pkpatriotic
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2008
- Messages
- 2,317
- Reaction score
- 0
Experimenting with democracy
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Rahimullah Yusufzai
Twice in recent weeks, the Balochistan Assembly couldn't hold its winter session due to lack of quorum. This happened on two consecutive occasions as 15 assembly members out of 65 turned up in the first session while only six were present in the second. This was despite the fact that 63 MPAs are part of the PPP-led coalition government in the province and sit on the treasury benches. It is certainly a cause for alarm that the 45 provincial ministers and the rest, almost all of whom hold some official position, are unable to ensure quorum of the provincial assembly so that its sessions are held in time, the grave issues confronting Balochistan and Pakistan are debated and legislative business is conducted.
There could be a reason as to why the Balochistan Assembly failed to meet due to absence of the required number of its members. It is argued that the MPAs on one occasion had to attend a function of Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, who finally found time to visit Balochistan to belatedly console the unfortunate victims of the Ziarat earthquake. On the second occasion, the MPAs found it more exciting to attend the wedding of the son of federal minister Syed Khurshid Shah in Karachi than staying back in Quetta and taking part in the normally lacklustre proceedings of the provincial assembly. However, the assembly speaker and the parliamentary leaders of the political parties making up the ruling coalition should have figured out in advance that it would be inopportune to convene the assembly's session when such momentous events such as the prime minister's visit or a royal wedding were taking place.
The way the Balochistan Assembly is functioning and the manner in which the provincial government is being run cannot inspire confidence among those who were hoping for a change following the installation of democratic governments in keeping with the verdict of the voters in the Feb 18 general elections. It is business as usual, with the lawmakers once again indulging in their familiar pastime of seeking and enjoying the perks of power at the cost of public interest.
It would not be fair to single out Balochistan for its poor state of governance, but the purpose of highlighting the shortcomings of Chief Minister Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani's unwieldy provincial government was to show how Pakistan's latest experiment with democracy was already causing disappointment to all those who had attached so much hopes with the February polls.
Of the 65 assembly members in Balochistan, only one sits on the empty opposition benches. Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind, a former federal minister, cannot join the government due to tribal disputes with Chief Minister Raisani. He reportedly attended just one session of the assembly, to take oath as MPA, and that too in the company of heavily-armed guards. Being powerful tribal elders, the two Baloch chieftains have been running a feud and are, therefore, constrained to remain in opposite camps. Sardar Bakhtiar Khan Domki, son of the late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti's son-in-law Sardar Chakar Khan Domki, could be classified as an independent MPA as he isn't part of the coalition government despite reposing trust in the chief minister at the time of Mr Raisani's election. One could well imagine that there is practically no opposition in the Balochistan Assembly, and, therefore, no check on the working of the government. In the absence of any real opposition, some PPP lawmakers took it upon themselves to oppose their own government in Balochistan recently when they staged a walkout from the assembly to show solidarity with a party MPA and minister, Ghazala Gola; she was upset at the portfolio of minority affairs being taken away from her and given to a minister affiliated with the PML-Q, Basant Lal Gulshan. Three PPP ministers and an MPA, led by parliamentary party leader Sadiq Umrani, staged the walkout in protest and held a press conference in which they expressed reservations on the affairs of the coalition government headed by their own party member, Sardar Raisani, who otherwise has an honest reputation and is admired for his straightforward nature.
This is something familiar not only in Balochistan but also other provinces where coalition governments are in place. Protests at allocation of ministerial portfolios is an old story. Political parties without ideology lack discipline as its leaders and members seek personal glory and are driven by self-interest. A coalition government cannot have direction because the ruling partners tend to pull it in different directions. Balochistan suffers more due to its coalition governments as its electorate, belonging to different ethnic and political groups, always gives a split mandate in elections. Secular, progressive and nationalist politicians have no qualms joining hands with Islamists and centrists to form coalition governments in Balochistan even though they make strange bedfellows.
