Reforms.....

[fatman17]

Opinion
Reforms
Dr Farrukh Saleem
Sunday, August 31, 2014

Capital suggestion

Pakistan is going nowhere without reforms – electoral, economic, judicial, civil service and land. To begin with, electoral and economic reforms ought to be at the top of all priorities. We need electoral reforms because:

Electoral flaw 1: In 2013, the PML-N bagged 32 percent of the votes polled. What that means is that 68 percent of votes polled were in favour of parties other than the PML-N. But, the PML-N got to send one of its own to the office of the prime minister who in essence represents only 32 percent of the votes polled and a mere 17 percent of the registered voters. Under our first-past-the-post electoral system the prime minister actually indirectly represents a total of 14.8 million Pakistanis (but often claims to represent 180 million).

Electoral flaw 2: In 2013, the PML-N bagged 32 percent of the votes polled and managed 190 seats in the National Assembly. In 2013, the PTI bagged 17 percent of the votes polled but managed only 34 seats in the National Assembly. In essence, the PML-N with 14.8 million votes captured 190 seats while PTI with 7.6 million votes got only 34 seats.

Electoral flaw 3: Election data from constituencies in Faisalabad from elections held in 1977, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1997 and 2002 shows that all the winning candidates in all the seven elections were Jatts, Rajputs, Arains, Kharals or Baloch (original research done by Dr Mughees Ahmed in ‘Voting behaviour in rural and urban areas of Punjab’).

Electoral flaw 4: Between 1977 and 2014, almost all law-making undertaken by the National Assembly benefited or protected the president, the PM, governors, CMs, 342 members of the National Assembly, 104 senators or 714 members of the four provincial assemblies. There has been next to nothing for the voters.

Electoral flaw 5: The last population census was conducted 15 years ago.

Possible solution: A proportionate representation system that “accurately reflects the democratic will of the population minimising or reducing the disparity between a party’s share of the vote and its share of parliamentary seats”.

Perhaps, a multi-round system in which a candidate must obtain a majority in order to win. Something along the lines of the Single Transferable Vote (STV) that “enables the elector to list candidates in order of preference in a multi-member constituency”.

We need economic reforms because:

Economic flaw 1: In 2008, each and every man, woman and child in this country was indebted to the tune of Rs40,000. By the time the PPP left, each and every man, woman and child in this country was indebted to the tune of Rs80,000. Currently, the per capita debt stands at Rs100,000. Over time the debt on our children is going up while the assets of the children of our rulers continue to increase.

Economic flaw 2: Pakistani men and women are getting rich through corruption not through hard work.

Economic flaw 3: Money is flowing towards people who trade in favours not in goods.

Economic flaw 4: In order to produce goods one needs permission from those who produce nothing (original work in this regard was done by Ayan Rand).

Possible solutions: Altering spending priorities, professionalising regulatory mechanism, accountability, investing in education, health and justice.

Question: Are our leaders unaware of the right policy mix? Answer: Our leaders are fully aware of the right policy mix but they have deliberately organised every institution of the state and society to benefit the elite – only the elite.

The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad. Email: farrukh15@hotmail.com

Twitter: @saleemfarrukh

a govt of the elite, by the people, for the elite.

 

[Kompromat]

@fatman17 @Oscar @Icarus @Irfan Baloch @Hyperion @notorious_eagle

This article has got me thinking if a society where peacefully protesting for reforms is called fascism, terrorism, mob. Movements are equated 'always' to have been politically motivated (which isn't the case) or the only other alternative is to blame the military for people demanding these reforms then putting them down with brute force when all of the above narratives fail.....is any such change really possible?

Do our elite seriously think that people are coming out on the streets for their political aspirations and not because of their corruption and denial of justice which created the root cause for those political aspirations which make people come out on the street?

Please help me with this ...thanks in advance.

 

[VCheng]

Possible solution: A proportionate representation system that “accurately reflects the democratic will of the population minimising or reducing the disparity between a party’s share of the vote and its share of parliamentary seats”.

The correct place to debate and then implement such changes in on the floor of house, not out on the streets.

Possible solutions: Altering spending priorities, professionalising regulatory mechanism, accountability, investing in education, health and justice.

There can be no meaningful alterations in spending priorities unless debt servicing and defense expenditure are brought under control

 

[Irfan Baloch]

@fatman17 @Oscar @Icarus @Irfan Baloch @Hyperion @notorious_eagle

This article has got me thinking if a society where peacefully protesting for reforms is called fascism, terrorism, mob. Movements are equated 'always' to have been politically motivated (which isn't the case) or the only other alternative is to blame the military for people demanding these reforms then putting them down with brute force when all of the above narratives fail.....is any such change really possible?

Do our elite seriously think that people are coming out on the streets for their political aspirations and not because of their corruption and denial of justice which created the root cause for those political aspirations which make people come out on the street?

Please help me with this ...thanks in advance.

Mr Hasmi's latest comments have forced me to wonder why we are so selective in picking up events that support our PoV.

he claims the protests are scripted.
maybe they are.
maybe Khakis are the evil party that are involved all along and once Nawaz will shoot his foot once again then his khawajas will shout "see we been telling ya"!!!

but I urge people to tell me... if police is also part of that script that decided to rough up the media? is it really police or the "freelancers" weighed down with the "moral" duty to protect "democracy"?

apart from Khurshid Shah's roaring speech in the parliament, who else has come out in force to stand up against the "script?"

well who else.. no other than the front face of LeJ and Sipah Sahabah.. rebranded as ASWJ.. their pain is the presence of certain community members in the TuQ protest and the use of Music in PTI crowd. my heart bleeds for them... NOT

@Aeronaut do listen to that speech by Hassan Nisar where he says if you keep putting the meat of the pig in a mince machine and expecting something else to come out then you are a fool (I dont always agree with him but we are in catch 22.. re-elections will bring back same Mians, Makhdums )

 

[SQ8]

Mr Hasmi's latest comments have forced me to wonder why we are so selective in picking up events that support our PoV.

he claims the protests are scripted.
maybe they are.
maybe Khakis are the evil party that are involved all along and once Nawaz will shoot his foot once again then his khawajas will shout "see we been telling ya"!!!

but I urge people to tell me... if police is also part of that script that decided to rough up the media? is it really police or the "freelancers" weighed down with the "moral" duty to protect "democracy"?

apart from Khurshid Shah's roaring speech in the parliament, who else has come out in force to stand up against the "script?"

well who else.. no other than the front face of LeJ and Sipah Sahabah.. rebranded as ASWJ.. their pain is the presence of certain community members in the TuQ protest and the use of Music in PTI crowd. my heart bleeds for them... NOT

@Aeronaut do listen to that speech by Hassan Nisar where he says if you keep putting the meat of the pig in a mince machine and expecting something else to come out then you are a fool (I dont always agree with him but we are in catch 22.. re-elections will bring back same Mians, Makhdums )

That would be too much of a narrowly focused view. The police were never part of the script,but essentially their actions were anticipated by the script writers.
PML(N) has always kept links with the nutcases because they bring in votes at critical constituencies. One would be foolish to think that at any time PML(N) would not embrace the Taliban if needed to save their patwari behinds.
But Imran khan has raised nothing more than a party of uncouth rabble rousers and then to top this foolishness off has turned out to be a mere puppet.

And the pig either brings the Mian's, Makhdums.. or the Jarnails and Chifs.. All out of the same damn stinking pig.