WASHINGTON, July 25: The government’s reform proposals were strongly criticized at a seminar in Washington on Wednesday evening where speakers reminded the Pakistani rulers that the constitution was more important than individuals.

“The constitution should not be altered to suit individuals, rather individuals should be forced to change themselves to suit the constitution,” said Husain Haqqani, a journalist who has served in both Nawaz Sharif and Benazir governments.

He was supported by the former US ambassador to Islamabad, Nicholas Platt, who said the Musharraf government’s constitutional package cannot be adopted as presented.

“There will be a lot of horse-trading and compromises before it is adopted,” he added.

Platt, who is now the president of Asia Society, also described the presidential referendum as “ill-advised” that tarnished Gen Pervez Musharraf’s image at home.

“And now, only time will tell what shape his reform package is going to take and how long will the reforms last,” said the former ambassador.

One of the speakers said that at a recent meeting at the National Defence College, several senior military officers advised Musharraf not to head the proposed National Security Council, instead, let the prime minister chair this key decision- making body.

Haqqani proposed giving more representation to the judiciary in the NSC. “In the proposed shape, it will be dominated by the executive branch of the government as both the president and the prime minister are from the executive.”

The former Punjab governor Shahid Hamid also urged the government to concentrate on “building institutions rather than individuals.”

But he drew a lot of flak from the audience when he claimed that the judiciary in Pakistan was free and independent. Other speakers, as well as several from the audience, reminded him that the judiciary had endorsed every military takeover in Pakistan since 1958.

“I would have liked to see our judges do what the judges did in the tiny island nation of Fiji. They told the generals who had toppled an elected government that although “we cannot force you to return to the barracks, we will not justify your action. But this was never done in Pakistan,” said a speaker.

Saeed Shafqat, the Quaid-i-Azam distinguished professor at Columbia University, also blamed Pakistani intellectuals for the problems facing the nation. He said that there was no justice for the ordinary citizens and the present system does not even provide them with the basic needs.

Pakistan, he said, still has to answer several key questions such as, what system of governance does it want, what should be the role of the armed forces in politics, and how much influence should Islam have on state policies.

Prof Shafqat said that although the proposed reform-package addresses several issues, it is silent on how to deal with the negative legacy of the Zia era which is responsible for many of the problems Pakistan is facing today.

“In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the revolution in Iran brought a change in the fortunes of the regime in power and now it’s the Sept 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, “If we miss this opportunity, we will be missing the 21st century.”

The first session of this one-day seminar at Washington’s Woodrow Wilson Centre, was devoted to discussions on Pakistan’s economy. The second session dealt with energy and telecommunications as engines for industrial growth, and the third and final session addressed the question of good governance.