ISLAMABAD: While citizens have been protesting against unbearable electricity bills, speakers at a conference on Monday blamed the Supreme Court of Pakistan for the issue, as it abolished the Council of Common Interests (CCI)’s mandate to fix electricity rates.

They also said it was unfortunate that the judiciary in the past used to protect unconstitutional steps of the military establishment.

The event was organised by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) to mark 50 years of the 1973 Constitution.

PML-N leader and former federal minister Daniyal Aziz said CCI’s mandate was to make policies under Article 154, adding all ministries should be practically kept under the CCI.

“It was the mandate of CCI to fix rates of electricity but the Supreme Court ruled that the government should not approach the CCI for fixing the rates,” he said.

Speakers say apex court abolished CCI’s mandate to fix rates; deliberate steps taken to shrink democratic space after May 9

Mr Aziz also criticised political parties for undermining the local bodies system that was the basic requirement to gain democratic space.

“Moreover, Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) officers are employees of the federal government and seats are reserved in provinces for them. Because of the practice, officers in provinces can not be promoted to Basic Pay Scale (BPS) 21 and above. I suggest that the seats should be given to provinces and they (provinces) should send their offices to fill the seats of the federal government just like it was practiced before 1950,” he said.

PPP leader Farhatullah Babar said there was a hybrid system in the country and Pakistan had become a garrison state. He said the biggest challenge was to regain the control which had been lost after 2018.

“After May 9, deliberate steps were taken to shrink the political and democratic space. We should condemn the incident of May 9 [protests held by PTI supporters after arrest of Imran Khan] but it should not be used to shrink democratic space.

Mr Babar suggested that a constitutional court should be established to look into constitutional matters and Supreme Court should be allowed to focus on its cases.

He claimed that the blasphemy law was behind religious extremism and suggested to make public proceedings of the Senate Committee on Blasphemy Law held in 1992.

Replying to questions, Mr Babar said the right to information (RTI) law should be aggressively used by the citizens by asking what benefits were given to three-star generals and judges at the time of their retirement.

“I had asked how 90 acres land was given to a retired army chief and how much land was given to his predecessors. I did not get the reply and you will not get the reply as well, but it will strike terror in the hearts of those personalities,” he said.

Mr Babar suggested that political parties should stand by President Arif Alvi over the issue of the two bills which he says he did not sign and returned them. He said it was unfortunate that the president was being asked to resign.

Chief Executive Officer Shaheed Bhutto Foundation Asif Khan said Benazir Bhutto was thinking that the party had deviated from its manifesto and wanted to follow the manifesto in letter and spirit.

“The 1973 Constitution is the landmark for us and is the engine of change because all parties unanimously passed it. Although we are also responsible for some objectionable amendments but most of the amendments were made by dictator Ziaul Haq.

Currently, there is imbalance and tilt is towards the military so political parties need to bring democracy within them to gain the space already lost,“ he said.

According to a statement, HRCP Secretary General Harris Khalique said there was an opportunity to take stock of the Constitution as a social contract between citizens and the state.

HRCP Chairperson Hina Jilani said the Constitution could function as a living document only if parliament had the wisdom and foresight to ensure that it evolved along with society and the state.

HRCP Council member Nasreen Azhar said the Objectives Resolution as part of the Constitution had marginalised religious minorities.

Researcher and constitutional expert Zafarullah Khan said the Constitution should be considered as a ‘user manual of statecraft’.

“It should be reviewed and reconciled with its original spirit and evolving polity which includes incorporating international human rights law into the chapter on fundamental rights,” he said.

Moderating the session, academic Dr Naazir Mahmood said the Constitution needed to reflect the rights of children, youth and persons living with disabilities.

Journalist Asma Shirazi, while moderating the second session on the relationship between the Constitution and federalism, said a ‘hybrid-plus state’ had weakened political parties.

Former senator Afrasiab Khattak explained that the contradiction between the de jure and de facto state and ‘majoritarian tyranny’ had marginalised ‘peripheries’ such as Balochistan and former Fata.

Public policy expert Abdullah Dayo said a second charter of democracy was required that involved both mainstream and smaller nationalist political parties to build trust in and commitment to federalism.

The third panel assessed how far the Constitution protected the rights of the vulnerable and marginalised. Moderating the session, HRCP member Fatima Atif said it was important to separate religion from the state.

Transgender rights activist Nayyab Ali said though the Constitution protected the right to dignity and equality, it did not expressly specify that these rights applied to gender minorities.

Rehman Bajwa, chief coordinator of All Government Employees Grand Alliance (Pakistan), added that the Constitution did not expressly protect the rights of informal labour.

Rights activist Ali Ahmad Jan pointed out that an important element missing from the Constitution was its recognition of Gilgit-Baltistan and of ‘cultural minorities’, thereby compounding their vulnerability.

Researcher and gender rights activist Dr Saba Gul Khattak said the Constitution did not protect refugees’ right to livelihood while Pritham Das Rathi, president of the Islamabad Hindu Panchayat, criticised its failure to protect religious minorities from violence. Tariq Ghori, an activist with the National Commission for Justice and Peace, said Jinnah’s 11 August speech on the rights of religious minorities should be made part of the Constitution.

In the fourth session moderated by local government specialist Fauzia Yazdani, journalist Munizae Jahangir questioned the restrictions on freedom of expression under Article 19 of the Constitution.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2023