Little time for campaigning

PERHAPS no other schedule for a party-based election has evoked so little enthusiasm from the nation as the one announced by the Chief Election Commissioner on Tuesday. The election campaign will be a short, seven-week affair. In the real sense of the term, however, campaigning will be confined to 22 days, since the candidates’ final lists will be on display on Dec 16. The PPP has yet to announce whether it will take part in the election, but it is obvious that the party, like other parties, will be there in the electoral arena. From the statements of its leaders it is apparent that PML-N will stay away from the polls. Elections will be there, but the big question is: what kind of elections will they be? The fact that the nation will go to the polls under the shadow of the emergency has already deprived the general election of credibility. The harshest aspect of emergency rule is that anyone can be arrested, because the Constitution’s articles 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 19 and 25 guaranteeing fundamental rights stand suspended.

There are two other unpleasant truths — one, the interim governments at Islamabad and in the provinces are far from being neutral in character; two, the media stands gagged. This means, except for the fact that the parties have not been barred from taking part in it, there is little difference between the current situation and the 1985 general election held by Ziaul Haq under martial law. Technically speaking, the country is not under martial law, but for all practical purposes the military will be breathing down the neck of every citizen when he casts his vote on Jan 8.

On Monday, thousands of political prisoners were ordered released, but a number of them are still under arrest and would want to contest a seat to the federal or a provincial legislature. As pointed out by Commissioner Qazi Mohammad Farooq, the relevant law requires that all candidates appear personally before the returning officer for filing nomination papers. If the elections are to have credibility with the people of Pakistan and the world, all political workers, lawyers and journalists must be released, the cases registered against them dropped and the ban on the two TV channels lifted. Besides, the interim governments must realise they have to act truly as neutrals, and ensure that the government machinery is not pressed into the service of the ‘king’s party’. This care is vital for a transparent election because many of those in the interim governments, including the prime minister himself, belong to the Muslim League-Q. One only hopes that the reports that the emergency may well be lifted after the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Oct 6 presidential election turn out to be true. Admittedly, the lifting of the emergency will only bring cosmetic relief till the PCO remains in force.

Attack on media, again

THE countrywide protests held by journalists on Tuesday proved that people in the media are united in their struggle to have civil liberties and the fundamental right of information restored. This is not just about getting television channels on air or removing draconian amendments in the Pemra law; this is about journalists refusing to compromise on their integrity or kowtowing to dictation from any quarters. The media has been under attack several times this year but this has only strengthened its resolve to struggle for its freedom as was witnessed on Tuesday when a nationwide protest was held — journalists in all major cities took out peaceful processions and were joined by several civil society members. However, what one saw in Karachi is beyond comprehension: police baton charged journalists in their usual high-handed way, using excessive force. Over 100 journalists were arrested (many of whom bravely courted arrest in a mark of solidarity) taken to different police stations before being released at night. It is still unclear what charges have been framed against them. The police officers seem to have over-reacted to the journalists’ move to take out a procession. If so, why? What threat do protesting journalists, or any protester for that matter, pose? Granted processions are banned in these trying times but does it merit such an aggressive response that resulted in six serious injuries in Karachi?

Journalists have vowed to carry on the struggle for press freedom. But it is important that it should not be seen as an exclusive one by the members of the media as one saw the lawyers’ protest when they took to the streets in March. Such protests are civil society’s response to the government’s attempt to put down dissent. By the same token, it is a positive development that other civil society groups fighting for fundamental rights have joined hands with the journalists. After all they are fighting for the same goal — an end to the emergency and a restoration of all fundamental rights. Besides media freedom affects them as much as the media workers. There is strength in numbers and the government will have to pay heed to voices of dissent. As for the city and town administrations, one can only ask them to get the police to exercise restraint. It is not a sign of strength to beat up peaceful demonstrators.

