2nd Instalment Of Truth - NRO Actually!

Selection by: Jarri Mirza

Article written by: Marvi Sirmed

This is in continuation of my earlier post on NRO, posted on November 7, 2009, which can be seen at http://marvisirmed.com/?p=193. We were trying to learn about this Ordinance clause by clause. So far we have examined Section II and saw that a major amendment in Criminal Procedures Code could well be used to control the damage (if any), if the federal and provincial governments want. We’ll now move on to next sections.

Section III of the Ordinance adds up a new subsection to section 39 of the Representation of People Act (RPA) of 1976. The RPA has been amended many times after its promulgation in 1976. The latest amendment came in 2008. The said Section 39 of the RPA deals with the consolidation of election results. It previously had six subsections. The seventh subsection thus added involved immediate providence of the election results by the returning officer, to the contesting candidates and their election agents who are present during the consolidation process. It is provided that the returning officer will provide them the copy of the result of the count sent to the Election Commission. It must be noted here that all political parties agree that this amendment to the RPA 1976 is beneficial for the electoral process and its free, fair and transparent holding.

Sections IV and V of NRO can be read clubbed together for better comprehension. Both of these sections provide that no member of the Parliament or of Provincial Assemblies could be arrested in a NAB related case unless recommended by Special Parliamentary Committee on Ethics. These sections also provide that such Committees on Ethics will be constituted in Senate and in National / Provincial Assemblies, having equal representation of opposition and ruling party members. The members of these Ethic Committees will be appointed by the Speaker(s) National / Provincial Assemblies / Chairman Senate as recommended by the Leader(s) of House(s) and Leader(s) of the Opposition. There will be 8 members in each of these committees and a chairperson.

Moreover, both of these sections actually make amendment to already existing National Accountability Ordinance of 1999. Under Section 31-C of the NAO, the officers of banks and financial institutions who might be charged for appropriation and right off/ waiver of loans etc, under NAB, were given protection. These two sections of NRO (Section 4 and 5) actually extend this protection to the elected representatives of people.
The protection given to the bank officers under NAO 1999 provides for the NAB to not arrest any such accused unless a formal approval is given by the Governor State Bank of Pakistan. Similarly, if some officers / other persons associated with NAB investigations are accused of hampering such proceedings, s/he will not be charged with out the sanction of a Committee headed by NAB Chairperson.

In the presence of such a protection for the bank / government officers that already existed in the form of NAO 1999, the temporary protection given to the elected representatives of people doesn’t seem a big deal. Further, this protection seems to be given to curtail political victimization of the opposition members by any sitting government. This provision, negotiated by PPP with the then military ruler, seems to be in accordance with Charter of Democracy agreed between PPP and PML-N according to which, no political victimization will be done against each other. It seems that CoD was being formally institutionalized when this very clause was being negotiated.

It must be mentioned here, that a special meeting of Parliamentary Committee on law and Justice was convened on October 31, 2009 under the Chairpersonship of Begum Nasim Akhtar Chaudhry who is member of National Assembly from ruling PPP. The said Committee comprises 16 members including the Chairperson, 4 members from PML-N, one from MQM, 3 from PML-Q. That makes one chairperson, 7 members from PPP while total 8 members from other parties. This Committee discussed the Ordinance clause be clause and approved with simple majority.
Strangely enough, all major parties i.e., PPP, PML-N and PML-Q unanimously agreed to scrap these two sections of NRO. Should we think that all the parties agree to carry on with political victimization of each other?

Section VI of NRO provides for a new sub-section in Section 31 (A) of National Accountability Ordinance 1999. This new section says that any judgement of the court passed in the absence of the accused, would be void and should not be complied with. This Section was specifically added for the benefit of Mian Nawaz Sharif and Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto – two main leaders of major political parties who were thrown out of the political arena in Pakistan. This clause also seems to be an outcome of Charter of Democracy. In the absence of PML-N from the entire discussions of NRO with the General, PPP and MQM negotiated this clause, to the clear benefit of Mian Nawaz Sharif and Mohtarma. This is the section which made it possible for Mian Nawaz Sharif to stage a comeback.

