PPP and PML-N to sign Charter of Democracy Part II by Abdul Nishapuri

President Asif Ali Zardari and Opposition Leader Muhammad Nawaz Sharif are expected to meet in the next few days to announce a renewed commitment to democracy by signing the ‘Charter of Democracy Part II’. It has been learnt by “Let Us Build Pakistan” that the Zardari-Nawaz meeting will be a major milestone in the history of democracy in the country. The meeting will bring a major disappointment to ‘the establishment’ and to the supporters of Taliban and haters of democracy in Pakistan.

The following are some key clauses of the expected joint statement:

1. Certain parts of the 17the amendment will be repealed including but not limited to the annulment of Article 58(2)b and the annulment of disqualification of a person to be elected as a Prime Minister for the third term. This will technically clear the way for Mr Nawaz Sharif in the 2012 elections.

2. Mr Sharif’s PML-N will agree to be a part of the federal cabinet. Mr Sharif will also guarantee in writing that the elected government will be allowed to complete its full constitutional term (5 years), and that there will be no demand for a mid-term elections, nor PML-N will become a part of a campaign to destabilize the democratic government.

3. Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan will replace Mr Salman Tasir as Governor of Punjab.

4. A “National Truth and Reconciliation Commission” will be established through an act of parliament. The Commission will comprise the following persons: Justice Rana Bhagwan Das, Asma Jahangir, Javed Hashmi, Raza Rabbani, and I.A. Rehman. The Commission will consider all allegations of corruption not only against politicians but also against military and civil bureaucrats in the country from 1977 onwards. The Commission will be given the constitutional authority by the parliament to make final decisions on all cases with a view to conduct across the board accountability as well as reach truth and reconciliation.

5. Defence budget will be regularly audited by the public accounts committee of the parliament.

6. PPP and PML-N will offer full political support to Pakistan Army in its operation against Taliban terrorists.

Here are some relevant news items, which point towards this development.

LAHORE: The PPP has linked repeal of the 17th Amendment to PML-N joining the federal cabinet for the remaining term of the government. ‘There will have to be some give and take. Who will guarantee that after the controversial amendment is done away with the PML-N will not destabilise the PPP government in order to pave way for the Sharifs’ a cabinet member said on Sunday. ‘In fact this is the deadlock between the PPP and PML-N over the issue,’ he told Dawn, adding that senior leaders of both parties were discussing the matter and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had given his consent in this regard. ‘However we have sought a firm assurance from the PML-N leadership that it will not back out of its commitment of joining the cabinet once we repeal the amendment,’ he said.

When it was pointed out that President Asif Ali Zardari had in the past backed out of commitments with the PML-N leadership, the cabinet member said: ‘This is true and that is why we are sceptical. Who will guarantee that Mian Sahib after becoming eligible to become prime minister for the third time after the repeal of the 17th Amendment will not destabilise the PPP government? As we know, commitments or promises are often not kept in the tug of war for power.’ He said the PPP high command is even ready to replace Punjab Governor Salman Taseer as wished by Mr Sharif. ‘But all this depends on how he responds to the offer.’ Earlier, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar Awan had asked the PML-N not to oppose the renaming of the NWFP to break the ‘deadlock’ and pave way for consensus on a constitutional package. PML-N leader Khawaja Asif said his party would not accept any condition for the repeal of the amendment. ‘We will not accept any offer of becoming part of the federal government. Nawaz Sharif has not given consent in this regard.’

He said the PML-N might consider joining the government after the controversial amendments were repealed under the Charter of Democracy. He warned that if the PPP adopted delaying tactics the PML-N might withdraw the ‘concessions’ it had been giving to the government over the past one and a half years. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has announced that the 17th Amendment will be repealed soon, but sources claim that the process will take up to three months. A 26-member special parliamentary committee on constitutional reforms has been meeting regularly to come up with recommendations by the end of the current month. REFERENCE: PPP wants PML-N in coalition for joining cabinet By Zulqernain Tahir Monday, 07 Dec, 2009 http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/19-ppp-wants-pml-n-in-coalition-for-joining-cabinet-hh-05

ISLAMABAD – Government has no intention to show door to any of the NRO beneficiary ministers in the Federal Cabinet, however, the portfolios of a number of ministers in the cabinet would likely be changed due to the planned merger of a number of ministries, sources close to the ruling coalition informed The Nation on Sunday. Brushing aside the impression of any pressure on any of the NRO beneficiary ministers in the Federal Cabinet from Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani or any other top-notch in the government the sources further informed that showing door to any of the NRO beneficiaries would mean exerting pressure on President Asif Ali Zardari as he is also one of the main beneficiaries of the ordinance.

