PGF NEWS |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 e-Newsletter |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
I. Gender Vol - III Edition - II II. Democracy Watch April 2008 III. Governance at Large Download: PDF Version
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gender |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Women
& Politics |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Women Ministers in New Federal and Provincial Cabinets of Pakistan Women have been given considerable representation in the Federal and Provincial cabinets of Pakistan. Following are the new women Ministers and their respective portfolios:
Federal
Cabinet
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Provincial Cabinets |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Women Diplomats of Pakistan Dominate European Capitals Whether
it is
the outcome of a calculated effort to show to the world that Pakistan
is a country of “enlightened moderates”, which has though now become a
slogan of the past, or a demonstration for gender equality, our
ambassadors in the influential European capitals are predominantly
women. In the political arena, Pakistan is already the first-ever
Muslim country to have produced a woman prime minister Shaheed Benazir
Bhutto, who was elected twice to rule the country as well as a woman
speaker of the National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza ñ but perhaps not
many know that Islamabad presently has nine women ambassadors in the
influential capitals of Europe. It is argued that there is no other
country perhaps in the world matching Pakistan as far as the number of
women ambassadors to different countries in the European capitals is
concerned. In London, which is the most important capital in Europe,
Pakistan's ambassador posted there is Dr Maleeha Lodhi, who is a
non-career diplomat or can also be termed a political appointee. Once a
journalist, Maleeha has enjoyed such a long stint of ambassadorial
assignments under President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf in the two
most important capitals of the world ñ Washington and London ñ which no
career diplomat can ever dream of. Before the imposition of the
military rule on Oct 12, 1999, Maleeha had already served one term as
Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States. But at that time she was
deputed there by the democratic government of Benazir Bhutto. During
those days, she had a close association with Benazir Bhutto. After the
imposition of Martial Law in 1999, Maleeha was picked up by the then
military ruler and now retired General President Pervez Musharraf as
Pakistanís ambassador to the US where she served from 1999-2002 and
became the longest-ever serving ambassador to the US. She was also
conferred Hilal-e-Imtiaz Presidential Award for Public Service by
Musharraf.
In 2003, under a fresh contract she was appointed the country’s ambassador to the UK where she is still continuing. Except Maleeha, all the other women ambassadors in Europe are career diplomats i.e. belonging to the Foreign Service of Pakistan. These include Naghmana A Hashmi in Ireland; Fauzia Sana in Portugal; Tasnim Aslam, the first-ever Foreign Office spokeswoman, ambassador to Italy; Humaira Hasan in Spain; Asma Anisa in France; Aysha Riaz in Switzerland; Fauzia Abbas in Denmark; and Seema Illahi Baloch in Poland. There are not many in the Foreign Office offering comment on the performance of these women ambassadors. However, the only woman political appointee, Maleeha, is believed to be the most popular. Maleeha, for being unlike the routine Foreign Office Baboos, is said to have developed extensive links with the Pakistani community living there. While a considerable number of women ambassadors are already occupying major capitals in Europe, some senior women officers in the Foreign Ministry are waiting for their turn to head the country's foreign missions. Fauzia Nasreen, who is a BS-22 officer of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and is presently Director General Foreign Service Academy, is one of such aspirants. For being in BS-22, it is said, she would not be offered an ordinary capital. Raana Raheen, presently a directing staff in the National Defence College, is also to be posted abroad. Rifaat Iqbal, presently ambassador in Harare, according to a source, is also looking for a posting in Europe. Australia Gets its First Woman Governor-General Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on April 13 named Queensland Governor Quentin Bryce as Australia’s next Governor-General, the first woman to act as the British queen’s representative in the country. Mr. Rudd, who returned to Canberra from an 18-day world tour during which he met Queen Elizabeth II at the Buckingham Palace, said the monarch had approved Bryce on his recommendation. The Prime Minister said that Ms. Bryce — a lawyer, academic and former federal sex discrimination commissioner — “captures the spirit of modern Australia”. He said the 65-year-old grandmother, who grew up in a small town in Mr. Rudd’s home state of Queensland, had demonstrated a strong commitment to rural Australia, the rights of women and Aborigines. Mr. Rudd said he was pleased that a woman would serve as governor-general, a post created under the constitution in 1901 and a person who, as the monarch’s representative, has the power to dismiss the government. Ms. Bryce, who will replace Vietnam war veteran Maj-Gen Michael Jeffery when he retires in September, said her appointment marked a great day for Australian women. Mr. Rudd sidestepped the issue of whether the next Governor-General, who like her predecessors will carry out largely ceremonial duties, would be the nation’s last if Australia cuts ties with the monarch and becomes a republic. Australia’s Governor-General has the power to appoint a Prime Minister in the event of a hung parliament after an election, or dismiss the leader if he or she loses the confidence of lawmakers or acts unlawfully. While also nominally the commander-in-chief of the Australian Defence Force, the Governor-General in practice acts on the advice of the government. Zapatero Appoints Spain's First Cabinet with Female Majority Spain's re-elected Socialist Party Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has broken his own record for sexual equality by appointing a predominantly female cabinet for the first time in the country's history. His nine female ministers not only form a majority in a 17-strong cabinet, but also occupy heavyweight positions, including for the first time the Defence Ministry. Carme Chacon, 37, a Catalan, moves from a short stint in charge of the housing in the previous government to control the Defence portfolio, amid mounting concern over the role of Spanish troops in Afghanistan. Ms Chacon, who is expecting a baby, was a key activist in securing Mr Zapatero's surprise victory as Socialist Party leader in 2000, and is considered a member of his inner circle. In addition to her ministerial duties, she is expected to form a bridge between ruling socialists in Madrid and Catalonia's regional government. One of Mr Zapatero's most influential ministers, Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, consolidates her position as Deputy Prime Minister with increased responsibilities. Other experienced women include Magdalena Alvarez, who continues at Public Works and must solve Catalonia's water crisis; Mercedes Cabrera at Education, and Elena Salgada at Public Administrations, who must settle rivalries between the autonomous regions and Madrid. Mr Zapatero, who was sworn in as Prime Minister before King Juan Carlos, made history four years ago by appointing equal number of men and women as ministers. This time around he has also underlined his commitment to gender equality by giving women the numerical edge in the cabinet and also creating an Equality Ministry. This is to be headed by Spain's youngest ever minister, Bibiana Aido, 31, a former regional MP for Andalusia and ex-director of the region's Flamenco Agency. However, the healthy female quota in the cabinet has not gone down well with everyone. Mr Zapatero's choices were promptly criticized in barely veiled sexist terms by a conservative commentator who referred contemptuously in ABC newspaper to "ZP's battalion of inexperienced seamstresses". Male heavyweights remain: the veteran Pedro Solbes at Economy; Miguel Angel Moratinos at Foreign Affairs; and as Interior Minister, the old socialist fox Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, who has earned the confidence of Basque politicians of all stripes in countering armed Eta separatists. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Women
& Economics |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dr Faiza vows to Generate Jobs through Cottage Industry Pakistan People’s Party MPA on the women
reserved seat, Dr Faiza Rashid has vowed to generate employment
opportunities by establishing home-based industries and providing
training to vulnerable sections of the society inside their homes. She
expressed concern over the existing condition of her district, saying
that majority of people particularly women had been exploited. The
previous governments did nothing practical to resolve their problems.
The MPA said the government is trying to repatriate Afghan refugees
from various camps in Peshawar but majority of them had shifted to
Haripur, adding eight refugees camps had been established in Haripur.
“The presence and influx of fresh refugees to my district has
multiplied the miseries of the local population and crime rate.