Section VII , the last of NRO, provides for the withdrawal of all the cases against the holders of public offices, which were initiated by the Federal Government prior to October 12, 1999. These cases will only include the pending cases, and not the cases in which decisions have been finalized, or plea bargain has been settled by NAB. This also does not include cases related to cooperative societies and financial & investment companies, no matter if they are initiated prior to October 12, 1999.

Under this Section, protection is also provided to the NAB members & functionaries, federal, provincial and local governments and their functionaries against persecutions, on account of withdrawal of such cases.

It is very clear that all parties including PML-Q (including its Patriot members e.g., its Parliamentary Leader Faisal Saleh Hayat among many others), MQM, some members of PML-N and PPP are the beneficiaries of this section. It is also ironic that PML-N who is the biggest critic of this Ordinance, took active part in the Law & Justice Committee deliberations on NRO until Section 6. As soon as discussion started on Section 7, they staged a walk out. It may probably be due to the reason that the said section benefits only the mid level leaders of PML-N, and not the main leadership.

We’ll continue our discussion on NRO in the next instalment of truth, let’s assimilate this much first!

SOURCE:http://marvisirmed.com/?p=197..
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PML-N engaged in horse-trading in Punjab

PML-Q forward bloc to support PML-N: Maneka

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) forward bloc leader Ata Maneka claimed on Friday the support of 35 members, and said all of them would support the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz unconditionally. Addressing the media after meeting the Sharif brothers at their Raiwind farmhouse, Maneka said, “Not a single PML-Q leader, including Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain wants to support the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), with the exception of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi – who, for certain reasons, is in favour of contacts with the ruling party.” He said, “As many as 33 members of the forward bloc have come to Raiwind to meet the Sharifs.” The Online news agency reported that 29 members met Shahbaz Sharif on Friday at his Raiwind residence. Replying to a question, he said that nobody could disqualify the forward bloc members. Maneka said Punjab was the major province of the country, and “if something goes wrong here, the entire country will suffer”. staff report

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\02\28\story_28-2-2009_pg13_10

http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/feb2009-daily/28-02-2009/update.htm#105

Also read:

Who will lead a Long March against horse trading in Punjab?

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Moonis Elahi "should be" the next Chief Minister of Punjab...

Manipulations in full swing for top slot

Nasir Jamal
Saturday, 28 Feb, 2009 | 05:22 AM PST |

Former ruling party Pakistan Muslim League leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain (R) and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.—Reuters/File

LAHORE: Three days after imposition of the governor’s rule in Punjab, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is yet to come up with a feasible plan to form its government in the province.

All that it has been able to conjure up so far is meek voices that have been drowned by the emotional chorus whipped up by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on the disqualification of its leaders and fall of its government in the province.

Governor Salmaan Taseer, who had predicted formation of a PPP government in Punjab – the first in more than 30 years – long before the Supreme Court verdict against the Sharif brothers, never tired of giving controversial statements till taking charge as the chief executive of Punjab but he is nowhere to be seen or heard now.

His aides told Dawn that the governor was ‘busy in urgent administrative and other official matters relating to provincial government’.

PPP leader Tanvir Ashraf Kaira claimed at a press conference on Friday that his party was going to form the next provincial government. But he appeared to have no clue as to who was going to be the PPP’s candidate for the chief minister’s post. Nor did he say how the party planned to go about forming the government.

Earlier, PPP parliamentary party leader Raja Riaz had said that the party leadership was in contact with all political forces represented in the provincial assembly – including the PML-Q, some PML-N dissidents, the PML-F and the MMA.

If the former senior minister in the Shahbaz Sharif government were to be believed, the PPP should have finalised arrangements for forming a coalition with the PML-Q, the party holding the balance in Punjab.

PML-Q information secretary Tariq Azeem appeared to suggest to the contrary when he said a majority within his party felt that the PPP had violated the popular mandate by imposing the governor’s rule in the province.

‘The feeling in the party is that it would negate the spirit of democracy to side against the popular mandate,’ he said while talking to Dawn from Islamabad by telephone.