For political awareness

A SURVEY is not necessary to inform people that the majority of our youth care little for political developments in the country, especially as they have no forum for debating or taking action on issues that concern them as members of civil society. Yet, the findings of the Centre of Civic Education-Pakistan are useful in gauging the extent of their indifference. According to the CCE, more than 70 per cent of youth across the country have shown a lack of interest in engaging in political activities. However, there is a ray of hope: more than 80 per cent are of the view that political participation by them could have a positive effect on current developments. This indicates that, under conducive conditions, many would show a greater degree of political activism which, if channelled wisely, could lay the foundations of a strong and peaceful democratic culture. To ensure this, the most obvious measure that comes to mind — and that is recommended by the CCE study — is the revival of student unions and the latter’s need to take an interest in campus issues. Unfortunately, at the moment the vacuum created by the ban on unions has been filled by political parties that encourage their respective student wings to force their ideology on the student population and to battle other groups to secure their turf.

Nevertheless, it would be erroneous to assume that ensuring the revival of student unions or even registering the youth as voters would be enough of a political education for our young adults. Awareness in all areas is the key to political participation, and it is this aspect that must be stressed early on life for a positive change. It is essential to sensitise people, including older children, youth and adults, to issues ranging from economic woes to antiquated societal values that cause society to regress, and to make them aware of their rights as citizens. It is just as important to tell them of the forums of appeal available to them if they have grievances. Such knowledge is the basis for people’s power and for greater, meaningful and more representative political participation in the country.

Poor performance of parliament

THE interim governments at the centre and the provinces have been installed for a brief period of 60 days. They are to continue the existing policies of the government while their main task will be to conduct free, fair elections for national and provincial legislatures.

They are working in a political vacuum in the sense they have been given no briefs or guidelines by the National Assembly and the provincial assemblies which have been dissolved following the completion of their lives.

Since they happen to be caretaker governments or provisional governments, they have no authority of their own and whatever their authority, it is derived from General Musharraf at the centre and the governors in the provinces.

Some of them like Mohammedmian Soomro, the caretaker prime minister, belong to political parties but here they are in their individual capacity and will not follow the directives of their party.

Ms Benazir Bhutto is right when she says the caretaker government is only an extension of the ruling set-up. That is reflected by the presence of Mohammedmian Soomro as head of the caretaker cabinet and Dr Salman Shah, adviser to the former prime minister on finance as the new finance minister. When it comes to the provinces, retired judges have been preferred as chief ministers.

Initially, the number of caretaker ministers was expected to be about a dozen. Then, fifteen ministers were suggested, finally they have become two dozens. Punjab has seventeen ministers and Sindh fifteen.

It is difficult to understand why too many ministers have been inducted in both central and provincial cabinets when they have no political sanction, nor have they any political task to perform.

They are there to help the election commission in holding the general elections and also oversee day-to-day necessary routine tasks.

Will more ministers be added as is usually done in such circumstances? Maybe, the large caretaker cabinets are a hangover of the large cabinet of seventy ministers at the centre along with numerous advisers of ministerial status. So the tradition continues to be upheld and respected.

What matters for a poor country like Pakistan is the pay and perquisites of the ministers particularly when they have so little to do and hardly anything to deliver on their own. The staff expenses of the ministers can be very large and some of them like the caretaker PM would like to undertake frequent tours of various parts of the country. And because of the security factor the cost of such tours is very heavy.

More bothersome is the chaos such visits cause in cities like Karachi as they hold up the traffic for long. One should expect that the caretaker ministers, at least, would be more careful and avoid needless inconvenience to the commuting public for even otherwise they have much less to perform. With POL prices going up sharply as the indications are, the people will have little patience to put up with traffic blockages. And the caretakers should take care not to aggravate the traffic conditions in big cities.

The problem with the political life in Pakistan is that most of politicians enter it from the top and seldom start from the bottom and then work their way up. So in quite many cases, except in the case of well entrenched feudal lords, they prove too costly to the nation.

They dive in politics from the top without testing the waters and are of embarrassing consequences to all.

Normally, if a person wants to enter parliamentary life and be the prime minister he should begin as a parliamentary secretary which can give him a good idea of the administration as well as parliament but in Pakistan the prime minister seldom attends the assembly.

The ministers are also rarely to be seen there. As a result most members absent themselves from the assembly. As a result, the assembly sessions are adjourned for lack of quorum at a high cost to the country. The five year record of the National Assembly will show that mostly the assembly was adjourned for want of quorum.