High-Powered Women to Fight Poverty A high-powered alliance of women from government, faith-based organizations, advocacy groups and Hollywood will launch a major drive on April 13 to help impoverished women and girls around the world. The alliance, which has the backing of Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Queen Noor of Jordan and former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright among other luminaries, will unveil new fundraising commitments of $1.481 billion in the US capital this weekend. The Women, Faith and Development Alliance (WFDA) says the funds that have been raised so far will cumulatively benefit one billion poor women and girls around the globe. Laura Bush, wife of US President George W Bush, Kim Campbell, the former Prime Minister of Canada, and Hollywood actress Ashley Judd also support the alliance. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is one of the biggest supporters so far and has made a commitment of 500 million dollars over several years to address maternal mortality and to stop violence against women. Islamic Relief has pledged 43 million dollars to improve education, basic health care and water access for over one million women and girls. Catholic Relief Services and World Vision have also signed up to the inter-faith grouping that is being supported by US healthcare products giant Johnson & Johnson and other large corporations. The women and girl-focused campaign, like other global anti-poverty drives, faces daunting challenges. UN figures show that women represent 70 percent of the world’s poor, own just one percent of titled land, and make up two-thirds of the world’s illiterate people. Experts estimate there are between 1.0 and 1.2 billion people around the world who survive on less than one dollar a day, many of whom live in Sub-Saharan Africa. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Books/Reports/Articles
on Gender |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
State of Women in Balochistan Following article by Sanaullah Balcoh was published in The News. The writer highlights the deteriorating state of women in the spheres of education, health and employment in the Province. In spite of being commonly liberal, politically conscious, and culturally well-endowed, resource-rich Balochistan is Pakistan's least-developed province with high rates of infant and maternal mortality, poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition. Although are suffering due to the inflexible culture, customs and practices throughout Pakistan women, there is a larger story to tell about the state-sponsored discrimination against women in Balochistan. From the beginning Islamabad has outrageously tried to cover up its ill-conceived and discriminatory policies by blaming the Baloch themselves for their appalling state. However, facts and findings on health, education, communication, political empowerment and economic development clearly indicate that human development in Balochistan has been deliberately ignored by successive central governments, to gain strategic benefits out of the vast and geostrategic location of the province and its immense resources. Women are discriminated against in the country at large. But in Balochistan they are discriminated against by state. They have no access to enabling opportunities required for the empowerment of women in any modern and civilized society. The endless military operation, internal displacement, disappearances, intimidation and the prolonged Baloch-Islamabad conflict are hitting hard the already deprived women in the province. Central government discriminatory policy is not only resulting in slowdown of gender empowerment but its effecting overall social and economic development process in province. The most devastating consequence of underdevelopment in any society is a high fatality rate. Balochistan has highest infant and maternal mortality ratio (MMR), compared to that many Asian and African underdeveloped countries. For example, the MMR in Karachi is 281 compared to 673 in rural Balochistan. Pakistan's chief planning health officer told IRIN in June 2007 that "the maternal mortality ratio is 650 per 100,000 live births in Balochistan - nearly two times the national average," The increasing rate of preventable maternal mortality is a symptom of the larger social injustice of discrimination against women and violation of women's human rights. Thousands of avoidable maternal deaths each year indicate the government's unfaithfulness to domestic and international laws. The expert has indicated the basic lack of safe drinking water and sanitation as major cause of infant and maternal mortality in the province. The Pakistan Living Standard Measurement Survey (PSLM), 2004-5, identifies sharp a interprovincial disparity with regard to access to safe drinking water. Reports state that 52 percent of the population in Balochistan uses wells and open ponds for drinking water, compared to three per cent in Punjab, 13 percent in Sindh and 35 percent in NWFP. Balochistan's women played a vital political and human rights role during the current conflict in the province. The Baloch Women's Panel very bravely organized a number of protests, rallies and sit-ins in front of the press clubs in Quetta, Karachi and Turbat against arbitrary arrests and for the release of missing Baloch activists. Interprovincial gender inequality in employment sector is unspeakable. According to State Bank of Pakistan's 2005-06 report Balochistan and the NWFP have the highest rate of female unemployment rate of 27 percent and 29 percent, compared to seven percent and 20 percent for Punjab and Sindh. A large number of women's vocational and training centres in Punjab make women more capable and confident to qualify for market jobs. Punjab has 111 women's vocational institutes, however Balochistan has only one. Due to the lack of girls' schools in the province only 23 percent rural girls are lucky enough to be enrolled in primary as compared to 47 percent in rural Punjab. In fact, acute poverty at the margin appeared to be hitting hardest at women. As long as women's access to healthcare, education, and training remain limited, prospects for improved social status of female population will remains bleak. The Social Policy Development Centre 2005 report discovered that the percentage of the population living in a high degree of deprivation stands at 88 percent in Balochistan, 51 percent in the NWFP, 49 per cent in Sindh and 25 percent in Punjab. According to poverty-related reports the percentage of the population living below the poverty line stands at 63 percent in Balochistan, 26 percent in Punjab, 29 percent in the NWFP and 38 percent in Sindh. No development policy could succeed unless it is based on the needs and participation of people in the process. In Balochistan's case, what people need is socio-economic development, political empowerment, clean drinking water, electricity, practical education, basic health facilities, proper roads and infrastructure connecting rural towns to the main centres. But central government is doing the opposite. The Baloch are subject to extreme discrimination. No state in the present era singles out its citizen on the basis of region and ethnicity. The regime in Islamabad must respect Baloch rights and stop its systematic discriminatory policies. Women in Muslim World Dr Farrukh Saleem, in his article ‘Women in Muslim World,” commented on the situation of women in Muslim-majority countries by referring to Global Gender Gap (GGG) Report. Muslims
do not
treat women right. According to the Global Gender Gap (GGG) report, the
planet's ten-worst offenders are: Yemen, Chad, Pakistan, Nepal, Saudi
Arabia, Benin, Morocco, Turkey, Egypt and Oman. Of the ten, nine are
Muslim-majority states. At the other end of the spectrum, the planet's
best countries for women to live in are: Sweden, Norway, Finland,
Ireland, New Zealand, Philippines, Germany, Denmark, Ireland and Spain.
Not even one of the top-ten is a Muslim-majority state. GGG collected
data from a total of 128 countries to develop a comprehensive,
scientific index. The GGG Index is based on four different sub-indices
-- namely, economic participation, educational attainment, political
empowerment and health -- while each of the sub-indices has half a
dozen components. Under economic participation, five of the
worst-offenders are: Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Oman and Bahrain.
Under educational attainment, the worst-offenders are: Chad, Yemen,
Benin and Pakistan. The best: Denmark, United Kingdom, Australia,
France and Belgium. Under political empowerment the worst are: Saudi
Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt and Iran. The best: Sweden,
Finland, Norway, Iceland and Spain.