At the same time, he said it would be premature to say what position his party would take. ‘It’s a crucial issue and will be taken up by the party leadership at its central executive committee meeting next week. None of our leaders, including Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, has taken a definitive stance on whether to side with the PPP or the PML-N (when the provincial assembly elects the leader of the house).’

The PML-Q’s ‘indecisiveness’ is popularly being interpreted as its efforts to raise the stakes in the power game in Punjab. It is believed that the PML-Q is demanding chief minister’s post for Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s son, Moonis Elahi, or Senate chairmanship for Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and the defence ministry.

But Mian Atta Mohammad Maneka, the leader of dissident PML-Q members of the Punjab Assembly is supporting the PML-N ‘unconditionally’. ‘

We have no demands or conditions. If the need arises, the Unification Group (the name of the PML-Q forward block in the Punjab Assembly) will side by the PML-N for the formation of its government,’ he told reporters after attending the Punjab PML-N parliamentary party meeting at the Sharif’s Raiwind Estate.

Maneka claimed that 35 PML-Q legislators, out of a total of 85, were supporting the PML-N and 33 had attended the meeting. The remaining two could not come as one of them was in France and the other could not be informed about the meeting.

The claim, however, could not be verified independently. Some of the PML-Q dissidents later participated in the protest against the governor’s rule outside the Punjab Assembly under the leadership of Shahbaz Sharif.

He claimed that no PML-Q leader or legislator favoured an alliance with the PPP. ‘Only Pervaiz Elahi wants it to win chief minister’s post for his son.’

The dissident PML-Q leader, who was critical of the PPP for imposing the governor’s rule, said the survival of the federation without Punjab was difficult. To a question, he said the Unification Group was not afraid of the threats of disqualification for voting for the PML-N, ruling out the remotest possibility of going with his party if its leadership decided to cooperate with the PPP.

The participation of the PML-Q dissidents and PML-F legislators in a meeting led PML-N Rana Sanaullah to claim that his party had support of 217 legislators. It needed only 186 votes to win the election of the leader of the house.

‘We have numerical strength to form our government whenever the assembly session is convened. Nobody should doubt it,’ he said, adding the PPP would not have imposed the governor’s rule if it could muster the support of the required number of legislators to install its government.

It may be recalled that the PML-N’s candidate Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui had secured 201 votes from Punjab in the presidential elections in September last year.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/Dawn%20Content%20Library/dawn/news/pakistan/manipulations-in-full-swing-for-top-slot--bi

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Abbas Ather's analysis and a 'free of charge advice'

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A sincere advice by Ataul Haq Qasmi

Some relevant comments:

pakistanthinks said:

Sharif’s can’t sustain an agitation in absence of favorable govt, bureaucracy, army and courts. They have either shown their muscles when they had power behind them or have opted for fleeing out of country. This time it seems, they will fizzle out in months.
In all honesty, I see them marginalized in next elections to even fewer districts and vultures like Imran Khan will be happy in their heart at their demise. Their best bet to be flexible and be part of the system and negotiate a middle way with PPP. Else they will lose all…. They should be part of the system and wait for their moment - that’s the only chance they have…. Lawyers, Imran Khan etc have nothing to lose - Sharif’s have a lot to lose.

Vision said:

My sincere advice for PML(N) is that they should just not only say but show; first of all they must tell their followers that they should not destroy public and private property, they can protest but why should they damage their own assests, it is not AZ’s or someone else’s property.

Rampaging the courts and their disrespect, tradition has been started by no one but PML(N), and now no court seems to be the pillar of the state. When PML(N) comes in power they will do similar or worse. Both the parties have been well tried out.

doublepolitics said:

@Pakistanthinks

Sharifs have already lost all of what they have. Nawaz shahbaz cnnot contest elections, nawaz cannot become prime minister for third time, shahbaz has now by default lost the opportunity to become CM for third time.

If they want to be in the major helm of affairs now they will be needing a constitutional ammendment by the Parliament. This is the only way for which they are protesting too much and are trying to bring government to that.

