ISLAMABAD, June 12: The government has established a 12-member National Public Safety Commission (NPSC), including three opposition MNAs, to oversee the performance of law-enforcement agencies and recommend reforms in police, prosecution, prisons and probation services.

The formation of the NPSC was announced by Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao in a press conference here on Monday.

“President General Pervez Musharraf has notified the commission after its approval by parliament,” the interior minister said. The formation of NPSC is part of the government’s devolution plan and Police Order 2002.

The commission would be formally inaugurated by President Musharraf some time soon. The government has already allocated Rs40 million for the commission in the current budget.

The parliamentarians’ tenure in the commission was four years or expiration of their National Assembly terms while civil society members would serve for five years.

The six MNAs included Ishrat Ashraf, Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and Nayyar Hussain Bukhari from the the opposition while treasury MNAs are Ghulam Rasool Sahi, Shabina Talat and Sher Akbar Khan.

The NPSC would be headed by the interior minister while National Police Bureau’s (NPB) Director-General Dr Shoaib Suddle has been appointed as the commission’s ex-officio secretary.

Other members included former interior minister Lt-Gen (retd) Moinuddin Haider, Mohammad Abbas Khan, Sikander Hayat Jamali, Sabina Hassan Syed and Sarkar Abbas.

The interior minister said that the civil society members had been appointed by a National Selection Panel, headed by the chief justice of Pakistan.

He said one-third representation of women had been ensured in the commission.

“I strongly believe that the commission will help decrease the long-existing estrangement and mistrust between the police and people besides helping bridge the trust-deficit between the people and the government,” he said.

The minister said the commission would oversee the functioning of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), the Frontier Constabulary (FC) and Pakistan Motorway and Highway Police.

It would recommend a panel of three police officers for appointment of capital city police officer in Islamabad and heads of FIA, Pakistan Railways Police, Pakistan Motorway and Highway Police and FC besides recommending premature transfers of the existing heads in case of unsatisfactory performance.

The commission would facilitate establishment and functioning of Citizen Police Liaison Committees in accordance with the Police Order 2002.

The interior minister was reluctant to reply to a question about the NPSC’s powers to review the situation in Balochistan and Fata but Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah said that the entire country fell under the commission’s jurisdiction.

The interior minister said the commission would hold meetings every month.