| July 27, 2002 | Saturday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 16,1423 |
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Tenants under siege
Cleaning up Ayubia
THE government now seems to be showing some signs of rethinking on the proposed constitutional amendments. In a radio discussion with a group of intellectuals and former diplomats on Thursday, President Pervez Musharraf indicated some flexibility on a number of issues, specially with regard to the prime minister’s powers and the role of the National Security Council. The prime minister, he said, would not be nominated by the president but that the majority party in the National Assembly would elect the leader of the house. This is how it should be in a parliamentary democracy. The original proposal giving the president the right to nominate anyone as prime minister was an outright negation of the basic principles of parliamentary democracy. In every parliamentary form of government, it is the party enjoying a majority that chooses the prime minister. Where no party has a clear majority, the party commanding a plurality may come up with a leader of the house as part of a coalition arrangement. There is no other way. Thus, by making it clear that the same procedure will be followed after the October election, the president has removed a major source of concern about the Constitution’s parliamentary character.
It was also in keeping with the parliamentary tradition that the president reiterated the point that the real executive power will be in the hands of the prime minister and that the president will merely serve as a check on him. However, Gen Musharraf seems firm on retaining the power to nominate heads of “certain” institutions, though the prime minister will have “a say” in the matter. This does not quite fit in with the president’s claim that the prime minister will have full executive authority. A vital modification comes in the form of the president’s assurance that the National Security Council will have no executive role; instead, it will be a consultative body. The original proposal had made the NSC look like a supra-government authority, having the power to dismiss the prime minister and dissolve the National Assembly. It was perhaps the most controversial of all proposals and evoked widespread criticism because of its dire implications. The move was interpreted by most observers as an attempt to give the armed forces a constitutional role in critical areas of policy-making and governance. If incorporated in the Constitution, this would have made the popularly elected government subordinate to a largely non-elected body having generals, besides governors, nominated by the president as its members. This would have injected the colonial concept of dyarchy into a system of government based on the principle of unity of command and made a mockery of democracy. Thus, by assuring the nation that the NSC will have a consultative role and no more, the president has responded positively to the public concern on this score.
The decision to retain the National Assembly’s and the Senate’s tenures for five years and six years respectively as at present is also wise and practical, even though a section of opinion would prefer these to be shortened to four years in each case. Also reassuring is the president’s promise that the government would finalize only the “essential and immediate” amendments and that other proposals would be left to future parliament to decide. This is the correct approach and one hopes that even the present package now being finalized will be presented to parliament for approval instead of being made a part of the Constitution through a presidential ordinance. The 1973 Constitution was made by the people’s representatives and unanimously passed by parliament. It will, therefore, be in keeping with the fundamental principles of constitutionalism that any changes in the Basic Law are made through the procedure laid down in the Constitution itself.
THE stand-off between the authorities and tenants of state-run farms in Punjab shows no sign of ending. Meanwhile, conditions on the farms, which have been under police siege for weeks, are rapidly deteriorating. A meeting of leading NGOs in Lahore was recently informed by representatives of the tenants of the terrible plight they were facing. They have been deprived of water and electricity connections by the authorities to force them to vacate the lands and give up their claims to ownership rights. Some 200,000 tenants and their families have been under police siege in Peerowal in Khanewal district. The protest has spread beyond Peerowal, with many other farms in Okara, Pakpattan and Sahiwal also coming under siege. The police have blocked off all exit and entry points to and from the farms, preventing people from going to adjoining towns to earn their living or in case of emergencies. Irrigation water to the farms has also been stopped, seriously damaging the wheat crop and threatening to wipe out the upcoming cotton crop. The NGOs fear that if the situation persists some people may face starvation in the weeks ahead.
The tenants have been demanding ownership rights on land they have been cultivating for generations. The land is currently held by the military and various state-run corporations. The NGOs have decided to spread public awareness of the issue by organizing visits to the farms. They will also try and meet the president and Punjab governor to plead the tenants’ case. Rather than listen to the tenants’ side of the story and reach some kind of compromise, the authorities have taken an unnecessarily hard line and are determined to use intimidation rather than dialogue to end the stalemate. The dispute has gone on for far too long and must be brought to a swift and amicable end before matters get out of hand.
THE initiation of the first clean-up of Ayubia National Park in 18 years is a welcome step. The Worldwide Fund for Nature-Pakistan, in collaboration with the Pakistan branch of the IUCN — the World Conservation Union and the NWFP wildlife department, has designed a programme which allows both children and adults, from diverse backgrounds and occupations, to come together and help clean up the park — home to mountain lions, flying squirrels, marmots, fox and a large variety of plants. Rampant commercialization and unplanned development have led to nearby places like Murree and Nathiagali having to cope with sharply increased levels of pollution, especially the problem of the safe disposal of solid waste. A visit to any of the Galis in the vicinity of Ayubia National Park will show just how bad the situation has become, with shopkeepers and tourists throwing all kinds of waste down the slopes adjoining the main bazars. Local water supply is polluted and the natural habitat of wildlife found in the park is in a poor state.
In that context, the clean-up campaign, with the participation of people from all age groups and backgrounds, is a positive development. Hopefully, such programmes will be extended to include schools and colleges from all over the country, including those in the public sector. Encouraging young people to join such an endeavour could have a long-term impact since they are tomorrow’s decision-makers and because it will make them increasingly of the need for the protection and preservation of the natural environment against threats of pollution and human vandalism.