Like Balochistan, the federal government too is an amalgamation of political parties espousing conflicting causes and ideologies. It was, therefore, not surprising that the federal cabinet's strength has already risen to 55 and is poised to become even larger once Altaf Hussain's MQM and Maulana Fazlur Rahman's JUI-F are accommodated. The coalition partners, from the PPP to the JUI-F and the ANP to the MQM, are already pulling it in different directions. Prime Minister Gilani, by now known more for his interesting and often meaningless statements than anything substantial in terms of his administrative skills, watches helplessly while he panders to the wishes of the leaders of the coalition parties, and at the same time take orders from the his party boss: President Asif Ali Zardari doesn't want to step down as the head of the PPP and become the president of all Pakistanis irrespective of their political affiliation.
In Sindh, the PPP has entered into a coalition with the MQM, a party with which it shares little owing to the two parties' mutual distrust. Sooner or later, the two might encounter serious disputes and the only way they could stay together is to allow each other a free hand in running their respective ministries.
The situation in the NWFP isn't much different. The PPP and ANP always make uneasy coalition partners and this time is no exception. Paralysed by the rising militancy and violence, the coalition government enjoys an unassailable majority in the NWFP Assembly and the JUI-F-led opposition too is largely a friendly opposition. The PML-N hasn't taken up the insignificant ministerial berths that were offered to it by the ANP and the PPP but it doesn't want to sit in the opposition as this would deprive its MPAs of government patronage and funds.
However, the provincial government cannot function normally due to the serious law-and-order problems afflicting the province. The expectations attached to it by the voters cannot be fulfilled and public trust in the coalition government's ability to deliver is gradually diminishing. Add to it the familiar problems that arise between coalition partners in our country and there is this growing feeling that the ANP and the PPP could in due course develop problems of mutual mistrust.
Punjab probably is the best-administered province at present, primarily due to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif's sincerity of purpose and governance skills. But Governor Salmaan Taseer would not let it work smoothly and the PPP doesn't want to remain out of the provincial government even if Nawaz Sharif wants it to quit the coalition in Punjab. Coalition politics in Punjab too is causing frustration and could even undo the delicate balance of power now in place in Pakistan's biggest province.
It would be unfortunate if Pakistan's latest experiment with democracy falls by the wayside due to the lust for power among our politicians.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Rahimullah Yusufzai
Twice in recent weeks, the Balochistan Assembly couldn't hold its winter session due to lack of quorum. This happened on two consecutive occasions as 15 assembly members out of 65 turned up in the first session while only six were present in the second. This was despite the fact that 63 MPAs are part of the PPP-led coalition government in the province and sit on the treasury benches. It is certainly a cause for alarm that the 45 provincial ministers and the rest, almost all of whom hold some official position, are unable to ensure quorum of the provincial assembly so that its sessions are held in time, the grave issues confronting Balochistan and Pakistan are debated and legislative business is conducted.
There could be a reason as to why the Balochistan Assembly failed to meet due to absence of the required number of its members. It is argued that the MPAs on one occasion had to attend a function of Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, who finally found time to visit Balochistan to belatedly console the unfortunate victims of the Ziarat earthquake. On the second occasion, the MPAs found it more exciting to attend the wedding of the son of federal minister Syed Khurshid Shah in Karachi than staying back in Quetta and taking part in the normally lacklustre proceedings of the provincial assembly. However, the assembly speaker and the parliamentary leaders of the political parties making up the ruling coalition should have figured out in advance that it would be inopportune to convene the assembly's session when such momentous events such as the prime minister's visit or a royal wedding were taking place.
The way the Balochistan Assembly is functioning and the manner in which the provincial government is being run cannot inspire confidence among those who were hoping for a change following the installation of democratic governments in keeping with the verdict of the voters in the Feb 18 general elections. It is business as usual, with the lawmakers once again indulging in their familiar pastime of seeking and enjoying the perks of power at the cost of public interest.
It would not be fair to single out Balochistan for its poor state of governance, but the purpose of highlighting the shortcomings of Chief Minister Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani's unwieldy provincial government was to show how Pakistan's latest experiment with democracy was already causing disappointment to all those who had attached so much hopes with the February polls.