Have not you heard Mian Nawaz sharief saying that If this issue is not resolved, they will extend the protests and de-stababilization all acroos the country. I think he gave his clear message to zardari.

doublepolitics said:

Nawaz sharif has played wrong. i agree with Zardari’s statemtent that if Sharief’s would have talked to him rather than going for turmoil, they could have sorted out some way to end this situation.

I dont know why Mian sb is playing in the hands of lawyers and Imran khan type of people. He must have realised that PML N has its own rules of the games and it must not be swayed by any of such elements who want a clash just for their own sake.

BY the way PML Q is playing a very mature role. They asked zardari to come to their home rather than chaudhries going to zardari. Mushahid is amazingly saying that they are just observors as they are not interested to form goverment and that the mendate of PML N must be respected. WOW

mediawatch said:

Nawaz must not play in the hands of those who even dont have a seat in any of the assemblies. They are playing at the hands of hidden forces and want Mian nawaz sharief to be out of the game of politics and Bhuttos are out of it.

Mian needs to recognize such people, good or bad but its the reality that Shariefs have to go with Zardari and Zardari has to go with Shariefs no matter either of them is in government or opposition.

Nawaz Sb hosh say kaam lain josh say nahin.

doublepolitics said:

By the way Mian sb is too innocent. IF the decision would have been in his favour for him Zardari would have been the best person on earth. Anyhow, its great to listen from him that he is ready to talk through Parliament. Now its time for Zardari to come forward as Sharif’s are the aggrieved party.

Faarigh Jazbati said:

The biggest loss of the current political crises is not the PLMN or PPP. It is Imran khan who has been pushed to the side completely. If you look into the demographic of the voters, IK is fighting for the same voters and the center right political views.

I think IK is in a political shock and does not know how to react to the current situation. This is what you get when oneswhole politics is based upon emotional subjects/issues and devoid of any political calculation of different political scenarios.

PLMN has taken the center stage of pakistani politics and they are the one who are dictating the events. IK is sitting on the sideline only to follow the events and unable to generate/create a political reality which will/can take the focus away from the PLNM/PPP politics.

Adonis said:

Behaviour of PTI diehards is really weird ……. If NS does not fully support Lawyers decisions, he is accused of betrayal, if he fully supports lawyers decisions he is accused of hijacking lawyer’s movement ……

So these guys should make up their mind about what they want NS to do …

But then we all know what they want…..they want NS to simply disappear some where… so that “mirza yaar can roam freely in deserted streets”…..

This reminds of an old joke …

—The son of village mirasi asked his father what would happen if the chaudhri of village dies. The elder mirasi replied that chaudhri’s son will become the next chaudhri. If chaudhri’s son also dies then, asked the junior mirasi. Then his nephew will become chaudhri, came the reply. What if the nephew also dies? asked mirasi’s son. Now the elder mirasi understood what the real question was and replied, “Son! even if the whole village dies, still you can never be a chaudhri”. —–

So my commiserations to these PTI diehards who are so used to day-dreaming….

Source: pk politics

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Shahbaz Sharif: Is it your approach to 'public service'? A dog in the manger..."The general public is suffering a lot at the hands of the PML-N."

A dog in the manger
Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Rawalpindi is currently plagued by a severe outbreak of dogs appearing in mangers. Mangers are for the hay that horses eat. Dogs do not eat hay. Dog frightens horse and does not eat hay. Dog goes hungry because it does not eat hay and horse goes hungry because the dog won't let it. Everybody loses. Thus it is today as the tussle between the various factions and individuals within the PML-N and the PML-Q in Rawalpindi has produced yet another situation where the common man suffers at the hands of his elected representatives. Uplift projects in Rawalpindi have come to a grinding halt due to the ongoing confrontation between the PML-N and the PML-Q, with the former withholding development funds and the latter begging for financial support to undertake schemes and projects that are for the betterment of all – no matter who they voted for. City Nazim Raja Javed Ikhlas has said: "Uplift funds of the district worth Rs250 million have been withheld by the Punjab government and we cannot provide even municipal services to the residents properly. The general public is suffering a lot at the hands of the PML-N." He went on to say that the provincial government was not willing to execute uplift schemes through the local government; and complained that the government was not only victimising its political rivals but was also 'disgracing' the general public. Similarly afflicted by political backstabbing is Rawal Town Nazim Sheikh Rashid Shafique. He said that no new initiative had been taken in the city resulting in a collapse of infrastructure due to overpopulation and an influx of outsiders to the city. Whilst he may be guilty of embroidering the truth in so saying, there is no denying the fact that the withholding of finances for purely political reasons is contributing to a deterioration of infrastructure and social-sector services.

