Will the Members of National Assembly
Stand Up and be Counted
What the Parliament
should do about the Amendments?
Dr Zafar Altaf
ISLAMABAD: The President and his men have been doing all sorts
of gyrations to confuse issues and to make it look as if the change
that brought him in was really for the good of the nation.
In
this the disgruntled politicians, losers of previous elections
and inferior individuals, have considerably helped him to connect
themselves to some form of power. The civil servants trying to
get out of one kind of totalitarianism went from one form of it
to another. Hate and jealousies converted this nation into whistle
blowers in which the false whistle blower was never accountable.
A stage for vendetta was set in. It is this background that is
forcing the hand of the President “to amend, to defend”
himself. In the process he found strong allies in those who could
share his power base, howsoever illegal that may be.
The authority to do so was never
there. Yet he has done it. One of his critics is a former General
Chishti who was with General Zia and the second in command responsible
for the debacle of the Bhutto regime. He has been quite vociferous
in the renunciation of the oath of the current lot that directed,
amongst other things, to defend the constitution. The powers that
be have never developed in Pakistan the paradoxical view that
what is most essential in the personality of the ruler is ‘the
intellect that allows him to rise above himself and transcend
the ordinary desires’. The vinegar fly having lived in a
barrel could hardly know the world except live with the idea of
self-survival. And that is anathema to transcendental thought.
Given this what could be done about
the amendments and Presidential decrees that have been issued
from time to time. They belie all the principles of democracy.
A collective body has been asked to come in after three years
of a convenient governing structure determined by the physical
powers. Those who collaborated had to accept orders or find themselves
at home. They were between the devil and the deep blue sea. Only
in this case the line given by the Nawaz Sharif government and
the caretaker government of Meraj Khalid to eke vengeance from
those that exercised their authority and responsibility for the
benefit of the country was followed.
Judgment and discretion to vital
functions of normative government were ridiculed and it helped
the powers that be for then they could continue in the same vein.
It was Napoleon who when asked whether his army was bad, replied
‘no the army was good it was the officer class that was
bad’. It follows that the officer class is bad in this country.
Do we have to make the same distinction? And if so, is the cure
in the usual medicinal form, which is ‘more of the same’
and that every one be ordained as a soldier.
To get back to the amendments and
the manner in which they can either be confirmed or removed from
the books, is a serious issue. Why, because the authority for
doing so did not rest with the cabinet or any body who was not
entitled to do so. The constitution does not allow these amendments
until they are carried out by the legal authority. The supreme
document is held up for ridicule every now and then. I have seen
it happen at the first one when as a school student I saw Suharwardy
defend himself against the autocratic rule of Ayub Khan.
The first amendment [of the many
that have been signaled in] is to do with the criteria for candidates.
A graduation degree was made necessary. In a country in which
98% do not have this degree this was surprising. The province
of Baluchistan had in the 1980’s only 1,700 blue blooded
Baluchis with 10 years of education. Surprised. I recently went
to valley Manoor, off Kaghan valley (Northern areas of the country),
and I found that the valley had deteriorated since I had gone
there in 1954. It had 100% absolute poverty. No school worth the
name, no high school, no roads and they were praying like hell
for a road. It seems that a road only comes to the area if the
Indians are aggressive enough and capture a few outposts. Then
for defence a road comes up. They were still hopeful. There are
no graduates in the area. Is this amendment valid? The elected
individuals will have to perceive the amendments in a different
light.
This year a sizeable number of army
retirees had sought the election route, encouraged no doubt by
their collared brethren. Are they graduates? They join the army
after 10 to 12 years of school education and they manage to give
themselves the degrees that they do have from these very army
institutions. I am at a loss for I do not think that is the order
of things in other parts of the world. Is the degree a safe haven
for enlightened thought? Does it create better individuals? That
is why I rated the aspect of intellect differently in the very
first paragraph.
The television has been the major
culprit in the clanging of the speeches of the deriders of the
constitution and the upholders of the amendments. The clanging
is more important than the logic and who cares for events after
the event. Thoughts arise like the wind and end with a flourish
of bugles. The non-elected brats that constitute the retinue play
the wonders of the individuals with such flourish that it actually
looks as if Caesar is coming home after his victories. The 98%
are supposed to take the poisoned political pill and survive the
effects of the impact that will come later on.
The two-time offender cannot become
Prime Minister for a second time-why? It is not mentioned in Parliamentary
democracy. It is like playing a game and devising the rules as
you go along so that you never lose the game. The two main leaders
of two top political parties are out either in self-exile or as
designed by the government. They are supposed to be criminals
of high order. One of them was sentenced in absentia while the
other was sentenced and then allowed out in a deal that has never
been explained or allowed to surface. Negotiations, we are told
have been taking place with these political parties.
