electric Supply Company’s coastal Bin Qasim plant as a candidate for coal conversion. Another good starting point is to look at the projects in the pipelines of the Private Power and Infrastructure Board, the Water and Power Development Authority and the Alternative Energy Development Board. From here it can identify the dozen or so thermal, hydro and wind power projects that are closest to fruition and where government intervention may be able to help bring some of the commissioning dates forward. All these of course are stop-gap measures, which if not accompanied by energy-sector reforms will unravel quickly. Another hard one to swallow is that there is a world market for energy prices, from which Pakistan cannot remain immune. Instead of resisting that reality, the sooner we come to terms with it, the sooner we’ll be able to find a way out of our energy troubles. The writer is a strategist and entrepreneur. moazzamhusain.com
Balochistan’s fighting chance By Nazish Brohi AFTER ages, there is a note of jubilation in the discussions on the future of Balochistan. Till about a year ago, many were convinced it didn’t even have a future. . The change is the nomination of the National Party’s Dr Abdul Malik Baloch as chief minister. He will be the first ever Baloch chief minister not embedded in the structure and from an educated, middle-class background. His credentials as a guard of the province’s interests are apparent in his growth through the ranks of the Baloch Students Organisation, the earlier leadership of the Balochistan National Movement, the foresight of merging with the National Democratic Party to form the NP, and the issues he unflaggingly raised in the Senate during his term. Credit is due to Nawaz Sharif for the statesmanship displayed in dealing with the assertive claims to the post made by the leadership of his own party, and placing at the helm someone who was previously a political opponent. It was a potentially fractious, hence bold political decision. The nawab of Jhalawan, Sanaullah Zehri, showed political maturity in accepting it and standing by the decision after his own strident claims and not quitting in a huff. Had Sardar Mengal agreed earlier to an electoral alliance with the NP, it would have been the crowning triumph. Since the 2002 elections when Gen Musharraf’s regime ushered the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal into power, the Baloch nationalist groups have been on the defensive and outside the electoral fold. The rising power of the religio-political alliance was at the cost of the nationalists. Their return to the electoral fold under a non-tribal steered leadership is significant. This should have been the PPP’s moment. But the party squandered it in the same manner it did many others, by first showing long-term vision and making important structural changes, but then offsetting these with immediate-term governance disasters. Dr Malik’s present nomination would have been a symbolic but politically ineffectual change of face had it not been preceded by the 18th Amendment and the consensually reformulated NFC award. It is devolution of powers and substantive budgets that will give this government political potency. In that sense, the PPP paved the way for this historic opportunity, but negated its own potential by putting forward the inept nawab of Sarawan, Aslam Raisani, as its chief minister and the party’s political face in the province. This will remain as the outgoing government’s imprint, not President Asif Zardari’s apology to the Baloch people for historic grievances, and not the unimplemented but well-crafted Aghaaz-i-Haqooq-i-Balochistan package. Dr Malik now has the democratic mandate to rule, the support and goodwill of the central government, significant fiscal space and financial resources for development via devolution, the ability to take and execute decisions affecting the province, and the credibility to do so. The proverbial spanner, or in this case, slammer in the works could be the role of the security establishment. The numbers of enforced disappearances attributed to the state vary wildly, with the outgoing home minister citing 55 and the Voice of the Baloch Missing Persons organisation saying 13,000, whereas former interior minister Rehman Malik acknowledged there to be 1,100. Whatever the realistic count, the effect this practice has had has eclipsed Baloch narratives and produced immense hostility, fear and insecurity to the point that even those who disagree with the tactics of the sarmachar (as the nationalist armed fighters are called), concede that breaking away may be the only survival option. Continued forced disappearances and recovery of tortured dead bodies as seen over the past five years, would invalidate any perceived forward steps and reassert the image of a predatory and repressive establishment. There are signs that there may be a change in this policy as well. The Frontier Corps remain the most reviled of state institutions in Balochistan, along with the proxy death squads attributed to them. Yet in post-election interviews, people I spoke to say there was no explicit or implicit coercion to vote for any particular candidate or party by the security apparatus. If anything, they say they were compelled by the sarmachar not to vote. While the voter turnout remained relatively low, there was no evident political intrusion by state agencies. According to some people’s accounts, while dumped bodies are still being found, there has been a decline in the number of ‘new disappearances’ over the past few months. This cannot be verified because the disappearances are not recorded, as when they happen the police refuse to register FIRs against the FC or security agencies and the media often blocks out such news. For the new government to have a chance at healing wounds and ruptures with the state, it is imperative that the political victimisation and kill-and-dump policy halts. Without this, no change is possible and Balochistan will remain poised on the brink. Even if disappearances do end, it will not resolve all the problems. As in any conflict zone, the general law and order breakdown has led to a phenomenal increase in crime such as kidnappings for ransom and a near-complete collapse of the provincial economy. This doesn’t even begin to touch upon the Hazara killings crisis and the impunity with which the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi has been able to operate. The incoming government has to also panic about the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, the political face of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi being able to poll over 20,000 votes for the National Assembly from within Quetta city under the umbrella of the Muttahida Deeni Mahaz. In others places in the province, people have been able to get elected into parliament with much fewer votes. However small and incremental a step, the nomination of new leadership has given Balochistan breathing space and a fighting chance that it hasn’t had for a decade. The writer conducts research and analysis in the social and development sector. nazishbrohi.nb@gmail.com
The Guantanamo problem By Najmuddin A. Shaikh IN my last article I had promised to analyse what President Barack Obama had to say about Guantanamo.. There are two aspects to this part of his speech, the first relating to Guantanamo becoming, in Obama’s words, “a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law” and the second the effect his call for Congress “to lift the restrictions on detainee transfers from Guantanamo” will have on our region. Obama’s carefully crafted message was designed to reassure the American public that closing Guantanamo would remove the “stigma” on a nation that took pride in being a “nation of laws” rather than one that flouts the law, would not in the process endanger national security and would save money. At a time when sequestration was cutting the budgets of government departments, he made the telling point that some $150 million were being spent annually to hold 166 prisoners and that the Department of Defence had proposed a further expenditure of $200m to keep the facility in running order. This, he implied, was money that could and should be saved. Obama proposed that with the closing of Guantanamo, the prisoners who had to be held could be transferred to high security prisons in the US and reminded his audience that no one had ever escaped from such a facility. Recalling that hundreds of terrorists, many more dangerous than the Guantanamo detainees, had been convicted by American courts, he said that every detainee would have the right of judicial review and that for this purpose the Department of Defence had been asked to designate a venue in the US where military commissions could be set up. As regards those prisoners whose involvement in terrorism was known but whose trial would be problematic because the evidence against them would be deemed inadmissible in court, he offered no concrete solution but expressed the confidence that “this legacy problem can be resolved, consistent with our commitment to the rule of law.” This relates for the most part to the prisoners against whom evidence was obtained by torture either within the US or during extraordinary renditions. It is difficult to figure out how this “legacy problem” can be resolved. From Pakistan’s perspective and from the perspective of this region, the most important element of Obama’s speech was the decision to resume the transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo to other countries. First, he said: “I am lifting the moratorium on detainee transfers to Yemen so we can review them on a case-by-case basis. To the greatest extent possible, we will transfer detainees who have been cleared to go to other countries.” The background to this as far as one can gather from press reports is that there are some 57 Yemeni detainees that have been cleared but whose transfer was blocked because of concerns that they would not be suitably handled in their home country. Apparently with the new government in Yemen, the Americans have more confidence that those released will not want to or be able to join the ranks of the terrorists. Second, he announced the appointment of a new senior envoy at the Department of State and the defence department “whose sole responsibility will be