Rawalpindi is not the only place where dogs are to be found in mangers, they are seemingly everywhere in these confused political days. Somehow our politicians have never matured beyond infancy, banging their toys around the playpen and flinging their rattle into the corner in a tantrum as expressions of their infantile rivalries. There is no thought of cooperative practice and each tries to undo the work of his rival or predecessor. Projects that have flourished under one administration wither under the next. Roads are half-completed, there are bridges that end in mid-air, suspended until the dog gets out of the manger and lets the horse – or in this case the common man – cross them. There is an old political adage… "Don't vote, it only encourages them"… worth remembering the next time our pens are poised above the ballot paper. (The News)
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The 17th amendment: a perspective - By Asadullah Ghalib

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Did ISI plan to kill Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry? Hamid Mir

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Cannibalising the PMLQ

Just as the nation was trying to concentrate its mind on the financial crisis and the Balochistan earthquake, party politics has descended to its murkiest, with “forward bloc” rumours springing thick and fast in Islamabad and Lahore. In a nutshell, the former incumbent and now defeated PMLQ is at risk from splintering under the pressure of a boiling sub-surface rivalry between the federally ruling PPP and the Punjab-ruling PMLN. The PMLQ has sprung a forward bloc which is being bounced around by the two big parties, with no one emerging from the exercise covered with any glory.

The latest rumour from Islamabad, despite denials, is that Pakistan President and PPP Chief, Mr Asif Ali Zardari, is about to take the “rebels” of the PMLQ, Mr Riaz Fatiyana, Mr Ahmed Yar Hiraj and Ms Kashmala Tariq — some add Zubaida Jalal, Hamdan Bugti and Aslam Bodla — under his wing and give them ministries as reward for their perfidy. One is inclined not to credit the rumours but the fact is that there is a vocal forward bloc in the PMLQ and that it has put the nation on notice about its “availability” time and again. Their conscience tells them they can no longer remain in their old party. But that is not enough; the media attributes to them other ambitions too.

The intent of the PPP leadership can be understood as determination to consolidate the party’s majority in the parliament, especially as the coalition partner JUI is flexing muscle in the context of the developing situation in the Tribal Areas. The muscle, it should be understood, is flexed more if the majority is thin; it is more quiescent if the majority is strong and stable. But Mr Zardari is playing safe while making the promise of portfolios. The forward bloc will have to gather 24 like-minded rebels in the National Assembly to bring “an in-house change” of party leadership. His “signalling”, if it is indeed being done, can accelerate the process of splitting in the PMLQ.

Is the forward bloc obsessed with principles? From its past overtures to the PMLN it appears that it is not. Its members simply wish to be attached to a party that is in power. However, with the PMLN they have a special additional association. Many have been members of it in the past, but Mr Nawaz Sharif is not in a mood to “reconsider” his rejection of them. What is more, the PMLQ leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has tried to patch up with his old boss but with little success. It is heard that some Nawaz League hawks who desire the PPP’s fall from power have actually hobnobbed with him, only to be rejected by Mian Sahib who will have no truck with “ghaddar” members.

But flexibility is endless. The PMLQ has been Janus-faced in Punjab. If the elder Chaudhry has knocked on the door of Mian Sahib, the younger Chaudhry and former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is rumoured to be keeping his door ajar for the overtures of the PPP Punjab governor, Mr Salmaan Taseer. The idea is to challenge the PMLN in Punjab if it becomes a part of the campaign to overthrow the PPP’s dominance at the centre.