Of the 65 assembly members in Balochistan, only one sits on the empty opposition benches. Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind, a former federal minister, cannot join the government due to tribal disputes with Chief Minister Raisani. He reportedly attended just one session of the assembly, to take oath as MPA, and that too in the company of heavily-armed guards. Being powerful tribal elders, the two Baloch chieftains have been running a feud and are, therefore, constrained to remain in opposite camps. Sardar Bakhtiar Khan Domki, son of the late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti's son-in-law Sardar Chakar Khan Domki, could be classified as an independent MPA as he isn't part of the coalition government despite reposing trust in the chief minister at the time of Mr Raisani's election. One could well imagine that there is practically no opposition in the Balochistan Assembly, and, therefore, no check on the working of the government. In the absence of any real opposition, some PPP lawmakers took it upon themselves to oppose their own government in Balochistan recently when they staged a walkout from the assembly to show solidarity with a party MPA and minister, Ghazala Gola; she was upset at the portfolio of minority affairs being taken away from her and given to a minister affiliated with the PML-Q, Basant Lal Gulshan. Three PPP ministers and an MPA, led by parliamentary party leader Sadiq Umrani, staged the walkout in protest and held a press conference in which they expressed reservations on the affairs of the coalition government headed by their own party member, Sardar Raisani, who otherwise has an honest reputation and is admired for his straightforward nature.
This is something familiar not only in Balochistan but also other provinces where coalition governments are in place. Protests at allocation of ministerial portfolios is an old story. Political parties without ideology lack discipline as its leaders and members seek personal glory and are driven by self-interest. A coalition government cannot have direction because the ruling partners tend to pull it in different directions. Balochistan suffers more due to its coalition governments as its electorate, belonging to different ethnic and political groups, always gives a split mandate in elections. Secular, progressive and nationalist politicians have no qualms joining hands with Islamists and centrists to form coalition governments in Balochistan even though they make strange bedfellows.
Like Balochistan, the federal government too is an amalgamation of political parties espousing conflicting causes and ideologies. It was, therefore, not surprising that the federal cabinet's strength has already risen to 55 and is poised to become even larger once Altaf Hussain's MQM and Maulana Fazlur Rahman's JUI-F are accommodated. The coalition partners, from the PPP to the JUI-F and the ANP to the MQM, are already pulling it in different directions. Prime Minister Gilani, by now known more for his interesting and often meaningless statements than anything substantial in terms of his administrative skills, watches helplessly while he panders to the wishes of the leaders of the coalition parties, and at the same time take orders from the his party boss: President Asif Ali Zardari doesn't want to step down as the head of the PPP and become the president of all Pakistanis irrespective of their political affiliation.
In Sindh, the PPP has entered into a coalition with the MQM, a party with which it shares little owing to the two parties' mutual distrust. Sooner or later, the two might encounter serious disputes and the only way they could stay together is to allow each other a free hand in running their respective ministries.
The situation in the NWFP isn't much different. The PPP and ANP always make uneasy coalition partners and this time is no exception. Paralysed by the rising militancy and violence, the coalition government enjoys an unassailable majority in the NWFP Assembly and the JUI-F-led opposition too is largely a friendly opposition. The PML-N hasn't taken up the insignificant ministerial berths that were offered to it by the ANP and the PPP but it doesn't want to sit in the opposition as this would deprive its MPAs of government patronage and funds.
However, the provincial government cannot function normally due to the serious law-and-order problems afflicting the province. The expectations attached to it by the voters cannot be fulfilled and public trust in the coalition government's ability to deliver is gradually diminishing. Add to it the familiar problems that arise between coalition partners in our country and there is this growing feeling that the ANP and the PPP could in due course develop problems of mutual mistrust.
Punjab probably is the best-administered province at present, primarily due to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif's sincerity of purpose and governance skills. But Governor Salmaan Taseer would not let it work smoothly and the PPP doesn't want to remain out of the provincial government even if Nawaz Sharif wants it to quit the coalition in Punjab. Coalition politics in Punjab too is causing frustration and could even undo the delicate balance of power now in place in Pakistan's biggest province.
It would be unfortunate if Pakistan's latest experiment with democracy falls by the wayside due to the lust for power among our politicians.
