12 January 2005	Wednesday	01 Zilhaj 1425

ISLAMABAD, Jan 11: The ruling party's representatives failed to defend serious allegations of perpetrating "sham democracy" in the country under a general's umbrella as the opposition members dominated a round-table discussion organized by an NGO here on Tuesday.

Opposition legislators, taking part in the discussion on "Parliamentary Democracy and Good Governance", termed the present system in the country "a sham democracy".

The discussion was organized by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency in collaboration with the High Commission of Canada. The participants included visiting members of the Canadian Parliament, led by Speaker Peter Milliken, and members of the National Assembly and the Senate.

The most severe criticism against the present setup came from Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan, who said the present system was neither parliamentary nor presidential. "We have an un elected president and a powerless prime minister," he said.

The PTI chief said Gen Musharraf had failed to implement his own seven-point agenda, announced in his first speech after taking over the government. He said his party had to withdraw support to Gen Musharraf after realizing that he wanted to impose a "bigger sham democracy" in the country, replacing what he earlier termed "sham democracy".

Mr Khan said every institution in the country had been destroyed by the successive military rulers. First they used judiciary to legitimize their take-over, then they manipulated election commission to get the desired results in the elections and then they used local government system and the National Accountability Bureau to prolong their rules.

"Nothing destroys democracy more than a military dictatorship trying to legitimize itself through a democratic facade," he added. He suggested that the chief justice of Pakistan and four chief justices of high courts should be appointed by the parliament with a consensus. He said in the present age, independent media was the only light at the end of the tunnel.

People's Party Parliamentarians MNA Sherry Rehman said the country was facing a serious crisis of accountability as judiciary was not playing its due role. At present, there was little clarity in Pakistan as to who was the chief executive in the country.

She said the 1973 Constitution was consistently being changed since 1979 through various amendments that retained a parliamentary system but strip it of significant rights.

Ms Rehman said the parliament was theoretically responsible to its constituents according to law, but by dint of amendments supporting military subversions, executive power was now being enjoyed by an un elected president who clearly held a prime minister answerable to him, instead of the parliament. "You cannot have a system having a military president as well as a parliament," she maintained.

The PPP legislator also criticized the present local government system, saying: "The current devolution plan boasts more failure than successes." She was of the view that no democratic controls or accountability mechanism remained in place in a system where military had control over the government.

Secretary General of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Senator Mushahid Hussain said the Western democracies had their own vested interests. First, he said, the West supported a status quo in the Muslim world, but now due to change in their interests, they had started talking about democracy.

He claimed that Pakistan had a well established culture of dissent and a strong democratic ethos. He claimed that debate on Kashmir was far more open in Pakistan than in India.

Dr Farooq Sattar of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) stressed the need for focusing on the roots of the problems affecting the politics of the country. He said the uniform issue should not be made a person-specific issue. He said politicians should unite and draw a roadmap and set a deadline after which no politician should accept military interventions.

The MQM MNA called for more provincial autonomy. He said Pakistan was being ruled by a nexus of military bureaucrats, civil bureaucrats, tribals and feudals. He called for eradication of feudalism through genuine land reforms. He also stressed the need for steps to check religious extremism and mushroom growth of Madressahs.

Dr Nighat Agha, A ruling party senator, admitted that there was no ideal democracy in Pakistan, but claimed that Gen Musharraf was leading the country towards a sustained democracy. She said it was true that the Constitution could not be tampered with but it could be modified according to the requirements of the time.

PPP MNA Syed Naveed Qamar said transition in Pakistan was taking place in the reverse order because only military was being empowered through the process. He said the present parliament was the most useless one as the ministers and even the prime minister had no authority at all. He said the country was being ruled by a party which did not even exist when Gen Musharraf took over.

Another PPP Senator Rukhsana Zuberi said democracy was the name of rule of majority, but in Pakistan it was of cosmetic nature. She said laws were changed before the election and even after the election, and the clause regarding disqualification of defectors was kept suspended till formation of the PML government.

MMA Senator Prof Khurshid Ahmed said Canada presented a successful model by accommodating the diversity of its population. Former NA speaker Gohar Ayub Khan said the judiciary could rise to the occasion. He said it was the judiciary which declared the dissolution of the National Assembly in 1993 as illegal.

Jean Augustine, deputy speaker of the Canadian House of Commons, said transparency and accountability were crucial features of the Canadian political system. She also told the participants about the functioning the Canadian parliament.

Ms Augustine said they had a very strict scrutiny system and the members of the parliament had to provide details of each and every spending. After every three months, she said, people could see details of spendings by the parliamentarians on a website. She said there was a strict accountability system in Canada, and they even had to give declaration if they received any gifts during foreign visits.

Speaker of the Canadian Parliament Peter Milliken said the parliamentary systems of the two countries had great similarities. He said opposition in Canada was given tremendous opportunities to express their views.

Mr Milliken said under the rules, the chairmanship of four standing committees was given to the opposition members. He said special days were also allocated for the opposition members when they were allowed to move motions and raise issues. Prominent among others present on the occasion were Senator S.M. Zafar, minority MNA MP Bhandara, and Canadian High Commissioner Margaret Huber.