Punjab politicians are inclined to “walk” to cross the floor more readily than politicians from other parts. But Mr Nawaz Sharif has his reserves of contempt for such politicians-on-skids because he experienced a mass desertion in his party in the 1990s and will not now relent without subjecting the Chaudhrys to the humiliating conditionality of “apologising” whose wording he would probably like to decide himself. But one can’t help noticing the temptation of “forgive and forget” among the PMLN hawks who give higher priority to the task of pulling the PPP down.

The PMLQ high command is acting to postpone the cannibalisation of its party by the two big ones. It has already “readjusted” policy to spare itself the stigma of being subservient to the policies of General Pervez Musharraf. It sings a different tune now about terrorism in the Tribal Areas and has joined the parliamentary majority that puts “talks” above “operations”. It knows it can’t easily break the PPP mindset about it being a “killer party” and also knows it can’t easily placate Mr Nawaz Sharif. Its instinct is to stay alive till the next elections create space for further shuffling of interests. (Daily Times)
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Shame on you Zardari, Shame on you Shahbaz Sharif, Time to say "NO" to opportunists i.e., "Lotas"

Fatiana, Hiraj, Kashmala lining up for ministries

ISLAMABAD: Riaz Fatiyana, Ahmed Yar Hiraj and Kashmala Tariq – members of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) – are likely to be inducted in the federal cabinet as ministers, a source privy to the developments told Daily Times. President Asif Zardari invited members of a PML-Q dissident group to dinner on Thursday. An Aaj TV report said he told them he believed in political consensus and would respond to whoever contacted him in national interest. But Zardari denied he had created a ‘forward bloc’ in any party. Zardari did not announce the decision, but Aaj TV quoted him as saying that the federal cabinet ‘will be finalised soon’. “Members of the PML-Q forward bloc may get cabinet slots and the names of Riaz Fatiana and Ahmed Yar Hiraj are on top of the list,” the source said. He said the participants of the meeting discussed the political and economic situation in Pakistan and Zardari asked them for support. Fatiana, Kashmala, Sumaira Malik, Zubaida Jalal, Hamdan Bugti and Aslam Bodla were among the participants, according to various reports. The PML-Q forward bloc needs the support of 27 members to bring an in-house change. Dissidents have made unsubstantiated claims of support from 30 members. staff report (Daily Times)
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The PMLN, the PMLQ, the Jama’at-e Islami, the JUIF, the Tehreek-e Insaf and a host of Islamist groups take a naïve view of violence in the tribal area

Blind to the threat —Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi

If the Taliban agenda was nothing more than the expulsion of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan their efforts to expand their domain to some of the settled districts of the NWFP makes no sense. And what is the justification of the sectarian violence in Kurram Agency?

The government and major opposition parties are euphoric over the unanimous passage of the resolution on militancy in the tribal areas during the joint session of parliament. They think that they have evolved a credible approach to dealing with the insurgency and its violent fallout in mainland Pakistan.

The government is pleased with the resolution because it can easily project this development as an indication of growing political harmony among Pakistan’s diverse political actors. Opposition parties had initially used the joint session to build pressure on the government. The PMLN leadership, for instance, criticised the government for its refusal to honour the commitment to restore all superior court judges through an executive order. The government also faced criticism for its inability to halt the current economic downslide. The unanimous resolution eases some pressure on the government for the time being.

The PMLN, the Jama’at-e Islami and the JUIF are happy that the resolution neutralises, if not negates, the official argument that the war on terror is Pakistan’s war. The resolution accommodates the major positions of these parties on militancy and the operations in the tribal areas by calling for the withdrawal of regular troops from the region.

The resolution serves the interests of the Pakistani Taliban, who must be pleased that the resolution endorses their major demands without asking for any reciprocal commitment. It suggests the end of the army operation and consequent withdrawal, something the Taliban have been demanding since the beginning of the operation. It also calls for negotiations with the Taliban on the contentious issues.

What does the government get in return? Nothing. The Taliban have not made any commitment so far on suspending their violent activities in Pakistan and Afghanistan in response to the resolution, not to speak of agreeing to function within the framework of the Pakistani constitution.

