LAHORE, Aug 29: The PML-N will take steps to curtail military interference in civil matters and for this purpose it will strengthen the role of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC). The committee will have a permanent secretariat of its own.

This has been pledged in the party’s new manifesto, which will be made public in the near future.

The PML-N, whose government was toppled in October 1999, is committed to making the armed forces a professional institution, aspiring for no role in political matters.

The party does not recognize the National Security Council Gen Pervez Musharraf has already set up through the Legal Framework Order (LFO) and whose composition will change with the restoration of the democratic system.

The functions assigned to the NSC, the party thinks, can be discharged by the DCC.

According to party sources, the manifesto is being given final touches these days by Mr Ahsan Iqbal, although the input has come from many leaders.

The party, if voted to power, will introduce “Muslim liberal democracy” in which Islam, democracy and economy will be integrated to provide social justice, merit-based government, respect for all citizens, transparency and tolerance.

The working of the parliament will be improved by strengthening its standing committees.

The manifesto will be implemented with the cooperation of other parties.

Promotion of education is the top priority of the new manifesto. For this purpose, educational reforms of far-reaching consequences will be made. The multi-class based education system will be eliminated.

The manifesto lays stress on the revival of the national economy with a view to providing equal economic opportunities, social justice and better quality of life to all citizens.

The party thinks that the industrial revolution is over while knowledge and information revolution has dawned. Knowledge has become focal point of economic development.

Economic reforms will be introduced to improve the economy and promote the public and private sectors’ partnership.

Tax reforms have also been promised in the manifesto with the main objective of reducing the tax rate and expanding the tax base. It has been felt that the existing taxation system is very burdensome.

The party is also committed to introducing judicial reforms to ensure quick justice. Appointment of judges will be made on merit and in a transparent manner. The discretion even of the chief justice will be done away with. Law enforcement agencies will be strengthened and heinous crime cases will not take more than six months to decide.

Special emphasis will be laid on poverty alleviation and creation of more job opportunities.

The manifesto promises special incentives to Pakistanis bringing investment to the country. A special scheme to bring back outstanding professionals, now working in other countries, to Pakistan will also be launched.

An independent and powerful institution for the eradication of corruption and accountability of all segments of society will be set up. The head of such an institution will be appointed in consultation with the opposition leader.

For the solution to the Kashmir dispute the party will revive the Lahore process, which was started with the Indian prime minister Vajpayee’s visit to the Punjab capital during the PML-N rule.

Dialogue, the party believes, is the best way to resolve the outstanding disputes. Hostility, if allowed to continue, will devour huge national resources needed for other sectors. The party has estimated that the deployment of troops on borders has already cost the nation Rs 25 billion in defence expenditure.