For women, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan comes out as one the worst of countries to live in; there are only two other countries worse off than is Pakistan -- Yemen and Chad. Under economic participation, Pakistan is ranked 126 out of 128. Educational attainment, 123 out of 128. Health, 121 out of 128. Political empowerment, 43 out of 128. Surprisingly, Pakistani women are worse off this year than they were last year. Al Mamlakah al Arabiyah as Suudiyah, or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is ranked really low, too. Under economic participation, Saudi Arabia is ranked 127 out of 128. Educational attainment, 87 out of 128. Health, 60 out of 128. Political empowerment, 128 out of 128. Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah, or the Republic of Yemen is worse than both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Under economic participation, Yemen is ranked 128 out of 128. Educational attainment, 127 out of 128. Political empowerment, 127 out of 128. Intriguingly, there is a correlation between poverty and status of women. Some of the worst offenders are also the poorest of the poor (with the exception of oil wealth). Most of the Arab world is far below global averages and conditions, unfortunately, are actually deteriorating -- not improving. Yes, there are a few exceptions. The UAE, for instance, has invested massive resources into educating its women. Bahrain now has a woman parliamentarian. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Formation of Provincial Government
– |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About 353 members
comprising 165
members of the PML-N, 106 of the PPP, 86 of the PML-Q, two of the MMA,
four of
the PML-Functional and two independent members took oath at the
inaugural
session. Outgoing Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Afzal Sahi in the
opening
session of the new Provincial Assembly allowed, after resistance of
about one
hour the PML-N and the PPP, to table two resolutions, paying rich
tributes to
Benazir Bhutto and condemning the October 12, 1999 military coup of
Pervez
Musharraf. Earlier, lawmakers refused to
take oath till the outgoing speaker assured them that they were being
administered oath under the 1973 Constitution. A total of 353 members
took oath
from the speaker, who congratulated them on becoming part of the House.
He said
the new assembly should complete its tenure. Rana Iqbal read out
PML-N's
resolution that the session pays homage to the people of
government
to
demand the federal government unearth the facts as to the killing
of Benazir and carry out the investigation into her killing through the
United Nations.Speaker and Deputy Speaker Punjab Assembly elected
Rana
Muhammad Iqbal as Speaker and Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan as Deputy
Speaker on
April 11. The newly-elected Speaker
Punjab
Assembly, Rana Muhammad Iqbal son of Rana Phool Muhammad Khan was born
in Phool
Nagar, Karnal district of India, in 1944. Rana Iqbal currently residing
in
Lambe Jageer, tehsil Pattoki of Kasur district, won the general
election-2008
from PP-184, Kasur-10. He received primary education from
The newly-elect Punjab Assembly’s Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan, son of Rana Abdur Rahim Khan was born in Chief Minister 14-Member The PML-N ministers and their
portfolios are: Rana
Sanaullah Khan
–
Law and Parliamentary Affairs
Malik
Nadeem Kamran
–
Food Ahmad
Ali Oulakh
– Agriculture
Mujtaba
Shaujaur Rehman
–
Excise and Taxation Iqbal
Chunnar
–
Special Education Chaudhry
Abdul Ghafoor
– Trade
and Commerce Kamran
Michael
– Minorities The PPP ministers and their portfolios
are:
Tanveer
Ashraf Kaira
–
Finance
Haji
Ishaq
– Revenue Neelam
Jabbar
–
Population Welfare Ashraf
Sohna
–
Labour and Human Resource
Ehsanuddin
Qureshi
–
Religious Affairs and Auqaf No portfolio has yet been allocated to PPP ministers, Tanveerul Islam and Farooq Yousuf Ghurki. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Formation of Provincial Government
– Sindh |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The first session of the
new Sindh
Assembly unanimously passed three resolutions presented by the Pakistan
People’s Party (PPP) on 5 April after swearing in 158 newly elected
MPAs. Senior PPP leaders Nisar Ahmed
Khuhro, Syed
Qaim Ali Shah and Pir Mazharul Haq jointly presented the first
resolution,
saying that the Sindh government should approach the Federal Government
for an
investigation into the late Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. Qaim Ali
Shah
presented the second resolution, and asked the Sindh government to
approach the
federal government, seeking an apology from the National Assembly for
the “judicial
murder” of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Tariq Aarain and Jam Tamachi jointly
presented
the third resolution, saying that in light of the services Benazir
Bhutto had
rendered for democracy, Nawabshah district should be renamed as Shaheed
Benazir
Bhutto district.
Speaker and Deputy Speaker Chief Minister Sindh Cabinet The new cabinet includes four women ministers, two ministers from minority members and one from the Awami National Party (ANP). It comprises: Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq – Senior Minister with portfolios of Education and Literacy, Dr.
Zulfiqar Ali Mirza
–
Home,
Prisons, Syed
Ali Nawaz Shah
–
Agriculture
Manzoor
Hussain Wassan
–
Works and Services
Jam
Saifullah Khan Dharejo
– Irrigation
and Power
Murad
Ali Shah
–
Revenue and Relief
excluding
L.U.
Mir
Nadir Ali Magsi
– Food
Agha
Siraj Khan Durani
–
Local Government Muhammad
Ayaz Soomro
–
Law, Parliamentary Affairs, Sports and Youth Affairs
Muhammad
Sajid Jokhio
–
Zakat, Ushr and Religious
Affairs
Akhtar
Hussain Jadoon
–
Transport Jam
Mahtab Hussain Dahar
–
Population Welfare
Amir
Nawab
–
Labour
Abdul
Haque Bhurt
– Livestock
Mukesh
Kumar
–
Excise and Taxation Ms.
Sassui Palijo
– Culture
and Tourism Ms.
Shazia Mari
– Information
Ms.
Nargis N.D. Khan
–
Social Welfare
Ms.
Tauqeer Fatima Bhutto
–
Women Development Abdul
Jalil Memon
– Cooperation |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Pakistan People’s
Party and
Muttahida Qaumi Movement have finalized a power-sharing formula, on
April 30,
under which the MQM will join the Sindh government with 13
ministers, one
adviser and one special assistant. With the induction of the MQM
ministers, the
strength of the Sindh cabinet would reach 38, including four advisers.
The
portfolios allotted to MQM ministers include: health, industries and
commerce,
information technology, environment and alternate energy, sports, youth
affairs, rural development, public health engineering, Auqaf, bureau of
supply
and prices and human rights. Two portfolios are yet to be decided. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Formation of Provincial Government
– NWFP |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti is the 21st Chief Minister of NWFP, who took on the on April 02, 2008. The 37 years old Hoti was born on February 5, 1971 in Mardan. He is the son of Former Federal Minister Azam Khan Hoti. He passed his intermediate exam from historic Aitichison College Lahore in 1990 and did his graduation from Edwards College Peshawar in 1992. He is the grand son of late Khudai Khidmatgar and right hand man of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan commonly known as “Baacha Khan”. He is the nephew of ANP Chief Asfandyar Wali Khan as such late Khan Abdul Wali Khan was his maternal grand father. He started his political carrier as ANP organizer in Mardan city. Later he became the Senior Vice President of the party in Mardan District. He was inducted as joint secretary general in the Provincial Cabinet of the party and later became Provincial Deputy Secretary General of the party. He was holding this office till his elevation to the post of Chief Minister. He contested for the provincial assembly seat in 2002 but lost the election. He is married to the daughter of ANP leader Sareer Khan of Mardan. He is the first Chief Minister from ANP after partition as the cabinet of Doctor Khan Sahib was dismissed soon after the creation of NWFP Cabinet Bashir Ahmed Bilour – Local Government, Election and Rural Development
Rahim
Dad Khan
– Planning
& Development
Arbab
Muhammad Ayub Jan
– Agriculture Muhammad
Ayub Khan Ashari
–
Science
&Technology and Information Technology Barrister
Arshad Abdullah
– Law,
Parliamentary Affairs & Human Rights
Muhammad
Hamayun Khan
– Irrigation
and Power
Liaqat
Ali Shabab
– Excise
and Taxation Mehmud
Zeb Khan
– Revenue
and Estate Mian
Nisar Gul
–
Prisons Namroz
Khan
–
Auqaf,
Haj, Religious and Minority Affairs Saleem
Khan
–
Population
Welfare Sardar
Hussain Babak
–
Schools
& Literacy
Syed
Aqil Shah
–
Sports, Culture, Tourism and Museum Sitara
Ayaz
–
Social
Welfare and Women’s Development Syed
Wajid Ali Khan
–
Environment Muhammad
Zarshaid
–
Zakat
and Ushr Syed
Zahir Ali Shah
–
Health Muhammad
Shujaa Khan
– Food Sher
Azam Khan
– Labour The five Ministers, who took oath,
included:
Pervez
Khattak
--
Finance Habibur
Rehman Tanoli
--
Fisheries Qazi
Muhammad Asad Khan
--
Higher Education Amjad
Khan Afridi
-- Housing
& Planning Hidayatullah
Khan
-- Livestock
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Formation of Provincial Government
– Balochistan |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Balochistan Assembly
Sworn-In Newly elected 62 members
of the 9th
provincial assembly took the oath on 7th April. The outgoing
Speaker, Jamal Shah Kakar, administered oath to the members of the
house. Nawab
Muhammad Aslam Raisani of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) appeared as
the
only candidate for the post of the Chief Minister after winning the
support of
independent candidates, MMA, BNP(A), PML-Q (Ham Khiyal Group) and ANP
members
for power-sharing and forming a coalition government in the province.