The optimism surrounding the passage of this resolution is misplaced. It is well known that a parliamentary resolution, even when adopted unanimously, is not binding on the government. It has moral and political implications, but they are usually not acted upon. Even if they are, it is selective. It would be interesting to know how many members were present in the session with the resolution was approved ‘unanimously’.

The resolution is a good declaration of intent, with emphasis on the peaceful and negotiated settlement of differences. However, it does not outline ways and means to operationalised its basic ideas into concrete policy measures. Some suggestions are not likely to be implemented at all, which will start a new polemical debate between the government and the opposition.

Representatives of the military provided detailed briefing to the parliamentarians to underline the major threat to internal security and stability posed by the Taliban, and to highlight that the Taliban were trying to establish an alternate authority by paralysing the Pakistani state. The current political government shares this perspective. The president and the prime minister have issued several statements over the last two months supporting military action. It is clear from their policy statements that they would like these operations to continue till state authority is firmly established.

The army wanted the political parties to support it in its venture in the tribal areas. Such support is needed because the army and paramilitary forces have lost over three thousand personnel in these operations over the last five years.

Yet the resolution does not have a word of sympathy for the armed forces, which is likely to disappoint them. Parliamentarians should have appreciated their efforts and then asked for limited or no use of force in the tribal areas. It seems that the parliamentarians hardly paid any attention to the briefings and drafted the resolution based on their pre-briefing perspectives.

The Islamist perspective, which does not view the Taliban as a threat to Pakistan, seems to dominate the resolution. The Taliban are portrayed as one of the ‘stakeholders’ in the political equation. There is no condemnation of suicide attacks or the blowing up of girls’ schools or public executions.

The PMLN, the PMLQ, the Jama’at-e Islami, the JUIF, the Tehreek-e Insaf and a host of Islamist groups take a naïve view of violence in the tribal areas and beyond. Instead of viewing the Taliban as Pakistan’s adversary, they sympathise with them as they are fighting US and NATO troops in Afghanistan. They hold the view that the Taliban will have no reason to use violence if American troops quit Afghanistan, since Pakistan’s support for the war on terror is the main cause of insurgency east of the Durand Line. In other words, changes have to be made in Pakistan’s policies, not in the Taliban’s.

American presence in Afghanistan can be viewed as one of the factors responsible for the Taliban resurgence. However, by now, the Taliban have expanded their agenda to include the establishment of a political and administrative domain in and around the tribal areas by neutralising the writ of the Pakistani state.

If the Taliban agenda was nothing more than the expulsion of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan their efforts to expand their domain to some of the settled districts of the NWFP makes no sense: no American troops are present in these areas. And what is the justification of the sectarian violence in Kurram Agency?

It is not clear if US troops in Afghanistan can be put under pressure by the Taliban policy of threatening Pakistani businesspeople and warning them against involvement in any ventures that are unacceptable to the Taliban. The main target of the Taliban is the Pakistani state, yet the resolution fails to take this into account.

Given the expanded Taliban agenda, the government of Pakistan will find it difficult to completely withdraw forces from the tribal areas and leave the security of the region to the insufficiently trained and equipped paramilitary forces. The resolution gives some leverage to the government by suggesting that the army be replaced “where possible with civilian law enforcement agencies with enhanced capacity”. However, the opposition expects a total cessation of military operations, which the government cannot initiate in the absence of a commitment by the Taliban to respect Pakistani state authority and end all violence.

If the opposition parties, the JUIF and parliamentarians from the tribal areas are interesting in evolving an amicable settlement of the trouble in the tribal areas, they should set up a committee for initiating non-official dialogue with the Taliban leadership to formulate proposals for a possible solution. Both sides will be expected to interact within the framework of the constitution. If some credible proposals can be evolved, the opposition would have a better case for implementing the parliamentary resolution. (Daily Times)

Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi is a political and defence analyst
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Is Nawaz Sharif a principled politician? Rauf Klasra exposes the deal (in offing) between PML-N & PML-Q. Chaudhries & Sharifs united to plunder...