Secrecy is the order of the day.
Recently a private secretary of a bureaucrat was given notice
of leakage of sensitive information from a ministry that prides
itself in development. What sensitive information he can give
from a third tier job is not understandable? How then is justice
dispensed? So what is the highest court in Pakistan supposed to
do? The highest and the supreme body is the national assembly?
Can it or should it pardon the two leaders and allow them to come
home? Tolerance is such a big factor in democracy.
The
Legal Framework Order (LFO) is also to come up for review? It
is not likely that the National Assembly will have the courage
to collectively take action. Why? They have a sullied record and
that record is safely with the accountability authorities. In
fact these days a CD is making the rounds of Islamabad in which
the leading cases against the politicians have been recorded.
Is this information deliberately leaked and if so why? Is it to
put the politicians on notice and the fear of the unknown put
in them? Luckily there are some that can stand up and be counted.
The debates are likely to be heated and energetic. The upper house
promises to be lackluster and if rumors are true then all the
president’s men will be there. Most of them have applied
for tickets to the Senate. Once there they will also be in the
Cabinet. All of them are likely to be nominated from the King’s
Party.
We are still in medieval times politically
and there seems to be the same kind of culture emanating in the
political field. It will be up to the more enlightened to lift
the level of the debate. One thing is certain if the National
Assembly becomes aware of its power and authority and balances
the same with the responsibility that it is supposed to generate
then we have the makings of a democratic state. That is all in
the wind at the moment. Why? It is very difficult to deal with
the senseless institutions that have developed in the country
through a period of weaknesses displayed by the political system.
Since the intellect is weak in these institutions and since their
upbringing is the collective upbringing of the individuals in
the system there is likelihood of no change.
It is obvious from what has happened
to Siddiq ul Farooq, Information Secretary of Nawaz Sharif’s
Muslim League, to Shakeel Sheikh, a journalist who wrote against
the Pakistan cricket board chief. They were taken to the jungle
by the invisible government members and given a sound thrashing
and left half dead. And Raja, the former assistant manager of
the world cup team who was locked up for seven days by some powers
that be in a room that was 6x4 ft. and who was told every day
that he will find himself before the firing squad. Or the kicking
of pregnant lady (of the Sehbai family) by the goons in the police
station although they admit she was not the accused in the trumped
up charges against her husband. The British had brought in checks
and balances to keep the police in check. The blatant impact of
the culture of another country in which the police is supposed
to bring in a self-censorship system is easily developed. Louis
la’mour in person would be delighted for he could weave
a few stories.
It is impossible to tackle all the
amendments but one last one needs to be highlighted. By this the
age of the retiring Judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts
was enhanced by three years each. Why was it necessary to do so
on the 9th of October, one day before the elections? There is
no harm in this, some one will say. In my estimation the amendments
have not gone far enough and therefore smack of all kinds of likely
actions that will take place as insurance for the present set
up. Why not give them a life long tenure and at the same time
a National Assembly committee examines their records and allows
them the right to continue.
If the judiciary is to be a check
on the executive why allow it to be appointed by the executive
why not the elected representatives? Why not through a NA committee?
And I think that is where the first action of the National Assembly
should be. To ensure justice for the weak and the poor is the
ultimate responsibility of the members of the Assembly. One recalls
Churchill’s statement after the defeat at Dunkirk. He wanted
to know whether the courts were dispensing justice. When told
that that was the case. He replied ‘then we will win the
war’.
Will they transcend themselves and
become the power that they should be and will they then be able
to hold that power in a responsible manner? The question is and
will remain till the power and responsibility is so balanced in
a responsible and responsive manner. The Principle Secretary to
the President has let off the cabinet that is in place at the
moment easily when he said that they were not political in nature.
They are not accountable either. They have been guilty of gross
misconduct unbecoming a gentleman and an officer. These words
have no meaning in this country anymore. The vendettas that are
being carried out by these ministers are far too many to be counted.
The
National Assembly will have to set up something more than a Truth
Commission. Maybe a commission for apologizing for the sins of
the previous governments against their countrymen, politicians,
citizens and bureaucrats needs to be set up. Let all those self-serving
semi-dictators pay for their sins of commission and omission.
Those that have been willing tools with them may also be taken
up. The colonialists in us have not yet died. So when the National
Assembly starts to show teeth the President is likely to use his
powers to dissolve if the agencies under him are unable to divide
and rule the members. So beware the Ides of the person [not March].
And what of the principles of democracy? Are they valid only for
other countries and not for Pakistan?
So,
my honourable members of the National Assembly, please stand up
and be counted!
The
writer is a former Federal Secretary Agriculture, Government of
Pakistan