When we have a large cabinet we expect a number of ministers to be present in the assembly most of the time but that is not the case in Pakistan in spite of the mammoth size of the cabinet.

The life of parliament whether that be of the British type or the American kind is determined by effectiveness of the committee system.

The congressional committees are much stronger in the US than the parliamentary committees in Britain and their hearings go on for a long time with the experts testifying before them for long.

Pakistan has got over thirty standing committees of parliament but they are totally ineffective except for the public accounts committee which is vocal and holds open sessions.

Chairmen of such committees are more interested in their Toyota Corolla or Camery cars and driving to their villages to show off their success.

Gohar Ayub as Speaker of the National Assembly is said to have had ten cars and Yusuf Raza Gillani, another past Speaker, had his offices in Islamabad, Lahore and Multan maintained at a considerable cost to the country. If we make a study of the costs incurred by parliament in Pakistan, we will discover how expensive this institution is and yet it remains ineffective.

The Americans offered aid to train parliamentarians. Some of the members attended such classes but without producing significant results. I do not think we need foreign aid to train our parliamentarians or members of assemblies.

The political parties should be able to do that acting in conjunction. General Musharraf thought he was doing a great thing by prescribing graduation as the minimum qualification for entering parliament or the provincial assemblies but soon it was found the madressahs were offering degrees of its Urdu equivalent.

We need to make a proper study of how much each member has cost the country and what has been his legislative contribution.

In the economic sector the World Bank is talking of capacity development for accelerating economic development. We have to do the same in the political sphere as well so the people get their money worth for investing on the parliamentarians.

OTHER VOICES – Middle East Press

Going to polls

THE latest election for a new press union stood in sharp contrast to many polls in Egypt. The election for a new chief and board for the Press Syndicate on Saturday generated a high turnout.

The vast majority of an estimated 5,000 journalists across the nation’s press spectrum were keen to show up and cast their ballots smoothly. Some members working abroad displayed similar keenness.

Such enthusiasm and high turnout are usually absent in parliamentary voting, which was marred by gory violence in 2005. It is not hard to know what makes this difference.

One major reason is that journalists have no iota of doubt that the election is impeccably fair and honest. Rarely has their balloting been tampered with. In stark contrast, (a) general election has been associated in the public memory with rigging and manipulation.

Another reason is the journalists’ deep belief that their votes matter the most in setting the agenda of their union, which — despite recent criticism — influences its members’ performance.

There is an unshakable conviction in the press community that whoever wins in the usually fierce election is a colleague who plays by the rules and seeks to promote the interests of their influential union.

The latest election was underlined by crucial platforms focused on cancelling imprisonment in opinion cases and hiking up journalists’ paltry wages.

This election should serve as an example for the Egyptians to end their… apathy towards voting, and creating all the necessary and favourable circumstances for them to be positively engaged in charting their country’s future. — (Nov 18)
The Egyptian Gazette

$300 million for the world

OPEC was founded 47 years ago with a two-point objective, according to King Abdullah…: to maintain the welfare and interest of its member-states and to protect the global economy against unexpected crises in oil supplies. With the opening of the Opec summit in Riyadh last Saturday, it seems very clear that there is now a third objective of the group: to protect the global environment from the ill-effects of fossil fuels.

This is a very positive move that puts the Opec in line with the concerns of the rest of the world. And citizens and residents of the Kingdom have a special reason to be proud. After the first announcements that Opec would issue a statement pledging action on the environment, King Abdullah followed up with an announcement that Saudi Arabia is creating a $300 million fund to initiate a research program on climate change and the environment....

It’s sad but all too typical that things have progressed to the point where the motivating factor for dealing with global warming is fear. For the longest time, those who advocated … protecting the environment were regarded as lunatics. Now — and hopefully it’s not too late — responsible people in positions of power have come to realize that the “loonies” pretty much got it right. We are in danger of an environmental catastrophe.

The international distribution of funds … is a clear sign that Saudi Arabia is a significant member of the brotherhood of nations, willing to join forces with the entire world to make it a better and safer place for all of us to live. Regardless of religion, ethnicity, colour or creed, we can all salute King Abdullah for bringing Saudi Arabia into the mainstream of world thought and addressing concerns that affect us all. — (Nov 19)
Saudi Gazette