However, finally the PML-Q was divided over the nomination of leadership in the house when its special committee nominated Shaikh Jaffar Mandokhel as the Leader of the House. Later, 12 members of the PML-Q (Ham Khiyal Group), led by Ex-Deputy Speaker Muhammad Aslam Bhutani, announced their support to the PPP for forming a coalition government. Lastly, the PML-Q nominee for parliamentary leader Shaikh Jaffar Mandokhel also announced his support to the PPP for forming a coalition government in the province. Now, the PPP has the support of 61 members out of 65 (51 general seats and 14 reserved seats including three for minorities and 11 for women) in the assembly. Speaker and Deputy Speaker Chief Minister Balochistan Cabinet Baloch-istan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani on April 26 inducted three more ministers into his cabinet. Governor Zulfiqar Ali Magsi administrated the oath to the ministers, Mohammad Amin of the PPP, Masood Ahmed Luni of the PML-Q and Capt (retd) Abdul Khaliq of PML-N. The number of Balochistan cabinet members has reached 41. The governor also appointed Dr Ruqiya Saeed Hashmi of the PML-Q as special assistant to the Chief Minister. Following Ministers have been allotted portfolios so far: Maulana Abdul Wasay – Senior Minister for Planning and Development
Maulana
Abdul Haji
Aunullah Shams
–
Health Maulana
Muhammad Sarwar
–
Labour and Power Maulana
Abdul Samad
–
Haji
Muhammad Nawaz
–
Balochistan Development
Authority Zumruk
Khan
–
Revenue Abdul
Khaliq Bashir Dost
–
Local Government Syed
Ehsan Shah
–
Industries
Mir
Asadullah Baloch
–
Agriculture Mir
Zafarullah Zehri
–
Home
and Tribal Affairs Ghulam
Jan Baloch
–
Environment Mir
Asghar Ali Rind
–
Social Welfare Mir
Sadiq Umrani
--
Communication and Works
Department Shafiq
Ahmed Khan
--
Education Yunus
Malazai
--
Information Ali
Madad Jattak
--
Food Agha
Irfan Karim
--
Zakkat Mohammad
Ismaeel Gujjar
--
Ms
Ghazala Gola
--
Minorities Affairs Aslam
Bizenjo
--
Irrigation Abdul
Rehman Mengal
--
Mines & Minerals Mir
Asim Kurd
--
Without Portfolio (will
look after the affairs of finance but the
portfolio will remain with the Chief Minister)
The provincial cabinet
has seen
three very close relatives. They are Agha Irfan
Karim |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Formation of NA Committees |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Taking the number of
National
Assembly standing committees to 46, the lower house, on April 24,
approved
reconstitution of 37 more committees despite informal dissent by the
opposition. The nominations for nine standing committees have already
been
approved during earlier days of the ongoing 4th session. The
nominations for
the committees have yet to be decided.
Federal Law Minister Farooq A Naik moved the nominations for 37 committees, which was approved by Speaker Fahmida Mirza. The deputy opposition leader Ameer Muqam said the members were nominated without their consultation. The standing committees which have been reconstituted included committees for Cabinet Secretariat, Commerce, Communications, Culture, Defence, Defence Production, Economics Affairs and Statistics, Education, Environment, Food and Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Health, House and Library, Housing and Works, Industries and Production, Information Technology, Interior, Labour, manpower and Overseas Pakistanis, Local Government and Rural Development, Minorities, Narcotics Control, Parliamentary Affairs, Petroleum and Natural Resources, Planning and Development, Population Welfare, Ports and Shipping, Railways, Religious Affairs, Zakat and Ushr, Rules of Procedure and Privileges, Social Welfare and Special Education, Sports, Textile Industries, Tourism, Water and Power, Women's Development and Committee of NA Secretariat. Already approved committees included Finance and Revenue, Information and Broadcasting, |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Women Parliamentarians |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
A Roundtable with
Directly Elected
Women Parliamentarians was organized by The Researchers on April 16,
2008. The
participants included Azra Fazal Pecheho (PPP), Shamshad Sattar Bachani
(PPP),
Robina Shaheen Watto (INDP), Mrs. Umer Farooq (PML-N), Saira Afzal
Tarar
(PML-N) and Naghma Mushtaq Lang (PML-Q).