to achieve the transfer of detainees to third countries.” He recalled that some 530 prisoners were transferred in the Bush era and another 67 during his own presidency before Congressional restrictions were imposed. As was done at that time, one can assume that the new senior envoy will negotiate with the government of the country to which the prisoners are transferred with reference to how these returnees will be treated and what freedoms they will enjoy. There have been frequent reports, triggering Congressional concern, that many of the Afghans released during the Bush era promptly rejoined the Afghanistan Taliban movement and did so after having been indoctrinated by diehard Al Qaeda detainees in Guantanamo. It is my feeling that even while detainees from elsewhere in the Islamic world may secure release easily, Afghan prisoners may have a harder time given the American suspicion that Karzai’s administration and the Afghan judicial system would not enforce any restrictions on the returning detainees. I believe, however, that whatever the restrictions on the transfer of other Afghan prisoners, this does open up once again the possibility of the exchange of prisoners between the Taliban and the US. Before it collapsed, following the disclosure of what were meant to be secret Taliban-US talks by the Karzai administration, the deal that was being crafted would have involved the release of five Taliban prisoners held in Guantanamo to Qatar — probably to become part of the Taliban negotiating team — in exchange for the one American soldier the Taliban were holding. It was hoped that this prisoner exchange would be followed by a formal Taliban renunciation of ties with international terrorist organisations and even to a commencement in one form or the other of intra-Afghan talks for reconciliation. While there may be Congressional opposition to the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the American mainland and to other facets of the Obama proposal, I believe there will be support for the transfer of the five Taliban to Qatar. But will this be enough? The Karzai administration remains adamantly opposed to the use of the proposed Taliban office in Doha for anything other than discussions between the Taliban and the Karzai government. The Americans at the president’s level have endorsed this position in the Jan 11 joint statement. The question is, will the Americans now be able to get Karzai to change his mind? Alternatively, will they be willing to further jeopardise their current tenuous relationship with Karzai and go ahead with the prisoner exchange? If the Americans want to set the process of reconciliation in motion before the 2014 withdrawal they must, despite the inherent risks, do one or the other because currently it seems that the Taliban factions desiring reconciliation cannot move forward unless this prisoner exchange is effected. The writer is a former foreign secretary.
Turning point for Turkey? By Mahir Ali My eyes can’t get enough of the trees — They’re so hopeful, so green — Nazim Hikmet (1948) IT was very much in “Crisis? What crisis?” mode that Turkey’s prime minister embarked this week on a scheduled trip to North Africa.. Cancellation or postponement might have been perceived as a sign of weakness and Recep Tayyip Erdogan is clearly in no mood to properly acknowledge the unexpected challenges that have sprung up at home. He has dismissed a week of burgeoning protests, mainly in Istanbul and Ankara but with echoes in dozens of smaller towns, as the activism of malcontents spearheaded by “extremists”. He has hinted darkly at external influences without naming any country, possibly to pre-empt accusations of implausibility, while decrying modern methods of communication. “There is now a menace called Twitter,” he declared without any hint of irony. “The best examples of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society.” It is unlikely Erdogan would have endorsed such a sentiment had it been expressed by, say, Hosni Mubarak in early 2011, given that social media was deemed to have played a significant role in mob-ilising the popular upsurge that supposedly blossomed into the Arab Spring. Erdogan posited Turkey as an ideal model for the unfolding Middle Eastern transformation. It could no doubt be argued that, for a variety of reasons, Taksim Square does not fall into exactly the same category as Tahrir Square. Yet there are resemblances, too. Turkey certainly isn’t the kind of autocracy Egypt had morphed into under 30 years of Mubarak’s rule: Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) has won three consecutive — and ostensibly fair — elections. Yet the prime minister’s authoritarian streak has increasingly been in evidence, and his efforts towards introducing a new constitution that would usher in a presidential system, enabling him to make the transition from head of government to executive head of state via a direct election next year, account in part for the growing popular consternation towards him after a decade in office. It is also worth noting that one of the reasons Twitter has lately served as a primary source of news in Turkey is that the mainstream media is considered unreliable. Television channels reportedly continued to broadcast cookery shows while the police were brutally tackling protesters on the streets of Istanbul, and newspapers are broadly divided between those owned by AKP allies or cronies, and others that habitually resort to self-censorship amid regular intimidation by the authorities. Last year, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists noted that 61 Turkish journalists were in prison — a higher number than in Iran or China — and cited Turkish press freedom groups as saying that up to “5,000 criminal cases were pending against journalists at the end of 2011”. Last week’s protests began with a relatively small and peaceful demonstration against a plan to bulldoze 606 trees in Gezi Park, reportedly one of the few remaining green spots in Istanbul, in order to construct a shopping mall modelled on Ottoman-era barracks as well as a mosque. It spiralled into something much bigger largely as a spontaneous response to police action, eventually bringing out in force various segments of society resentful of Erdogan’s rule — and sparking mobilisations elsewhere across the country. Although the police were withdrawn from Taksim Square for a day or so, the use of teargas and water cannon accounted for innumerable injuries. As of yesterday morning, two deaths had been reported. The AKP government has been credited with presiding over reasonably steady growth and ambitious infrastructure projects, but there is a dark side to the latter aspect with reports of corruption amid disrespect for Turkey’s architectural heritage. “Again and again, people have protested the destruction of some historical building or the construction of some shopping centre,” Elif Batuman writes in The New Yorker. “Again and again, the historical building has been destroyed and the shopping centre constructed.” The AKP and Erdogan have also accumulated kudos for blunting the Turkish army’s capacity for political intervention, which once periodically thwarted progress towards democracy. The military also saw itself as a protector of Turkey’s secular traditions, and many of the liberals who appreciated its return to the barracks have also been alarmed by what they see as the creeping Islamisation of society. “We don’t want to become Iran,” has been among the opinions heard during the past week. The BBC’s Paul Mason commented on the weekend that “the breadth of popular support” he witnessed “within the urban enclave of Istanbul” was broader than what he had seen at the Syntagma protests in Greece and “closer to Egypt”, and suggested it could be “the Turkish Tahrir” if “the workers join in”. On Monday, the Kesk trade union confederation, which represents 11 unions, announced a two-day strike as a protest against “state terror”. It does not necessarily follow, of course, that this is the beginning of the end for Erdogan, who is acknowledged to be the most powerful politician Turkey has seen since Kemal Ataturk. But his future could depend to a considerable extent on whether he can moderate the arrogance that has lately led him to make threats instead of contemplating judicious compromises. The ongoing unrest is a warning, loud and clear, against his tendency to ignore the opinions of those who do not support him. Based on the last election results, that means roughly half the population. Some analysts suggest his Putin-esque presidential ambitions have already become unrealisable. That may well be so, but the popular momentum for change demands other concessions. A relentlessly confrontationist approach on the part of the authorities will only clog up the avenues for peaceful progress. mahir.dawn@gmail.com