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The PPP Government in the Center and the PML-N Government in the Punjab must not pursue politically motivated cases against PML-Q and its leadership

(Nazir Naji)
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Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, Lota Sharif, Usool Sharif, Iqtidar Sharif, Judiciary Sharif, Punjab Sharif...

(Rauf Klasra)
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Punjab’s undesirable politics of defection (i.e. Lota Politics)

Despite advice from all sane quarters, Punjab is in the grip of a power tussle. A firm arrangement is making transition to an uncertain one that is going to be haunted by court cases and general acrimony. The PMLN government wants to end the coalition with the PPP and wants its ministers out of its cabinet. Since it falls short of a majority after this exclusion, it wants the third largest party in the assembly, the PMLQ, to join it. And since it wants no truck with the leaders of the party, it is seeking defections from the ranks of the erstwhile ruling party of Pakistan.

The politics of defection — called “lota politics” by the electorate in a term of extreme contempt — is regrettably initiated through iftar parties, an abuse of the spiritual ritual of Ramazan. The iftar party thrown by the PMLN on Wednesday saw the PMLQ defectors turn up in large numbers, but not large enough to match the claims made earlier. According to one report, the PMLN had claimed that it had lured away 51 MPAs, but actually only 22 or thereabouts turned up to show that they had left their own party. Another report says the defectee “guests” were 28. Yet another says they were 34.

The PMLQ, the party that began fraying at the edges as its patron President Pervez Musharraf began to get into trouble during 2007, is being “milked” by the PMLN. But the Chaudhrys, Shujaat Hussain and Pervaiz Elahi, who lead the party claim their party has by and large resisted the move. The forward bloc that had formed earlier has performed the “double-lota” and come back into the fold, barring a few who will be proceeded against under the 14th Amendment of 1997 that unseats anyone crossing the floor. The PMLQ says the PMLN can’t show a majority in the house.

The compulsion to stage a confrontation has plunged the parties back into the arithmetic thrown up by the 2008 elections. After the elections, the PMLN was the leading party in Punjab with 110 seats, followed by the PPP with 78 seats and the PMLQ with 66 seats. There were 36 “independents” — a cover-up for permitted “lotaism” — to be had by whoever formed the government. The PMLN formed a coalition with the PPP at the centre and in Punjab; and together the two parties plus the independents reached a comfortable majority in the Punjab assembly.

Now the political stage in the province is shaky. It all began with the PPP and PMLN loathing the PMLQ in unison: the name was “Qatil” League after the assassination of Ms Bhutto. Then the PPP and the PMLN went back to loathing each other as they used to during the decade of the 1990s, Pakistan’s worst political interregnum. Now the PMLN wants to continue to hate the PMLQ and pluck its MPAs out of the opposition while the PPP wants to negotiate with the PMLQ leadership and kick the PMLN out of government in Lahore.

The PMLN and PMLQ are really an old party that bifurcated in 1999 and fought the 2002 election under the name of Quaid-e-Azam. While the PMLN was in the wilderness till 2008, the PMLQ ruled the country. Now is the time for the defectees of 2002 to do a “double-lota”, as was witnessed when the PML government was fired by the president in 1993. Fearing this possibility again the PML amended the Constitution to punish the floor-crossers. It was perhaps an over-correction and stands today as the most punitive clause for politicians in the Constitution. It is recoiling on the framers of the Amendment, which was actually held in abeyance by President Musharraf to facilitate defections from the PML. The 14th Amendment (1997) is quite strict. It has the following sub-clauses defining defectors that the law would unseat: (a) [Anyone who] commits a breach of party discipline which means a violation of the party constitution, code of conduct and declared policies, or (b) votes contrary to any direction issued by the Parliamentary Party to which he belongs, or (c) abstains from voting in the House against party policy in relation to any bill.

In India, defection is allowed if it is by a bloc comprising one-third of the party strength in the house. Perhaps that is why the name “forward bloc” has regained currency in Pakistan after the 14th Amendment. The two mainstream parties have landed themselves in another embarrassing situation. Instead of cooperating, as earlier pledged, they have now taken the path of confrontation. And if Punjab is destabilised, it means nothing will work smoothly in the country. (Daily Times).
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