Interestingly, it was revealed during the discussion that not even a single woman candidate was able to win general seats without having a strong political family background during elections 2008. Rejecting the demand of reserving party tickets for women to contest on general seats, women parliamentarians said that they should make themselves politically active in order to compete with men. They said that women presently in politics were giving a strong message that they could be successful in politics. The participants said that politics was a game of winning and no party could afford to do experimentation at the time of elections. The same rule applies to men as well, they said. All the political parties could do was to let them contest from seats they were destined not to lose in order to give newcomers an exposure to mass politics, they added. The roundtable was attended by representatives of major political parties who shared their interesting experiences while expressing their views on electoral process, political parties, socio-cultural paradigm and religious dynamics. The women parliamentarians were of the opinion that it was really hard for a woman to enter politics without having a strong political background. Dr. Azra Fazal Pechecho said that women contesting the election had to oblige the moral standards set by the society otherwise the society didn’t accept them. She said having a strong political background; her political struggle was not much difficult as it could be otherwise. Pechecho said she also benefited by her age factor, as it was easier for a women with older age to campaign compared to a young contestant. She said absence of National Identity Cards (NIC) usually stopped women from casting their votes. She complained that the country’s far-flung less developed areas didn’t have an access to the NADRA swift centres nor did the NADRA mobile vans visit them. She said she would ensure that at least NADRA mobile vans visit the outreach areas frequently. Saira Afzal Tarar was of the view that religion never asked women not to participate in politics but it sets a code of conduct for men and women. Saira said that she never addressed men directly other than one occasion when Nawaz Sharif was visiting her constituency. She said people did not care about gender differences but they wanted competent and honest representatives capable of solving their problems. She said women were in no way inferior to men. Citing the example of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Fehmida Mirza, she said her performance had been better than that of her predecessor. The daughter-in-law of former President Rafiq Tarar stressed that religious values should not be set aside. Shamshad Sattar Bachani briefed the participants that they would focus on adult literacy among women so that they could at least read a newspaper and be aware of the happenings. Naghma Mushtaq Lang said that the elected people should work for the welfare of the people irrespective of their party. PML-Q MPA from Independent MPA Robina Shaheen Wattoo told that in the beginning she had been advised not to go out for her election campaign because people would vote for her because of her father, Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo. But she decided to run her campaign herself. She said that people respected me and reposed their trust in me. This dispels the perception that people are against women’s participation in politics. She criticized the previous government’s policies and especially mentioned a literacy campaign launched by the former Mrs. Umar Farooq, a PML-N MPA from Wah, highlighted that her constituency had the highest literacy ratio in the country but even highly-educated girls faced unemployment. She said that she never went out for campaigning before elections. While presenting the observations of the preliminary report, The Researchers Executive Director Aazar Ayaz said that 70 percent of women contestants belong to political houses and replacing their male family member for one reason or the other. Mr. Aazar Ayaz said that women’s voting preference was political party rather than a female candidate while voting for a candidate was a family decision. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By-Elections |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Schedule for By-Elections |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
By elections will be held on following National and Provincial Assemblies constituencies: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
CONSTITUENCIES NA-119
Lahore-II, NA-207 Larkana-cum-Shikarpur-cum-Kamber Shahdadkot (Old
Larkana-IV),
NA-11 Mardan-III
PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLIES CONSTITUENCIES PUNJAB: PP-10 Rawalpindi-X, PP-48 Bhakkar-II, PP-59 Faisalabad-IX, PP-70 Faisalabad-XX, PP-99 Gujranwala-IX, PP-107 Hafizabad-III, PP-118 M.B Din-III, PP-124 Sialkot-IV, PP-141 Lahore-V, PP-154 Lahore-XVIII, PP-171 Nankana Sahib-II (Old Sheikhupura-X), PP-219 Khanewal-VIII, PP-229 Pakpattan-III, PP-243 D.G.Khan-IV, PP-258 Muzaffargarh-VIII, PP-277 Bahawalnagar-I, PP-295 R.Y Khan-XI SINDH: PS-30 Khairpur-II, PS-44
Matiari-cum-Hyderabad (old Hyderabad-II), PS-62 Tharparkar-III NWFP: PF-20 Charsadda-IV, PF-45
Abbottabad-II, PF-59 Battagram-I, PF-75 Lakki Marwat-II, PF-81 Swat-II,
PF-91 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Election Observers |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The European Union has
urged
The 70-page report examines the complete electoral process and recommends 83 steps for improving the election framework and conditions. The EU mission was in Following are some of the recommendations made in EU eport:
Detailed report is
available on following
URL: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Laws,
Ordinances Promulgated |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Supreme Court
rescinded the
condition of graduation for contesting the general elections, declaring
it
ultra vires of the fundamental rights laid down in the Constitution. A
seven-member larger bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice
Abdul
Hameed Dogar, while hearing the petition filed against the condition of
graduation degree, abolished it by declaring it as against the
fundamental
rights guaranteed in the Constitution. The bench in its short order
declared
the graduation condition for contesting the general elections as
invalid and
inconsistent with Article 17 (freedom of association) and Article 25
(equality
of citizens) of the Constitution. Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokhar,
Justice
Ejazul Hassan, Justice Mohammad Musa K Leghari, Justice Chaudhry Ejaz
Yousuf,
Justice Syed Sakhi Hussain Bukhari and Justice Syed Zawwar Hussain
Jaffery were
other members of the bench. Muhammad Nasir Mehmud and Shameer Ahmed had
challenged the condition of graduation for contesting the general
elections in
the apex court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, making
federation of
through
the
secretary, ministry of law and justice and human rights division as
respondents. During the proceedings, Attorney-General Malik Muhammad
Qayyum
argued that the condition of graduation for contesting the general
elections
did not exist in any democratic country. He contended that it was
against the
democratic norms; thus, it be repealed. He said it was discriminatory
in nature
because it had created a class within the society by disenfranchising
97
percent of the people.Following is the text of
the short
order issued on 21 April by a seven-member larger bench of the Supreme
Court
headed by Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar in a petition against the
restriction of graduation for contesting the parliamentary elections:
“For reasons to be recorded later, this petition under Article 184(3) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 is allowed. The provisions of Article 8-A of the Conduct of General Election Order, 2002 (Chief Executive’s Order No. 7 of 2002) and Clause (cc) of Subsection (1) of Section 99 of the Representation of the People’s Act, 1976, which lay down that a person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of the Majlis-e-Shura (parliament) or a provincial assembly unless he is at least a graduate, possessing a bachelor degree in any discipline or any degree recognised as equivalent by the University Grants Commission under the University Grants Commission Act, 1974 or any other law for the time being in force are declared to be void prospectively on account of their being inconsistent with Articles 17 and 25 of the Constitution”. In 2002, through Article 8(A) of the Chief Executive Order No 17, Section 99 (1)(CC) was inserted into the Representation of Peoples Act 1976, requiring a contesting candidate to be at least a graduate in any discipline or holder of a degree recognized by the Higher Education Commission. The graduation condition had barred a large number of seasoned politicians to contest the election. Cabinet Move to Repeal
Changes in PEMRA
Ordinance The Federal Cabinet
approved, on
April 9, a draft law repealing amendments made to the PEMRA Ordinance
on November
3 last year and restoring it in its original position.
In reply to a question about the PEMRA Ordinance, the minister said that PEMRA was a regulatory body which would no more take actions like blocking television channels, stopping live telecast of events or forcing cable operators to take such actions or confiscating their equipment. She claimed that neither her ministry nor PEMRA had ordered the suspension of live telecast of some private TV channels in Karachi a couple of days ago, adding that some cable operators, because of ‘some reservations’ had done it on their own. Bill to Amend
Controversial SPSC Law
Adopted In the amendment bill there are four sections: 1. The act may be called the Sindh Public Service Commission (Amendment) Act, 2008 and shall come into force at once. 2.
In
the Sindh Public Service Commission Act, 1989, hereafter called the
said Act,
Clause (bb) of section, shall be omitted. 3.
Throughout
the Act, for the word “governor,” the word “government” shall be
substituted. “(2) The chairman or a member shall hold office for a single non-renewable term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office; provided that the government may, in its discretion, reconstitute the commission and reappoint the chairman and the members within a period of 30 days from the date on which this sub-section comes into force.” After the third reading, when the bill was put to the vote, it was passed by a majority. Draft National Youth
Policy 2008
Finalized The policy set out following 14 main principles.