War, peace and the Constitution By Rafia Zakaria NEARLY all the victors of Pakistan’s recent elections wish to make peace with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).. Peace has been touted as the only way security can be provided. Soon after he was elected, Mian Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the PML-N, announced that pursuing such negotiations would be at the top of his agenda in the upcoming months. Leaders of various religious parties proffered themselves as brokers of this promised peace, all lining up eagerly for the job. At first the TTP seemed eager as well. Some of their amenability to such a project had been proven already by their agreement with many of Pakistan’s political parties regarding elections in Upper and Lower Dir. The agreement, which prevented women from voting in those areas, was adhered to by all, suggesting that deals were indeed possible and that both sides could keep their word. Such was the situation until the sun set this past Wednesday. Most people know what happened: a CIA drone strike killed TTP leader Waliur Rehman, who had a $5 million bounty on his head. His death soured the climate; the TTP leadership, petulant and annoyed, immediately withdrew from their position. In the explicit terms of these recent happenings, the Taliban’s petulance seems to be the biggest obstacle to peace. If the TTP refuses to come to the table, Pakistan’s new political leaders are left twiddling their thumbs, leaving an impasse regarding who would control the terms of the compromise that everyone seems to think is necessary. Transitional justice, then, is the order of the day, to end a conflict that has taken thousands of lives and left the country in the disarray created by constant crisis and unceasing trauma. In examples of conflicts past, when violence becomes so debilitating and life so unnerving and interrupted, the time for peace is ripe. This is when people are most amenable to compromise, most likely to give up what they would never have otherwise. However, while peace is a great idea and a venerable one, the compromises on which it must be built are not without their own parameters. Although political parties acting independently may have been free to broker a collective compromise with the TTP, their leaders — now representatives of the state — cannot do the same. Take for instance the agreement in Dir, which was an example of the sort of compromise the TTP may be interested in. As per the terms of the agreement, the participating political parties agreed that female voters would not take part in the elections in Upper and Lower Dir. In effect, this meant that none of these parties would bring out women to vote for their candidates. The agreement worked and there was no violence in Dir on that eventful Saturday of polling. An agreement like the one in Dir is, however, unconstitutional. Article 25 of the Constitution of Pakistan clearly states “(i) All citizens are equal before law and entitled to equal protection of the law and (2) there shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex.” And this is not the only provision that would preclude the terms of Pakistan’s peace from being brokered on the backs of women. Article 26 further ensures that Pakistani citizens cannot be discriminated against in their “access to public space” of a non-religious nature. The agreement that was reached for Upper and Lower Dir implicates both provisions, making it a violation of the very basic principles outlined in the Constitution. Some of these objections are already being raised. On 28 May, 2013, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court in Islamabad seeking, under Article 184(3), a declaration against any peace negotiations. Specifically, the petition requested the court’s opinion on whether a private citizen can negotiate with a private army, and further whether the armed forces can similarly negotiate a peace with rebels or private armies regarding a cessation of hostilities. The petition alleged that, since the armed forces were in conflict with the TTP, no private citizen could negotiate peace with the group. A day after the petition was filed, however, it was returned by the SC registrar on the grounds that the petitioner, Shahid Orakzai, did not have the locus to file the petition. Mr Orakzai has stated that he will appeal and hopes to re-file the case. Regardless of whether this particular petition proceeds, similar constitutional challenges could well be filed in the SC if a brokered peace involves similar restrictions on the rights of women and minorities. The right to equal treatment, access to public space, and the right to an education under Article 25(a) of the Constitution are all likely to be implicated if the peace brokered with the TTP involves an abridgment of the rights of women or any citizen. Peace is indeed a venerable and valid goal for any country ravaged by war, Pakistan even more so given its lack of resources to fight such a conflict and the external meddling that has defined its parameters. At the same time, at this juncture, it is important to be conscious of the temptation to construct peace on the aching, bended backs of the weak. In Pakistan, women are not organised in a way that could resist these incursions on their already limited freedoms. In turn, their elimination from public spaces and educational institutions would be just the sort of overt expression of social control that would appeal to the TTP. In specifically ensuring equality, access and education in its text, the Constitution has sought to avoid just such a scenario. Its provisions have been largely ignored when Pakistan has been at war; perhaps they can deserve a little more consideration as the nation moves toward peace. The writer is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy. rafia.zakaria@gmail.com
Hope for Balochistan? By I. A. Rehman WILL Nawaz Sharif’s laudable decision to choose for Balochistan’s chief ministership a Baloch from outside his party revive hope for tranquillity, good governance and progress in that much misunderstood and persistently wronged federating unit?. To a considerable extent, Pakistan’s future will depend on what answer we get to this question. The PML-N chief has opted for the best possible way, in the given situation, to restore the Baloch people’s confidence in realising their democratic rights through constitutional means. The National Party’s commitment to the cause of Baloch nationalists is well known. Also known is Dr Abdul Malik Baloch’s skill in the art of the possible. During the discussion on the proposals for the 18th Amendment, he did not curtail his people’s demands but also showed flexibility in settling for less. He should be in a better position than the other coalition partners to influence the Baloch elements that have lost faith in parliamentary democracy. One would have been happier if Sardar Akhtar Mengal had been a party to the consensus-making process. Even now it should be possible for him to put his personal/party unhappiness aside and help a broad-based Baloch effort at securing the community’s advancement. Mian Nawaz Sharif’s decision is not only in favour of the National Party, it is also in the interests of his party’s Balochistan wing; the latter will not be responsible for the trials the new provincial government will doubtless face. More than anything else it is an offer of accommodation to the entire people of Balochistan. If this view is accepted by all coalition partners they may succeed in burying the tradition of factious and divisive politics in their land. The difficult nature of Dr Malik’s task can hardly be exaggerated. He will be able to make a good start only by ensuring that his cabinet functions as a team united in the pursuit of shared objectives. This will need the fullest possible understanding not only among Baloch representatives, regardless of their inter party differences, but also with the Pakhtun community. Baloch-Pakhtun relations have been under strain for several decades and they need to be repaired on the basis of justice and equity. Things should start improving if the new government can remove the impression that a Baloch-dominated assembly cannot do justice to the Pakhtun belt in the areas of services, economic opportunities and social welfare entitlements. It is good that the Balochistan Pakhtuns have reposed trust in a strong party of their own. The latest election has been much better than the preceding one. The assembly elected in 2008 suffered from a lack of legitimacy because the nationalist parties and some other groups had boycotted the contest. While the new assembly will be free of that stigma, it will have to prove by its deeds that despite the absence of proper polling and low turnout in Baloch territory, it has the capacity to represent the entire population. Perhaps Dr Malik’s most challenging task will be to give Balochistan a functional and efficient government, something it has never had except for a couple of brief interludes in a long history of anti-people regimes. Balochistan can no longer afford a government that behaves like the shared mistress of the sardars and clerics. An open, transparent and incorruptible administration, one that is both responsible and accessible to citizens, alone will enable Balochistan to face the challenges of the age. The elections have not altered the fact that without a resolution of the crisis caused by involuntary disappearances, peace and order cannot be established in Balochistan. The new provincial government will not be able to make much headway in this direction unless it is helped by the federal government in enjoying as much autonomy as is allowed to other federating units, especially in the management of security-related matters. If Dr Malik’s cabinet is ineffective in stopping within a reasonable time the dumping of dead bodies of ‘missing’ persons and fresh additions to their list, it will lose not only its high moral ground but also perhaps any justification for clinging to power. It may be necessary to have both short-term and long-range strategies for dealing with the issue of disappearances. The immediate task must be to compel the law-enforcing agencies to enforce the law, expediting the payment of compensation and subsistence allowances to the victims’ families and making due efforts at recovering the disappeared. The home ministry may be made to maintain a complete and up-to-date record of all cases of disappearance. With reference to the dumping of dead bodies, the new government must make judicial inquiry by a sessions judge in each case mandatory. If it is found that such probes cannot be expeditiously held due to a shortage of judicial officers, the appointment of a couple of sessions judges to exclusively decide cases of extra-legal killings and the recovery of disappeared persons as mutilated corpses will be a sound investment. The long-term strategy will require a thorough revamping of the law and order cover. It will be essential to develop a police force capable of protecting the life and liberty of all citizens and which will be accountable to the provincial authority. If elements from outside the province have security concerns they should be helped to begin trusting the provincially controlled personnel. The system of Levies can be reformed by transforming them into a community police. Dr Malik is likely to find the challenges confronting him daunting and the time for experimentation limited. Rushing to apply half-baked remedies to Balochistan’s chronic ills could be as dangerous as pushing matters under the carpet. Ways will have to be found for launching initiatives without the loss of time but not without due deliberation. One thing must be clear in everybody’s mind: Balochistan may not get another chance for the politics of reconciliation like the present one.