The sources in Pakistan People’s Party informed that the party could only deal with PPP ministers while the ministries doled out to coalition partners were not in its domain so the government would not take any decision in this regard as only the heads of the coalition partners were given the names of their members in the Federal Cabinet. The sources in the PPP said that other than merger the PPP could change the portfolios of some of its ministers on the ground of their unsatisfactory performance. The sources, however, added that in case of the merger of any of the ministries, presently with any of the coalition partners, the coalition partners would be duly accommodated. Giving rationale behind the merger of some ministries which were earlier segregated to accommodate coalition partners would now be remerged owing to financial constraints and to satisfy the foreign donors who were not satisfied with the governance of the incumbent setup, sources further said. REFERENCE: No threat to NRO beneficiaries in cabinet By: Abrar Saeed Published: December 07, 2009 http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/07-Dec-2009/No-threat-to-NRO-beneficiaries-in-cabinet

SOURCE: LET US BUILD PAKISTAN - A PROJECT OF CRITICAL SUPPORTERS OF PAKISTAN PEOPLE'S PARTY

URL: http://criticalppp.org/lubp/archives/2294

After Benazir Bhutto's Death - 3

PPP - Senator Raza Rabbani


Even if the General Elections 2008 are not rigged [that is a tall order] then what? because under National Security Council it woould be sham democracy.

The Surrender

May 2004 [MontHly NEWSLINE Pakistan]

http://www.newsline.com.pk/newsMay2004/guestMay2004.htm

Never in history has any Parliament been in such haste to abdicate its powers and sovereignty to the military as the current one seems to be doing, so graphically illustrated in the matter of the passage of the NSC bill, says lawyer and PPP Senator Raza Rabbani.

The passage of the National Security Council Act, 2004 has broken many a tradition. It has altered the civil-military equation to the advantage of the latter, it has ascribed to the armed forces a role inconsistent with the constitution, it is a law against the basic structure of the constitution, it seeks subordination of civil authority by law, and during its passage all norms of democracy and parliamentary practice were flouted.

The establishment has been toying with promoting and pressing for the concept of the NSC since many a year, but it has been the resistance of civil society that held it at bay until April 14, 2004. In 1985 General Zia introduced it as Article 152A in the RCO, but the Parliament of that time had the strength and moral courage to delete it as Article 18 in the Eighth Amendment. On January 6, 1997 the NSC reemerged under Farooq Leghari, only to be lost again under Sharif. After the October 12, 1999 takeover it resurfaced once more on November 6, 1999, and was reconstituted by the National Security Council Order 2001 (Chief Executives Order No. 5 of 2001).

In distinct contrast, the mind of the founding fathers is reflected in an office memorandum (No. 272/of/48) issued by the cabinet secretariat dated September 25, 1948 from Karachi. The office memorandum constitutes a defence committee of the cabinet under the Prime Minister. This is similar to the DCC that existed before the passage of this Act. The NSC is against the grain of a parliamentary system and an intrusion of an extra-parliamentary force upon the preserve of Parliament.

When the NSC proposal was put to vote, it offered civil society a unique opportunity to place the NSC under wraps - but for its 'turncoats.' It is for the first time that the internal contradictions between the civil-military bureaucracy and their traditional political allies, the religious right, surfaced. The main contributing factors for the split lay in the uneven application of the NAB law, the devolution plan and the Police Order 2002 for the civil bureaucracy, and the international events for the religious right. But the turncoats with their NAB cases, loan defaults and rank opportunism were there to provide more than a helping hand to complete the surrender of Parliament. Never in history has any Parliament been in such haste to abdicate its powers and sovereignty.

The bill was laid before the National Assembly on April 2, 2004 and referred to the standing committee. The House was adjourned at 1: 00 p.m and the standing committee was summoned for a meeting at 1:30 PM - on that very day. The members of the opposition in the committee were not served notice, the general discussion on the bill in the assembly was circumvented with an altercation with the opposition and by 2:00 pm the committee had passed the bill. Upon transmission to the Senate the rules were suspended and general discussion of the bill was taken up. Two motions of the opposition of referring the bill to the standing committee and circulating it for public opinion, were disallowed. There was an agreement that four days of general discussion on the bill would take place. On the second day a situation was created where the opposition staged a token walkout and the bill was passed in three minutes (as reported in the press). Thus on April 14, 2004 the surrender was complete.