Organizational structure: An organizational structure has been built for implementation of the policy. According to this structure, the National Youth Council (NYC) will bead the implementation process. The council consists of the prime ministers of National Youth Fund: The draft envisages that philanthropists, corporations and NGOs would contribute to build National Youth Fund (NYF), which would have seed money from the government, to implement the youth policy. Critics: Experts feared that involvement of so many ministries would make implementation of the policy next to impossible. Environment Minister Hameedullah Jan Afridi told Daily Times that the centre had little control over provinces, which caused failure of policies in general. A senior bureaucrat said monitoring and accountability were vital to make any policy a success. She advised that the Youth Affairs Ministry should run a pilot protect at first before implementing the youth policy. Others say basic role of NGOs is capacity building but they fail to do so because of shortage of funds and other problems. NWFP Governor Amends Code
of
Criminal Procedure Ordinance Under the Constitution, an ordinance issued by the governor remains in force for three months. It is now for the new provincial government to decide whether to retain the amendments or revoke them. Prior to the introduction of the devolution of power plan in 2001, executive powers were exercised by deputy commissioners (district magistrates) and sub-divisional magistrates, etc. However, amendments made to the Constitution in August, 2001, empowered district nazims to issue orders under Section 144 on written recommendations of district superintendent of police or executive district officer. The amended ordinance states that words ‘district nazim’ wherever occurring shall be substituted with the DCO. Likewise, in sub-section (6) of the Section 144, the words ‘consecutive days and not more than seven days in a month’ have been substituted with the ‘months’. After this amendment, an order issued by the DCO under this section could remain in force for two months. Previously, a nazim’s orders were supposed to remain in force for seven consecutive days in a month. The sources said that the amendments had been necessitated by law and order situation in the province. They said that although nazims enjoyed powers under Section 144, they were reluctant to use them because of political compulsions. Although the amendments are being portrayed as a step aimed at improving the law and order situation, these are being viewed in official circles as a move towards gradual restoration of the defunct system of executive magistracy in the province. The Governor had earlier appointed three regional coordination officers (RCOs) on the pattern of defunct commissioners. The RCOs have been given sweeping powers and all DCOs, political agents and deputy inspectors general (DIGs) of police have been placed under then. The nazims, who used to demand more financial and administrative authority and raised voices against the non-implementation of the Local Government Ordinance (LGO-2001) in the past, did not appear to have been upset by the amendments. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
New
Government & Governance Issues |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Future of Local Government System |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
After finding it not
viable, the
Punjab government intends to rehash the local government system by
reducing
powers of nazims and equipping the field administrative machinery with
management and magisterial powers to recreate a deliverable chain of
command
from top to the bottom. And in view of this, it is posting officers as
DCOs and
DDORs who could immediately start delivering under the proposed
administrative
system as soon as it is introduced. The local government system
introduced by
President Pervez Musharraf in the name of devolution of power cannot be
amended
without his approval at the moment. And officials
believe that this would now
be possible after the adoption of the constitutional package the
federal
government intends to introduce for striking a balance between powers
of the
president and the parliament.
The new team of top officials in Punjab, put in place before the induction of the PML-N government, considers the LG system the mother of all ills the country in general and the province in particular are facing at the moment. They say the system abolished the colonial magistracy system without providing an alternative management system. This allowed mushrooming of problems without leaving anyone to tackle them as a basic responsibility. The DDORs will be given the powers of the defunct assistant commissioners and the DCOs of the defunct deputy commissioners. Regional coordination officers will also be introduced to control DCOs in the defunct divisions. They will act like the defunct divisional commissioners and also write annual confidential reports (ACRs) of the DIG range and respective DCOs. These posts have already been created by the NWFP. The other types of DDOs are like the staff officers of the DCOs working as the defunct ADCGs. And therefore, they will most probably continue to function in their present form. Local Government Record
Sealed in
Attock Bilour says Local
Government System
to be Amended Restoration
of Sacked Judges
Deadline on Judges
Restoration – A Chronology
of Events during April
April 1, 2008: Deposed Judge of Supreme Court Justice (retd) Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday lauds lawyers' Movement while addressing Lahore Bar. April 2: Justice (Retd) Wajih-ud-Din said that Chief Justice of April 3: Summary sent to Law Ministry to revoke Nov 3, laws. April 4: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani said government is taking steps for independent judiciary. April 4: Aitzaz announced that Justice (retd) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry will not address any bar during the 30 days deadline given for the judges' restoration. April 6: Haji Saifullah a senior politician in an interview stated that 'Referendum can restore judges. April 7: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani stated that parliament would sort out judicial crises. April 7: PPPP central leader Jehangir Badr said parliament would decide judges' reinstatement. April 8: Federal Law Minister Farooq Naik said that deposed judges will be restored. April 8: Aitzaz warned of protest if all judges are not restored. April 8: Aitzaz stated that lawyers have faith in parliament. April 13: Federal Law Minister Farooq Naik announced that formula for judges' reinstatement due in next week. April 13: Chief Justice of April 13: Qazi Hussain Ahmad called on Nawaz Sharif to assure his support over judges' restoration. April 15: PPPP leaders pledge to restore judges with dignity. April 16: Nawaz-Zardari held a detailed meeting and coalition partners vowed to reinstate judges within given time. April 16: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani said that 'good news about judges soon'. April 17: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani stated that parliament will decide fate of judiciary and President Pervez Musharraf. April 17: Federal Law Minister Farooq Naik said that judges to be restored as per Murree Pact. April 20: Federal Law Minister Farooq Naik refused to comment over Countdown to reinstatement of judges. April 21: PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif stated that resolution to restore judges soon. April 21: Federal Law Minister Farooq Naik briefed Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif about restoration of judges. April 22: Nawaz-Zardari meeting held but failed to establish any consensus over judges' restoration. April 23: Deadlock persists: as it was decided that the resolution to be revised. April 23: Zardari-Nawaz differed over countdown. April 23: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani said he has no objection for executive orders if his party asked him to do so. April 25: Judges' reinstatement: Resolution remained in Limbo. April 25: Asif Ali Zardari left for April 25: Joint committee formed for the restoration of judges held meeting but remained inconclusive. April 26: Joint committee finalises proposals on judges restoration. April 26: Makhdoom Javed Hashmi hinted that PML-N may quit if judges not restored. April 26: Judges' restoration issue: Nawaz Sharif warns against dissolution of newly elected parliament. April 27: Nawaz Sharif stated that judges will be reinstated within few days. April 28: Zardari held detailed meeting with Shahbaz Sharif in April 28: Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani stated that Chief Justice of April 28: PML-Q Chief Shujaat Hussain stated that his party will move resolution for judges restoration. April 28: PML-Q central leader Mushahid Hussain stated that removal of judges was a mistake of President Pervez Musharraf. April 29: Coalition partners remained silent in the second round of |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
PML-N, PPP Agree on
Constitutional
Package to The amendment would allow incumbent and the sacked SC judges to continue in office after the latter’s possible reinstatement in the next few days. The constitutional package will propose amendments in the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1997, to increase the court strength to 27, it is learnt. Under the SC (Number of Judges) Act, 1997, the SC has 17 permanent judges but the number will jump to 27 in violation of the Act if the deposed judges including chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry are reinstated. Law Minister Farooq Naek had informed the PPP-PMLN special committee on the judges’ issue that the number of the SC judges would have to be increased through an amendment to the Act if the deposed judges were restored under the current circumstances. They said the tabling of the proposed amendment in parliament would follow the resolution to restore the deposed judges. Electoral
Reforms
Committee for Electoral
Reforms Secretary Election
Commission
Pakistan, Kanwal Dilshad said on April 28 that Chief Election
Commissioner of
National
Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO)
PPP, PML-N at odds on NRO
in NA The Pakistan People's
Party on April
21 opposed the debate in the National Assembly over the issue of the
National
Reconciliation Ordinance on technical grounds. NA Deputy Speaker Faisal
Karim
Kundi disallowed a calling attention notice moved by five MNAs of
Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz after Federal Law Minister Farooq Naik argued that
the NRO
is under challenge in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Naik argued to oppose the notice to debate it in the National Assembly session and said that since the matter is pending before the Supreme Court, I cannot give any comment on it. The calling attention notice was moved by PML-N MNAs, Hanif Abbasi, Malik Ibrar Ahmad, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Mohammad Birjees Tahir and Abid Sher Ali. They wanted to invite the attention of the federal law minister regardin not giving relief to the general public and political workers under the NRO across the country and to debate it via a calling attention notice. Moving the matter, Hanif Abbasi said that NRO was a good step that relinquished all the false cases against senior leadership because these cases were not proved in the courts of law following pending for several years. Farooq Naik was quick in responding the matter and said that the matter is subjudice. After ruling out debate over the issues from deputy speaker, another MNA Abid Sher Ali protested and insisted to take it up for debate. He along with rest of the movers wanted to protest against the ruling but following indication from Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, they gave up.