Missing leg and off By Jawed Naqvi THE dimly lit labyrinth of oversized halls and more numerous smaller rooms was lined with massive casks brimming with exotic elixir that Faiz and Ghalib would be jealous of.. Casually spread, expensive sofas were surrounded by ornate Italian chairs. The lingua franca in the secret ‘cricket den’ was rustic Punjabi though most of the men in that Dubai penthouse wore white Arab gowns to comply with an unwritten dress code. Ashtrays on the side tables were choked with cigarette butts. You could cut the thick smoke with a knife. A man from Kasur in Pakistan pulled on the hookah. The darkened garishness of the casino was palpable from the loud conversations, mostly laced with rustic invective. Stacks of the largest denominations of dirham notes were casually strewn on the tables, under them, in the lap of the owners. There was no live television broadcast from Sydney in the 1980s so the men, nearly all with handy radio sets, were glued to every inflection of the running commentary. It was past midnight in Dubai. The cricket match being played was poised critically in a far away country. The teams in the fray were Australia and West Indies, but the punters in the den were Punjabi patriarchs from Pakistan. I was told that Indians, mostly Gujaratis and Marwaris, ran a separate establishment in Dubai. The common link between the two flanks was Dawood Ibrahim, the Mumbai fugitive now thought to be lying low in Pakistan. My escort to the vulgarised variant of Hasan bin Sabbah’s Alamut magic retreat was a Pakistani broker from E.F. Hutton. He later fled the country when he overplayed a hand and lost. His masters, gold traders from Pakistan, are still said to be waiting to lay their hands on him. I watched cricket in the emirates with keen journalistic curiosity in the 1980s, when it was conceived and played as a punter’s delight. Sub-continental diplomats and Mumbai movie stars, smugglers and fugitives from the law, would converge in special enclosures of the pavilion with private boxes for very private conversations. Their main interlocutor, Dawood Ibrahim, was not the villain he became in 1993. Mobile phones had just been invented and were therefore expensive to keep, but they flourished in the Sharjah pavilion, from where bookies from around the world were marshalled and directed. On one occasion, India had scored something like 121 plus in their innings against Pakistan. I went home with deep suspicions only to be woken by a Pakistani journalist congratulating me on India’s victory. Pakistan had been bundled out for something like 91 or thereabout. Similarly, come to think of it, the game-changing last-ball six off Chetan Sharma’s final over by Javed Miandad, who later became Dawood Ibrahim’s relative by marriage, must have changed many a fortune. You can’t stop betting in cricket because you can’t stop a bowler from bowling a bad ball, a batsman from throwing away his wicket and an umpire from giving a poor decision. And you can’t stop the sign language they speak. All the noise about spot fixing during the Indian Premier League series is old hat. Corruption has been there since the advent of Kerry Packer’s televised series, if not earlier. The legendary Pakistani bowler Sarfraz Nawaz had spoken about spot fixing more than 20 years ago. “Sometimes there is betting on a particular delivery being bowled. The bookies signal to the bowler from the stands, and the ball is bowled accordingly,” said Nawaz. The comment is recorded by veteran Indian sports journalist Kishin Wadhwaney in his book Indian Cricket Controversies. There is also a reference to a drawn Test between India and Pakistan at the Eden Gardens. Deep corporate hold on Indian cricket cannot be wished away. In an era of privatisation, euphemism for handing over the state’s prerogatives to big business, it is not surprising that dubious tycoons run the IPL series directly or through their political representatives. That is the source of the menace. Moreover, the model of the Indian economy prescribed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is predicated on the primacy of speculators and market manipulators. Add to that the potent parallel economy, which is conducted through informal banking channels or havala, and you have an intractable mess on your hands, for cricket and the economy alike. We all have loved at some point the Indian cricketer famous for breaking all manner of records and for his passion for foreign cars. At least on one occasion the government waived duty on his Ferrari. That is one worldview, but is that the model to follow? Consider the following recorded clip from an interview with Don Bradman: Did he hope to break Jack Hobbs’ records, he was asked on a tour of England in 1930? “No, I have never set out to break any records,” Bradman said. “I have always tried to do the best I can for the team that I am playing for; if they want me to go in and lose my wicket so that they can win the match, well, I will be quite happy to do so; on the other hand if they want me to get runs then I try and get as many runs as I possibly can and if in getting those runs I should happen to break any record then naturally I am very pleased; but I don’t deliberately set out to break records.” If Bradman’s rigorous rules are to be applied to cricket in the subcontinent you have to rescue the sport from private enterprise and its badly lit dens. Anything less is futile and the ball from the punter will be missing your leg and off stumps. The writer is Dawn’s correspondent in Delhi. jawednaqvi@gmail.com
Doghouse intrigues By Khurram Husain AT a critical juncture, when the country has undergone a historic transfer of power, when structural economic weaknesses have swelled into the daily newsflow, when the monster of militancy is growling at the city gates, the last thing those about to assume charge need is to get embroiled in doghouse intrigues.. What are doghouse intrigues? You’ve heard of palace intrigues, no doubt, the shadowy games played by those within the palace, using tricks from the subtle arts of persuasion to shape the perceptions of those in power. Doghouse intrigues are similar, but with a few crucial differences. For one, they are conducted by those who are not inside the palace but outside it. Second, the arts of persuasion involved, and the attempts to shape perceptions, are usually quite blunt because the person waging such a campaign does not enjoy the benefits of proximity to the ears he is trying to reach. The whispered tools of innuendo and suggestion lose their power when they have to travel a long distance to reach their intended audience. Therefore, doghouse intrigues are usually shrill in tone, blunt like a stone axe in their assessment of things, and obnoxiously personal in the type of differences they seek to draw. Ever since election day, the incoming government has been busy carrying out consultations with a wide array of people to try and get a handle on how to tackle the big issues. We know that a working group has been meeting and discussing macroeconomic challenges, another has been working on power issues. In both cases, the working groups have reached out to the existing pool of knowledge to see what suggestions have been floated. We know they’ve reached out to various industry groups that have worked on both challenges, such as the Pakistan Business Council. They’ve got industry leaders from textiles and banking and power sitting at the table, as well as technocrats past and present. Then there’s the doghouse crew. Sitting outside with little black clouds hovering over their heads, deep scowls etched on their faces, eyes and nose — sharpened by malice — sniffing for any hint of a crack inside the consultation chamber to drive in that wedge. This is a manifestly unhelpful lot, and those in power are well advised to keep them at a long distance. We are warned, for instance, of a trap being laid for the incoming government inside the ongoing consultants’ meetings. One is reduced to using words of one syllable when engaging with this sort of animus. “I don’t think so” is the only appropriate response. In another place, our hero in the doghouse hurls mud on the IMF programme Pakistan signed in 2008, and the NFC award, and lays the blame for both on Shaukat Tarin, financial advisor to the previous government, and member of both working groups today. In both cases it is worth bearing in mind that the outcome being blamed carried a broad consensus behind it and, unlike dictatorial dispensations, was not the handiwork of one man. The IMF programme was acceded to following a rapid and quite spectacular round of deep consultations that stretched over a number of days and involved almost every notable economist in Pakistan — though, ironically, many amongst the PML-N were opposed to the move. The group was called the Panel of Economists, a rather humdrum title but then again the task before them was hardly studded with glamour. They were assembled in the basement of the Lahore Gymkhana for a number of days, and did not leave until they were able to emerge with a full report on what needs to be done to steer Pakistan out of the growing crisis that it found itself in. The report was made public, and members of the team gave media interviews to answer why they advised austerity at a time when governments in other countries were trying to grow their way out of their difficulties. Similarly with the NFC award. Let’s recall that it was not one man’s doing, but carried the enthusiastic backing of all the chief ministers, the prime minister and the economists