The new law is in violation of Article 245 of the constitution. This article states that the armed forces shall be under the directions of the federal government. It ascribes three functions for the armed forces under the constitution, namely, to defend Pakistan against external aggression, threat of war and subject to law, act in aid of civil power when called upon to do so. Thus it is clear that the authors of the constitution had placed them under the political will and assigned no role of policy formulation or governance.

The effect of this Act will be that the basic structure of the constitution i.e. federal, parliamentary and democratic will be altered. The federal character and provincial autonomy are infringed upon as "government" in the Act means federal and provincial governments. Thereby, the NSC is able to consult, formulate recommendations and do crises management of provincial governments. It replaces the parliamentary system with a quasi-presidential system, the return to One-Unit. This Act has to be read with the discretionary powers of the President conferred under the Seventh Constitutional Amendment Act. The President as chairman of the NSC and as chairman of the National Command Authority becomes an over-emphasised office
with no check or balance, in total negation of the parliamentary system. The democratic character of the constitution is affected the moment the political will is made subordinate.

The extent and ambit of the new law was described by General Musharraf when in August he said, "the National Assembly consists of 342 members, hence decision-making is not possible, but a cross-section of views can emerge. These views would then be considered by the NSC in formulating policy." He again said on June 30, 2003 in Los Angeles, "the LFO will ensure a vital role to be played by the NSC."

The present government talks of the NSC being present in the US and India. What they forget is the fact that these are societies where the armed forces are subordinate to the political will and are not contenders for power. Further, no uniformed person is a member of these councils. In Turkey, the situation is different. The chief of general staff is appointed on the advise of the council of ministers, the NSC formed under Article 118 of the constitution is only an advisory body on the policy of national security - the word used is "policy." The advise tendered is sent to the council of ministers which may accept or reject the same, the final arbiter as to whether the advise is acceptable or not to the cabinet, which is answerable to Parliament. The concept of the supremacy of Parliament has been preserved in the Turkish model.


The amendment passed in the National Assembly that refers the recommendations of the NSC to either House has made matters worse, it has reduced the houses to the status of an implementation authority. It states, "any proposal on an issue deemed to be of national importance which requires implementation shall be referred by the council to the National Assembly or the Senate for appropriate action." This means that Parliament will take appropriate action for its implementation; it cannot discuss or override the proposal that has been sent to it. Thus it is only an implementation authority and nothing more. Further, in case there is a proposal for the dissolution of the National Assembly under Article 58(2)(b), what will the position be? Will the Senate be able to override this proposal?

To say that the NSC will prevent further martial laws is belied by history. The 1956 and 1962 constitutions of Iskander Mirza and Ayub Khan were products of the thinking of the establishment, but in the end the authors of these constitutions themselves asked for their abrogation. The chief of army staff was also made a cabinet minister but this did not prevent the imposition of martial law. In the scheme of the 1973 Constitution there are only two players in the power equation: the President and the Prime Minister. The role of the armed forces has been defined in Article 245.

The Act states that a National Security Council shall be established to serve as a forum for consultation on matters of national security including sovereignty, integrity, defence and security of the state. All these terms are vague and each itself carries wide implications leaving no sphere of governance beyond their ambit. The icing on the cake comes with the term 'crisis management.' This is an all-encompassing omnibus phrase and covers everything under the sun. Thus the NSC will formulate policy on any and every aspect of government policy.

In conclusion the new law


a) prescribes a role for the armed forces that the Constitution of 1973 does not envisage


b) formalises the role of the armed forces in the constitutional functioning and policy-making of the federal government


c) infringes on the sovereignty of Parliament


d) makes the Prime Minister and his cabinet subordinate to its policies


e) its ambit as defined in the Act does not confine it to matters of only national security


f) through inference introduces a unitary form of government


g) infringes on provincial autonomy


h) a large number of its members are the appointees of the President


i) by presiding over the NSC, the President makes the Prime Minister an equal among equals, which is a negation of the parliamentary system.