The Frontier Crimes
Regulation (FCR)
is in the news again. A new government has, once again, taken up the
cause of
the people living under a harsh law and in dreadful conditions in a
region that
the constitution calls the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA).
This
time, however, the talk of reform is being taken more seriously, but
only
because the ‘legal black hole’ of FATA has become ‘international news’
for all
the wrong reasons - as a hub of terrorist activity and a source of
potential
danger to the rest of the country. This did not happen overnight. Many
factors
have brought FATA to its present dismal situation, but the main cause
remains
the constitutional neglect that has allowed the operation of the harsh
legal
regime, the FCR. This is a law that nearly every government has termed
‘draconian’ and yet each government found it useful and retained it in
all its
harshness. There are also those who argue that minus some provisions,
it is
still the only law appropriate for the FATA. Their reasons are based
not on the
welfare of the people of FATA, but on much larger ‘strategic’ interests
or
strange colonial notions. FCR has also, in the imagination of the
people of
FATA, become the symbol of the independence and the separate identity
of people
of the FATA. Repealing of FCR brings visions of the thanedar and the
patwari
roaming the FATA villages and towns and that is enough to send shivers
down the
spines of many a tribal elder.
How did the FCR achieve this status, and what exactly is this beast called the FCR? But before we can enter into any discussion on the provisions of the FCR, we would need to briefly look at the constitutional status of the FATA and the conditions in which FCR was promulgated. To begin with, the frontier in the FCR relates not to the frontier of a province or a country but the frontier of the All its major provisions are applicable only against Pathan and Baloch and such other class that the government may declare. It is on the face of it discriminatory as it is applicable only to ‘Pathans and Baloch’. Further, its provisions come into conflict with a number of fundamental rights. It provides for the trial of offences as well as the settlement of disputes of civil nature through a Council of Elders, which in common parlance is termed a jirga. In case of a civil dispute, where there is an apprehension that it may lead to a “blood feud, or murder, or culpable homicide not amounting to murder or mischief or breach of peace” which covers nearly every scenario of dissatisfaction, the deputy commissioner refers to matter to a Council of Elders for findings on “specified issues”. Section 8 of the FCR states that the council may hold such inquiry as may be necessary to arrive at a findings. And when the findings are given, they are not binding on the deputy commissioner. He may pass a decree on the findings if he so desires or remand the case for reconsideration to the same council or constitute another council or even end the case there and then by stating no further proceedings are required. Similarly, in a criminal case, the question of guilt of the accused refer the matter to a Council of Elders, which holds an inquiry as may be necessary. Again, the finding is not exactly binding on the deputy commissioner. If unsatisfied with the findings of the council, the deputy commissioner may remand the case to the same council and or refer it to another council. In both civil and criminal cases, it is the deputy commissioner who nominates all the members of the Council of Elders. This fact alone completely undermines the independence of the council in the public perception. The power to nominate members of the Council of Elders also helped to create a local elite, powerful in the local community but beholden to the deputy commissioner without undermining any of the powers of the deputy commissioner. Further, in both criminal as well as criminal cases, evidence is not recorded, i.e. it is not put in black and white. There is no legal requirement for the Council of Elders to follow any specific law or rules of evidence or procedure. This creates complications and confusion as to what may be considered as evidence what may be disregarded as hearsay. It is argued that the reason administrators prefer institutions like the Council of Elders or jirga is the fact that it allows hearsay and inadmissible evidence to be considered. Basing decisions on hearsay completely destroys even a pretence of a fair trial. There is also no time frame for the Council of Elders to complete the inquiry or submit its findings. As a result, cases can linger for years. There is an appeal process. The authority of accepting the first appeal lies with Commissioner FCR. The newly-established FCR Tribunal (which consists of two civil servants: the secretaries of the Home and the Law Departments, Government of NWFP) has been empowered to hear the second appeal. At no stage does the process touch or enter the common legal system of the country. These provisions appear harsh not only on paper; in actual practice they create far more hardships and injustice. The Council of Elders more often than not apply the unjust and harsh customary laws, a problem that intensifies when the deputy commissioner does not use his discretion in aid of the marginalized sections of the population, particularly when it comes into conflict with local ‘sensitivities’. Combined, all these factors effectively subvert the due process and kill the need for a methodical and scientific investigation and almost always shift the burden of proof on to the accused. The power to appoint members to the Council of Elders considerably increased the influence of the Deputy Commissioner and made criminal law a tool for controlling the people and creating hegemony of a chosen elite over the general population rather than fostering justice. A major feature of the FCR is the concept of ‘collective responsibility’, which means that a whole tribe can be held responsible and punished for the misdeeds of a section or some members of a tribe. The punishments range from “seizure, wherever they are found, of all members of such tribe and of all or any property belonging to them or any of them” to recover a sum such as fine, etc. The FCR empowers the Deputy Commissioner to demolish any building that is habitually used as a meeting place by robbers, house breakers, thieves or for the purpose of gambling. The criteria are so vague that the Deputy Commissioner can literally demolish any building within his jurisdiction. This power is regularly exercised and sometimes we find it being reported on the PTV. The only other news of such demolitions comes from The FCR was held to be violative of the constitution and void in Dosso Vs State (PLD 1957 Quetta 9). The West Pakistan High Court held FCR to be violative of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1956 and therefore void. But before the appeal to the decision could be decided, the constitution was abrogated. In fact, it was the appeal of this decision in which the Supreme Court (State vs Dosso PLD 1957 SC 533) held the abrogation of the 1956 Constitution legal. Similarly, under the 1962 Constitution, in a number of cases beginning with Malik Mohammad Usman vs State (PLD 1965 Lah 668), FCR was held unconstitutional. Again, abrogation of the constitution before the final decision in the matter revived the FCR. Such revivals are based on a vague principle of constitutional law, the ‘Doctrine of Eclipse’, that when a statue is declared unconstitutional, it remains on the statute books. It is not struck off as in case of repeal by the legislature, it is merely eclipsed by the constitutional objection. And if that constitutional objection is removed or the court changes its decision regarding the conflict with a provision of the constitution, the law automatically revives. As mentioned earlier, the 1973 Constitution excluded the jurisdiction of the superior courts in FATA, the FCR, a law more than once declared unconstitutional on grounds of being violative of the fundamental rights, continued to be a valid law. FATA has not seen any meaningful reforms. All previous efforts have merely been of a cosmetic and superficial nature. The real issues have not been addressed. The real issues are exclusion from the mainstream, in particular the legal system, and the problem of accessibility and development. Extending regular laws requires a minimum level of development. If, for example, we consider the setting up of a proper legal system in FATA, can it be done through mere amendments in the law? The answer is ‘no’. For extending the regular criminal laws, a lot of institutions would need to be developed and infrastructure put in place, i.e. a police force, capable of maintaining peace as well as investigating offences, would need to be raised. Similarly, courts and prisons would need to be established and theirs staff trained. These are the things that require big financial commitment on part of the government, political will and unremitting resolve over several years if not decades. These have so far not been forthcoming. The success of any future reform package will depend on just this. The way forward is ‘inclusion’. The myth of tribal independence that has been officially encouraged only serves to subjugate the common person in the tribal areas. As one tribal elder told an Human Right Commission of Pakistan consultation: “Life under FCR is life under slavery.” But an immediate merger with settled areas or a complete repeal of the FCR may not yield the desired result, not only because of the expected political troubles, but due lack of the necessary infrastructure and trained personnel. A much better approach would be to gradually bring the FCR in line with the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution and extend the jurisdiction of the superior courts to the FATA by an act of parliament. Other Governmental Policies Uniform Policy in all
Provinces: PM
The Government will
implement a
uniform policy on various issues in all provinces, Prime Minister
Yousaf Raza
Gillani said on April 19. Presiding over a meeting of the Sindh cabinet
here at
the Chief Minister’s House, the prime minister said the government
would devise
a “consolidated strategy” on such issues such as provincial
autonomy,
financial stability, water and power, and agriculture. The Prime
Minister
sought proposals from all ministries and has planned to meet all the
ministers
individually,” Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri said while
briefing
reporters about the cabinet meeting. She quoted the prime minister as
saying
that all the chief ministers would ensure that the policies were in
line with
the proposals from the ministries. She
said Gillani promised a package for the preservation of Mohenjodaro and
the
development of Gorakh Hill. She said Larkana would be made a model
district.