seconded by each of the provinces to help lead the negotiations. If today someone finds it hard to live with the terms of the award, perhaps they should recall that Pakistan was originally envisioned as a federation, where the centre is weak and the provinces are strong, and if fiscal space and governance is what they crave, perhaps they should seek the opportunity to serve in the provinces where these elements rightly belong. For the centre there is one overriding priority: to adjust to the terms of the revamped federation. Anybody who wants to criticise the decision to approach the IMF in 2008 should first answer what alternatives there were in their opinion, keeping in view that the financial markets in Pakistan were shutting down and banks could have been next had help not arrived in time. Another hallmark of the doghouse crew is the boilerplate solutions they offer up if ever asked for their input. When speaking of the power crisis, for instance, the same one enthusiastically plugging away at Mr Tarin has little to say beyond “let’s divert some gas towards the power sector and revamp the regulator”. Once again, the brief response: “Thank you for that, sir.” The moment is complex, the challenges are large. The new government requires — and deserves — every opportunity to demonstrate its seriousness of purpose first. Doghouse intrigues only muddy the air and boilerplate solutions only add to the background noise. The incoming government would be well advised to steer its course away from both. The writer is a Karachi-based journalist covering business and economic policy. khurram.husain@gmail.com Twitter: @khurramhusain
Teachers & bureaucrats By Faisal Bari “THE education department, believe me, is much more corrupt than the police department.” This is how one teacher put it in a conversation we were recently having about problems public school teachers face.. He wanted to convey the height of corruption; what better department to use for comparison than the police? He knew I was not convinced, so he repeated it two or three times, with more emphasis each time. And then he went on to give examples. As soon as your name comes on the wait-list of candidates who might be hired as teachers, the clerk ‘mafia’ reaches your home to get a cut for letting your name through. Then, postings and transfers are ‘facilitated’ by clerks, too, while promotions also need paying for. One of the teachers, who works as a head teacher, said that the clerk ‘mafia’ was a blackmailing racket, with female teachers the main victims. She seemed to suggest that money was not the only type of payment that was expected, accepted and given. According to these teachers the rot was not only amongst the clerks in the education department, it has permeated higher levels as well. There were district education officers who were known to be corrupt; these officers not only took a cut in the various transactions mentioned, they also made money in the procurement of furniture and/or supplies and took a share when authorising the release of funds. But the teachers were objective enough to realise the other side of the coin. They acknowledged that only about one-fourth of the teachers in Punjab, in their opinion, were in the teaching profession because they wanted to be teachers and enjoyed it. The rest, they opined, were in the profession because they could not find other jobs that were as good and paid as well. They also said that there is corruption in the system because of the teachers, too. So, without going into causality, teachers feed a corrupt system on one side and are victims of it on the other. A lot of teachers are also close to specific officers, they said, or were recruited on the recommendation of an MNA/ MPA or a local notable. Some of these teachers get choice postings, many do not work hard and since they cannot be disciplined by their respective head teacher or headmaster, they get away with doing nothing. These teachers had a lot of complaints about society at large. Teachers in rural areas are considered kammies (of a lower order) by the local notables, in some places treated as domestic servants. Some officers also treat their subordinates and the teachers working in their jurisdictions as servants; society at large does not give teachers the respect they deserve. However, none of the teachers I met said that their salaries were low. Adjustments in salaries over the last few years, at least in Punjab, seem to have addressed the income issue for the time being. Mainstream parties that have been elected to government recently in Islamabad and in the provinces had, in their manifestos, promised major reforms in the education system. The time has come for them to start work on delivering on these promises. Most of the parties have said that they will put more money into public education, and devolve the management of the education system to the district and lower tiers of government. While more money is definitely needed and governance does need to go down to the district, tehsil and even school level, many of the points mentioned will not be automatically addressed by merely putting in more money or devolving the system. There is nothing to stop district or even tehsil set-ups from remaining corrupt or becoming as corrupt as the teachers felt the current system is. And local authorities and set-ups might be even more vulnerable to being captured by local elites than the provincial set-up. The dangers of making the system even worse are quite substantial. In addition, parallel to the thinking on the land-registration system and the police system, we have to find ways of using technology, and the codification of and access to information, to reduce corruption and the abuse of power that seems very entrenched in the education system. Why can we not have information about all teachers and their career records on computers? Why can we not make the posting/transfer criteria more transparent, as well as the way they are applied to individual cases? If this is done in tandem with other changes such as putting in more money and taking decision-making to lower tiers, automated systems managed out of provincial capitals can become a means of effective monitoring as well. Similarly, the recruitment process can also be made much more transparent and open. The power of the bureaucracy — and it does not matter if it is the education or police bureaucracy or the patwari — comes from limiting access to information and keeping key systems non-transparent and ad hoc. Irrespective of whether the complaints of the teachers I met were exaggerated, and irrespective of whether it is the teachers that are more to blame than clerks or the officers in the education bureaucracy, the problems are clear. The proposed solutions, of putting in more money and decentralising decision-making, will not be sufficient to address the issues. They can, in fact, make the system even worse. A necessary part of the reform has to come from the introduction of very strong information systems that make the criteria for hiring, postings, transfers and other service issues clear and accessible, and make the implementation of these criteria open and transparent as well. The writer is senior adviser, Pakistan at Open Society Foundations, associate professor of economics, LUMS, and a visiting fellow at IDEAS, Lahore. fbari@osipak.org
Political economy of corruption By Aasim Sajjad Akhtar EARLIER this year, controversy erupted in India following comments made by the prominent intellectual Ashis Nandy about the greater propensity of that country’s lower orders towards corruption.. All manner of reactions followed, with the dominant perception being that Nandy had transgressed established academic norms. Yet even the most scathing condemnations did not necessarily equate to complete rejections of the general hypothesis. In other words, many Indian social scientists probably agree that, within the structural confines of capitalist democracy, subordinate classes, castes and underrepresented ethnic groups are not just inclined to bending the rules to secure their survival, but are increasingly adept at doing so. One of the examples most often quoted in the Indian context is that of the former chief minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad. Hailing from a scheduled caste — the Yadav — Prasad completely polarises opinion. He is hated by a wide cross-section of the elite civil society for his ‘corruption’ and ‘bad governance’. On the other hand he is idolised by lower castes and the poor for having provided — often illegally — unprecedented access to state resources and power. Given the almost incessant barrage of anti-corruption rhetoric in Pakistan these days, it is instructive to think about the debate generated by Ashis Nandy next door. First and foremost: corruption is not a limited phenomenon for which only politicians are responsible. In fact, the practice of defying established legal-bureaucratic procedures is widespread at all levels of society. Yes, those in the higher echelons of power engage in corrupt practices that have a greater per capita impact on the overall welfare of society, but arguing that corruption can be eliminated by catching a few big fish is nothing more than misplaced optimism. Second, the laws and bureaucratic procedures that we tend to reify are concrete expressions of power relations in society. In our case (both Pakistan and India, and most other post-colonial countries), a majority of legal statutes and bureaucratic norms are carryovers from the British Raj. We can all agree that the colonial state