The
Sindh CM: Shazia said Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah briefed the prime minister on the province’s stance on the National Finance Commission (NFC) Awards and the distribution of water among provinces. She said the chief minister demanded distribution of water in line with a 1994 agreement instead of the 1991 Water Accord. He also said the Indus River System Authority should be reconstituted. According to Shazia, the CM also informed the premier about the government’s development plans, the Benazir Bhutto Youth Internship Programme and a multi-storey housing scheme. She said the provincial government also wanted the Keti Bunder project to be revived as soon as possible, as it had been introduced by Benazir, but could not be implemented during her lifetime. Government to Work more
Closely with
NGOs The Director lauded the NGOs for their work towards empowering women, labourers and children. The rights groups lodged several complaints with the government, in particular that the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2000 was not being implemented and youths under the age of 18 continued to be held in prisons, that kiln workers remained unregistered and labour laws were not made applicable to them, and that the ongoing practice of child marriages went unchecked, particularly in tribal regions of the country. Zia Aftab, a spokesman for the directorate, said: “The government has a role to play by formulating and enforcing laws in line with human rights conventions. We hope to continue and expand our role under the new government.” He said the directorate would place pressure to pass resolutions through the national and provincial assemblies, where applicable, to reduce human rights violations nationwide. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Reports/Surveys |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
A joint new report of
World Bank-IMF
revealed on April 8 that Pakistan is lagging behind for reducing
poverty
compared to other regional states including India in order to meet very
first
target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Global Monitoring
Report 2008
launched by the WB-IMF warns that most countries in
Following are some of the findings of report:
According to UNESCO,
literacy ratio
in
Addressing a function organized by the Parliamentary Caucus on Literacy in UNESCO stressed the need
for
legislation for free secondary education as a fundamental right,
increasing
education budget to 4 per cent of GDP, ensuring equal opportunities for
all
children because Pakistan has ratified UNESCO Convention Against
Discrimination
in Education.
Rising food costs are
putting
millions of the world’s poorest people at risk of starvation as aid
programmes
are unable to buy and distribute enough food. Record high grain prices
have
contributed to strikes in
Sahib Haq, an official with the WFP’s Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping Unit in |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The President, who
arrived in
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told that in several rounds of talks the two sides had also discussed the need for adopting ‘corrective mechanism’ to offset their trade imbalance. He said the two countries had agreed on a five-year trade and economic development plan, and the projects falling in this category would get concessionary credit. Both the countries also identified several new areas where they can extend cooperation through the already existing mechanism. Indian Cabinet Reshuffled |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Elections
around the World |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
An election for a
Constituent Assembly was held in
The Election Constituency
Delimitation Commission recommended the following number and
distribution of
seats: 240 members would be elected through a proportionate electoral
system,
240 members through election in constituencies and 17 on recommendation
by the
Council of Ministers. On 15 December, the government tabled an amendment
to
the constitution. This amendment moved the deadline for Constituent
Assembly elections from 15 December 2007 to 12 April 2008, and changed
the
membership of the Constituent Assembly: the seats for proportional
representation system were increased to 335 and the members nominated
by the Prime
Minister were increased to 26 from 17. As specified in the Election to
Members
of the Constituent Assembly Act (2007), party list representation will
be
calculated using a result divisor method, the Sainte-Laguë method. The
seats
for first-past-the-post elections remained at 240, making the total
number 601
seats instead of the earlier 497. The word "republic" was also
included, but will have to be confirmed by the Constituent Assembly.
The
agreement was officially adopted on December 23, 2007 by the government
and the
Maoists stated they would rejoin the government shortly. The interim
parliament
approved the deal on December 28, with 270 in favor and three opposed.
An estimated 60 percent of the 17.6 million voters casted ballots, many of them lining up before dawn outside the 20,000 polling stations. The Nepalese stunned the world by having a relatively peaceful elections and a landslide victory for the Communist Party of Nepal – Maoist. In a complex electoral process for 601 seats, Maoists have bagged 220 seats. Last time, it was the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) that surprised the world when it emerged as the largest party in 1994 elections. For the first time in A two-member team of The Researchers (TR) & WPAF observed the Nepali elections. Report is being prepared and it would be shared on completion. Gayoom’s Dhivehi Raiyyithunge Party (DRP) says that Gayoom can stand in the election for a seventh term, although the constitution sets a two-term limit, because this will be the first election under a new constitution. Opposition parliamentarians say he cannot run again and vow to take the issue to the Supreme Court if necessary. Gayoom first pledged sweeping democratic reforms in 2004, reacting to harsh criticism of his government’s rights record in this nation of 300,000, mostly Sunni Muslims. Opposition parties were legalized in 2005, but a new constitution for the chain of 1,200 mostly uninhabited islands 500 miles (800 km) off the toe of The 2009 election will be the second direct vote for the Presidency in Italian Elections A Snap General Election was Held in The new People of Freedom party (merging Forza Italia and the National Alliance) achieved the largest share of the vote for a single party at about 37.5%. The new Democratic Party (formerly The Olive Tree coalition) achieved the second-largest share for a single party, at about 33%. The main center-right coalition of the PoF and the Northern League achieved about 47% of the vote, and the main center-left coalition of the Democratic Party and Italy of Values achieved about 38%. The Italian proportional representation system of 2005 automatically boosts the largest coalition's representation in the lower house of parliament to 340 seats (about 54%), and a similar super-assignment system at the regional level succeeded in providing the center-right with 174 seats (about 55%) in the Senate. The center-left obtained 239 seats in the lower house and 130 seats in the Senate. The scale of the center-right's majority in the Senate came as a great surprise in contrast to predictions of a tight or hung chamber. Opponents of the 2005 proportional representation law had claimed it would inherently produce unworkably small majorities in the Senate, and the previously strident calls for a new electoral law will now likely be deferred. In the absence of a defection by the Northern League (such as brought down the first Berlusconi government in 1994), the current parliament is likely to be stable and last its entire five year mandate. With the elimination of the The Left - The Rainbow from the legislature, and the absorption of the other successor parties to the Italian Communist Party into the Democratic Party, this will be the first Italian legislature since World War II to contain no self-identified Communists. This is a remarkable transformation in a country which as recently as the 1980s had the largest non-ruling Communist Party in |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Elections in Robert Mugabe fails to Regain Parliament
in A partial recount of votes in |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||