was committed not to the principle of liberal citizenship but to establishing and maintaining a suffocating level of social control over what it perceived to be its backward subjects. Insisting on the immutability and supremacy of laws and bureaucratic procedures established under colonial rule does nothing for the cause of justice in society today. Third, state power and wealth remain concentrated in the hands of certain classes, castes and ethnic groups (not to mention men in general). For all practical purposes the law and bureaucratic procedures have been the tools that this elite has employed to maintain its privileges and punish the lower orders on a daily basis. It is in this wider structural context that corruption — mostly of the petty kind — has become commonplace in Pakistani society. Working people who are deprived of the most basic needs, let alone dignity, harbour little pretence of upholding ethical ideals in their dealings with the powerful. Of course, it should be clear that the poor and defenceless are hardly to blame for corruption when those in positions of power demand that their palms be greased for providing respite from the impositions of the state and market. Let us not forget that the current state of the polity is directly explained by the Pakistani state’s suppression of progressive politics and ideology, especially from the 1980s onwards. While the sociological facts that I have noted above have long histories, there is little doubt that the Zia regime — and those that have followed it — took special care to undermine radical visions of social change within subaltern segments of society. This was accomplished by the use of brute force, and also by encouraging corruption as we know it today. All of this means simply that greater emphasis needs to be placed on understanding corruption in all its guises so as to be able to address causes rather than symptoms. Of course, I concur with those who believe that examples must be made of powerful people engaging in corrupt practices — elected representatives, yes, but judges and generals as well — so that some basic norms can be established. I also agree that the calls for the rule of law are not without merit, particularly in the context of the repeated suspensions of the political process by the men in khaki. Furthermore, the law can, in principle, provide respite to the poor and defenceless from the relentless assaults by the rich and powerful, so long as it sheds its colonial baggage. Ultimately, however, the point that social scientists that try and understand phenomena such as corruption make is that the formal liberal universe that we occupy is illiberal, violent and unequal in practice. That is to say that the problem is with capitalist democracy itself, and therefore chanting liberal slogans in response to the warped outcomes produced by the system is at best naïve and, at worst, elitist. Indeed, the elite is just as prone to be corrupt as anyone else; Nandy’s point was that the lower orders are just less scrupulous about their corruption as compared to those above them in the social and political hierarchy. I would add that the poor mimic the rich in many ways, and corruption is perhaps the most conspicuous example of this. Until and unless the system that binds us all to certain social roles and positions of power is fundamentally overhauled, there is little chance of doing away with corruption as a social practice. What I want to emphasise is the danger of ignoring the ways in which corruption represents a strategy of survival for the weak in an unjust world. We do not have to like this fact, but we cannot wish it away either. Regenerating a revolutionary politics is the only way of beating corruption in the long run. And that is not wishful thinking. The writer teaches at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
Obscured by the mandate By Asha’ar Rehman THE top man has been sworn in and his mandate is being passed off as a seal that can be used by him to stamp what he deems fit. . The small pieces that make up the party remain largely unrecognised, submerged in the grand event of the dynasty being restored to the throne. At the beginning there was a party and hundreds of members who fought the polls. Now, there remains one individual and his mandate. The party and its varied ranks have already been obscured. This is not a good sign for the collective of the elected, given the lack of delegation of powers that marked the rule of the PML-N government in Punjab over the last five years. In the last term Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s style of governance reeked of a distrust of, even contempt for, those who sat in the provincial assembly. All they were required to do was to bring the chief a mandate, and Shahbaz could take it from there using his own remarkable talent of knowing what the masses wanted and delivering it. The democratic processes of getting to the end he hardly ever had time for. Instead, he relied heavily on the bureaucrats, many of whom are now set to join Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif’s team at the centre. From among the politicians some of the old names are going to come back as ministers, many of them deservingly. But the point is: how is the PML-N going to deal with the large number which has collected in its camp in the elections? They include heavyweights and the lesser known, who could also do with some active work, rising from their rubber stamp status. The democratic processes and the involvement of party cadres at various levels are important. After the election of the prime minister on Wednesday, MQM’s Farooq Sattar spoke about the need to have a local government with particular reference to controlling law and order. Promised by many in the run-up to the polls, the delegation of power to local bodies would be a significant departure from the policies of the parties which were in power over the last five years. But it could serve the purpose of organising parties and party cadres where they can feel they are a part of the thrust for change. This was one area where the PML-N government in Punjab was as guilty of dragging its feet as were any other provincial governments in the country. None of the governments were willing to create a system under which they would have to share power with official set-ups at the local level and which could throw up new political ambitions and new players. The latest elections were a reconfirmation of how local bodies serve as a nursery for ambitious political types at the grassroots. Those who had entered politics under Gen Pervez Musharraf’s local government system were seen fighting it out with the old and new claimants for honours in general elections. Actually, the ones who had the exposure of politics at the union councils and the nazim offices were tipped as having a better chance at the hustings as opposed to the new faces. As established parties of old, both the PPP and PML-N had little interest in nurturing the new, when the exercise had the potential of unsettling the party’s existing scheme. The MQM wanted the local government elections so that it could have power directly in its urban strongholds instead of being dependent on its partnerships with the provincial or federal governments. The party leaders are reluctant to create these centres of aspirations at the grassroots, fearing their challenge at a later stage. They are forever looking to rule through a close coterie of friends, preferably close relatives, leaving elected members and party cadres in general out of their scheme. There is no bigger exponent of this brand of good governance than the PML-N in recent years in Punjab. The Sharif brothers will do well to understand that many of the PML-N members sitting in the Punjab Assembly during the last term were unhappy with the way they were treated by the leadership. The danger is that their voices, rightfully asking for a role in managing the affairs of the people by whom they have been elected, may be further submerged in the even bigger mandate for their party leadership this time. The PML-N is the more obvious party which has delayed the empowering of party cadres and their utilisation in the democratic processes based on the principles of devolution and delegation. All other major parties are also in need of restructuring, not least the PPP which is a party in a quandary and which has been sadly reduced to waiting for the end of President Zardari’s term before it can make its next move. But perhaps there is no bigger example of the problems with which the parties are beset than that of the Jamaat-i-Islami. The most organised, the most disciplined of them all, the Jamaat was recently a subject of some internal criticism over its feudal tendencies, which of course meant that certain of its workers felt they were being denied their usual role. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf is the proponent of change and has made an impact overall. It boasts of creating a party structure but fails to earnestly recognise how the party elections it held just before the general polls could have been manipulated by those who had experience and money at the cost of the so-called ideological workers. It can make a huge contribution to Pakistani politics by holding the promised local government polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as early as possible. The province will gain from that election and it could well trigger a process that could force other provinces to follow suit. The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.
A week in Kashmir By A. G. Noorani THE strongest impression in my mind after a week in Srinagar last month is that Kashmir’s political process has reached an impasse at all levels.. The unionist parties, the ruling National Conference (NC) led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed are not on speaking terms. Congress, the NC’s coalition partner, is faction ridden. The state Congress chief Prof Saifuddin Soz is hampered at every stage by union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who pulls the strings of his faction from New Delhi. The separatists are as hopelessly divided. Two of their leading lights, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Maulvi Umar Farooq, are at loggerheads. Geelani once represented the Jamaat-e-Islami in the united All Parties Hurriyat Conference. In the last few years, they have drifted apart. On April 23, the amir of the Jamaat, Mohammad Abdullah Wani, pointedly said that the Jamaat was “aware about the problems of people and knew which party reaps benefits of boycotting elections and the final decision about participation in the coming elections will be taken in the Majlis-i-Shoora”. This was an allusion to the NC’s grab of the crucial few seats in Srinagar in the 2008 assembly elections which enabled it to form a coalition with the Congress. Those seats were won by the NC thanks entirely to a call for boycott of the polls by Geelani. He is playing the same game now. It is time to demand the restoration of the five-year term of the assembly. In 1976, during the emergency, Indira Gandhi had the 42nd Amendment to the constitution enacted, which extended the five-year terms of the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies to six years. The Janata Party government, which came to power in 1977 following India Gandhi’s defeat in the elections, had the 44th Amendment to the constitution enacted in 1979, which restored the five-year term of all the legislatures, central and state. Meanwhile, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah got the region’s constitution amended in February, 1977, to extend the state assembly’s term to six years. Though he stayed in power till his death in 1982, he did not restore the five-year term. It remains to be seen if any of the separatists will contest the state elections due next year. The NC is demoralised. Omar Abdullah has proved a colossal failure in office as chief minister; whether as administrator, legislator or politician. His idiom is astonishingly juvenile. The PDP is struggling hard to return to power but it is stuck on the horns of a dilemma. It is decidedly more sensitive to the people’s sentiments than the NC, but it cannot go the whole hog with the prevalent popular mood of total alienation from India for fear of losing the centre’s support. Neither the NC nor the PDP can come to power without the Congress’ support (read: New Delhi’s support). The Congress has a miniscule presence in the valley but with the Jammu vote it emerges as the king-maker. Soz is unable to infuse new blood in the discredited Congress. On May 9 he met the party president Sonia Gandhi “to discuss the fate of three senior cabinet ministers who are in the dock for allegedly misusing their official position to make personal fortunes.” Greater Kashmir, a Srinagar daily, mentioned their names: Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, Medical Education Minister Taj Mohiuddin and Minister of State Cooperation Dr Manohar Lal Sharma. Omar Abdullah cited “coalition compulsions” as a reason for his omission as chief minister to sack them from his ministry. He made the same excuse, on May 20, for his failure to seek the withdrawal of a law that has incurred international odium: the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. It gives the armed forces virtually a carte blanche to kill with legal immunity. Soz called the chief minister’s bluff on May 27 by making a specific proposal: “Since the security situation has improved, now the chief minister has to make a movement forward for revocation of the law from certain areas. Omar Abdullah can do so by convening a meeting of Unified Headquarters of which he is the head to take all stakeholders into confidence and get the law repealed.” Each side is drawing up a scenario of a break before the polls. Soz is trying hard to whip up popular enthusiasm for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit; on past form he is unlikely to break the impasse. The prime minister’s record since 2004 on the India-Pakistan peace process is creditable. There are signs that, after the sparring over the incidents on the Line of Control, he is trying to revive the process. In total contrast, his record on the domestic front has been dismal, largely because he yielded to the wishes of hardliners such as P. Chidambaram and Ghulam Nabi Azad. Recommendations of working groups, set up by all-party round table conferences that he had convened, were ignored. Two deserve particular mention: the working groups on Confidence Building Measures across Segments of Society in the State and on Strengthening Relations across the Line of Control. They were headed, respectively, by Mohammad Hamid Ansari, now vice-president of India, and by M. K. Rasgotra, former foreign secretary. Interlocutors galore, official and others, were let loose. The last group of interlocutors comprising Dileep Padgaonkar, Radha Kumar and M.M. Ansari were deservedly snubbed by the separatists. They had also boycotted the round table conferences for the same reason: the centre had no concrete proposals for a settlement of the Kashmir dispute in its internal dimension. It has no intention of restoring the state’s autonomy, withdrawing repressive laws and ending human rights abuses. The only hope for progress lies in an accord between India and Pakistan on the dispute. The writer is an author and a lawyer.
The railways as a metaphor By Irfan Husain A FORTNIGHT or so ago, the New York Times ran a long front-page piece on Pakistan Railways (PR) by its Pakistan bureau chief, Declan Walsh.. Declan, a good friend and probably the best-informed foreign correspondent to have covered Pakistan, based his story on a train journey from Peshawar to Karachi. Full of humour, sympathy, colour and detail, the account is more of a metaphor for Pakistan than a straightforward travel piece. As somebody who has watched the downward trajectory of our national rail system for a number of years, I read Declan’s account with great interest and concern. I began my civil service career in the late ’60s with PR’s finance department. At that time, the track from Lahore to Khanewal had been electrified and the Karachi circular train was about to be launched. That no further electrification was undertaken, and the Karachi circular railway ran only briefly, is a sad comment on the system as well as on national priorities. Another fact to reflect on is that since independence, we have failed to add a single mile to the rail network. Within the splendid red-brick railway headquarters’ building in Lahore, one could not imagine then that the organisation was at the beginning of its death spiral. Senior officers lived in large colonial houses in Mayo Gardens, with its tree-lined roads and its own electricity supply. As I rose up the ladder, I was allotted the biggest house I have ever lived in, before or since. One could swim, play tennis or golf virtually free of cost at the subsidised clubs run by the organisation for its officers. In its heyday, PR had a virtual monopoly on bulk transport and passenger traffic. I recall countless train journeys in air-conditioned comfort, with trains generally running on time, and the system working reasonably efficiently. Pretty much like the rest of the country, in fact. It all started to go downhill under the later years of Ayub Khan when the truck lobby from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (then the NWFP) prevailed in persuading the government to divert resources to the road sector, and the railway’s monopoly on bulk goods transport was challenged. As bureaucrats used to having businessmen beg and bribe them to make wagons available, PR’s commercial officers were unable to provide the kind of flexibility the new environment demanded. The last nail in PR’s coffin was driven by the National Logistics Cell, an organisation set up under the Ziaul Haq regime. The NLC ran a large fleet of trucks (with hefty kickbacks allegedly paid to army officers involved in their purchase). This fleet is now almost non-existent, but the NLC still has the right to nominate carriers of government goods, so corruption is still reportedly rampant. The economics of train transport is such that passenger services are usually subsidised by goods traffic. As PR’s share of bulk cargo fell, passenger services began to suffer. In real terms, government investment in engines, track and wagons declined. So, too, did PR’s finances. From being a profitable organisation, the system is now barely surviving on subsidies. Other countries also support their railways for a variety of reasons. They remain the most economical mode of transport, as well as the most environmentally friendly. France, for example, maintains one of the world’s most efficient systems and subsidises it through national and regional budgets. India runs the world’s biggest and most profitable rail network. Apart from its systemic problems, PR has also suffered from the corruption and inefficiency endemic in our state enterprises. In my days with the railways, I noticed that even the homes of many junior officers seemed to be far more lavishly furnished and equipped than mine was. And overstaffing was chronic. In a sense, PR’s agony has been replicated across other state-owned enterprises. As long as they enjoy a monopoly, they thrive, with the consumer paying for their inefficiency and corruption. As soon as they face competition and begin bleeding red ink, the burden shifts to the taxpayer. Thus, Pakistan Steel, the country’s biggest industrial enterprise, did very well behind high tariff barriers. But as soon as our international commitments to free trade forced duties of imported steel down, it entered a nosedive from which it has never recovered. As its finance director, I recall the constant sense of crisis that hung over this enterprise as we struggled to keep it going. There were long negotiations with the banks and the finance ministry for a lifeline. After I left, a series of bailouts have kept this white elephant alive. Sadly, privatisation was thwarted by the Supreme Court, and since then, billions more in handouts have been pumped in; no talk of accountability here. The national airline, too, is in freefall. Again, its golden era was before foreign carriers were allowed to compete for traffic. Over the years, successive governments have forced their appointed CEOs to recruit party supporters. As a result, the aircraft-to-staff ratio in PIA is one of the most lopsided in the industry. The problem this government will face is that all the three organisations mentioned here need such huge infusions of capital that privatisation is the only option available. But in all three, the unions have a stranglehold, and will make life difficult for any new owners. Downsizing is a tricky policy, and Nawaz Sharif will have his hands full of the political fallout. In any case, it will be interesting to see if our higher judiciary will block the sale of these loss-making enterprises, as it did with Pakistan Steel. Tailpiece: Barely two days before the May 11 elections, Declan Walsh’s visa was cancelled for unknown reasons. Considering his deep knowledge and affection for Pakistan, as reflected by nine years of reporting, this ill-considered decision is something the new government should reverse immediately. irfan.husain@gmail.com
When talent abounds By Abbas Nasir WHEN the just-elected prime minister pledges he will make all decisions on merit and there will be no nepotism, one can only react with incredulity.. Soon after being elected prime minister earlier this week, Mr Nawaz Sharif made the vow in his maiden speech to the National Assembly. But as he did so the camera panned to the VIP gallery where Shahbaz Sharif was sitting. Shahbaz Sharif, both the prime minister and his supporters would argue, is a man who can stand against the best on his own merit. After all, the May 11 election victory owed itself to SS’s performance, delivery, governance. However, over the prime minister’s left shoulder, and several rows back, was another Sharif. Yes, Hamza, also a member of the august house. But because the party in power is so keen to dispel the notion of any nepotism, the poor young man may always remain stuck on the backbenches. Unless Mian Sahib has a dramatic change of heart, there is no ministerial portfolio headed young Hamza’s way for now at least. He’ll always have to rely on his uncle and father’s performance to win a seat as he is unlikely to get an opportunity to display his own talent. For public service that is. One recalls Zulfikar Ali Bhutto describing his cousin Mumtaz Ali Bhutto as “my talented cousin” when someone asked him about the propriety of including a close family member in the cabinet. Mumtaz Bhutto sadly sowed the seeds of ethnic strife in Sindh during a short stint as chief minister. Anyone who was around then would remember how Mumtaz Bhutto’s decision to make Sindhi the sole official language of the province created the tinderbox which was set alight by Raees Amrohvi’s famous words in his daily Jang quatrain: “Urdu ka janaza he zara dhoom se nikle (let’s rejoice in Urdu’s funeral)”. The decision was rescinded soon but not before a cleavage appeared among the new and old Sindhis, who had lived side by side in harmony since independence thanks mainly to the warmth and generosity of the locals who had welcomed the refugees with open arms and, in many instances, keys to evacuee properties. After his disastrous tenure as chief minister was cut short, the talented cousin was made to swap places with Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi as the federal communications minister. It was this ministry that placed at his disposal the ‘penthouse’ at the PNSC Building in Karachi. Given its altitude, us lesser mortals on the street below couldn’t tell if he caused any damage there. It was an interesting, and hopefully not telling, coincidence that as Nawaz Sharif spoke about nepotism and pledged not to allow it any part in his plans, the camera panned first to his talented brother and then to Mr Bhutto’s talented cousin in the VIP gallery. Having finally abandoned his nationalist aspirations and confederation dreams and joining the mainstream Punjab-led PML-N, where else could he have been sitting if not in the VIP gallery? He had a visible presence in the oath-taking ceremony as well. It has to be said that must have been a bitter pill to swallow as his distaste for the politics and personality of the current occupant of Aiwan-e-Sadr is well known. So much so that when in 1996 Mumtaz Bhutto agreed to become Farooq Leghari’s caretaker chief minister, just as Jam Sadiq Ali became Ghulam Ishaq Khan’s in 1990, he left no stone unturned to ensure that if Asif Zardari could have a case to answer in the Murtaza Bhutto murder, he would. Interesting stuff, all this. But we are marking and celebrating a new beginning pregnant with hope that a better Pakistan awaits where there’ll be power and water, jobs and hospitals, schools for the scores and nobody would go hungry. The talented family’s miracle must continue. The PPP’s Makhdoom Amin Fahim obviously does not agree and attributes the PML-N’s huge win “at least to some extent” to the miracle of Islam; no, not the faith but the head of the ‘agency’ which many who wish to wield real power in the country have faith in and which some of us fear as one would the heavens. Whatever you say about the Sharifs, they let talent make a public appearance. That is, talented Shahbaz Sharif will be the chief minister and openly and blatantly apply his talents to the task of governing the province. His alone shall be the accolades and, if he slips up, the opprobrium, the wrath of the public too. In Sindh it has been a different story. We do have a chief minister who is also starting a second, nay third, term in office. But many say he isn’t really the one who exercises executive powers and that talented members of the First Family have a disproportionately large share. Well, what option do you have when not only siblings but even adoptive brothers are so rich in talent and ability? If this talent can’t be put to use publicly, so be it. But reliance on it will continue for the good of all in Sindh. And if the party has suffered setbacks elsewhere it must be some conspiracy. Perhaps, the PPP can take a leaf out of the Sharif chapter. Run one province well and so well that it delivers the country’s crown. One slight problem: only Punjab has the numbers to deliver Islamabad. Or it’ll have to be many, many small gains put together. Who wouldn’t laud the Sharifs’ generosity and, what some say is, sagacity that they have handed over Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to other parties when they could themselves have ruled. To me, the decision’s been guided by some insightful thinking, the work of real talent. Governing the two provinces and emerging unscathed at the end of the term is highly unlikely. Last time, the Sharifs only had Punjab and look what it delivered. Why change a winning formula? The writer is a former editor of Dawn. abbas.nasir@hotmail.com
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