Cosmetic Changes in Islamabad

Guest Post by temporal from Baithak also posted on Desicritcs

Pakistan's Moment: We will fight terrorism — our way appeared under the byline of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. Since his name is on the mast, I will assume that he takes full responsibility for this article. He writes:

It is important for Pakistan — which has transited from an authoritarian regime to democratic governance — that the message of this first critical post-election period be bold and clear. Like newly elected governments in other democratic societies, we intend to set the tone and agenda. We want to show the world that our nation is back in business, with an overwhelming mandate from our people.

It has been thirty days since he and his cabinet took oath. What does he have to show for the past thirty days? Please keep in mind that his party (PPP) and his coalition partners, PML-N, ANP and JUI had nearly six weeks to prepare an agenda before this oath taking.

Inflation is unchecked, prices for rice, flour, petrol and other commodities are still escalating. Law and order is still in a mess. The ministers travel in motorcades and the traffic is still diverted and blocked as it was under the previous administration.

The Judiciary issue is used as a lightening rod and a smokescreen simultaneously to deflect the attention and scrutiny away from the pressing problems facing the nation. The irony is, while the issue is being debated in Dubai between Asif Zardari the interim co-chairman of PPP and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, Mr Gilani is not even a member of the participating teams.

I find nothing bold and clear nor any attempts to set the tone and agenda.

Mr Gilani describes Benazir Bhutto as "Pakistan's quintessential democratic leader" …facts and history speak otherwise.

My government is a coalition of modern, moderate, innovative, progressive democratic forces determined to jump-start the economy and to rebuild the social fabric of Pakistan.

We saw many of these "modern, moderate, innovative, progressive democratic forces" in the previous two terms each of PPP and PML-N. And the Pakistanis have not forgotten why both the PPP and PML-N were turfed out a total of four times.

We understand that unemployment, inflation and poverty are corrosive elements that, if left unaddressed, can create hopelessness and ennui that undermine authority.

The people of Pakistan did not elect him and his coalition to "understand" – they elected him to act quickly to alleviate these issues. Other than playing the blame-the-previous-government his administration has done nothing substantive.

He writes of "smuggling of Pakistani wheat across our borders."

Does he realise how impotent this sounds when read by the US readers? It reads as an confession of his Administration's inability to exercise control within his territory. This is going to raise eyebrows in the foggy bottom. The Pakistani detractors bring up the issue of Nuclear Weapon's safety and control every other week. If Pakistan cannot effectively control her side of the border how can he cite this weakness as a raison detre for smuggling?

 Now we are negotiating from a position of strength.

The proof is in the pudding. This is what I have written here in Zardarigate: Who's Afraid of Judiciary:

Witness these recent developments from the new coalition government of Raza Rabbani:

* The coalition accepted the appointment of Maj Gen Jay Hood (of the Qur'an desecration infamy) in the US Embassy at Islamabad.

* The coalition recalled Gen. Mahmud Ali Durrani, a protege of Shirin Taher-Kheli and a colleague on Balusa, as Ambassador to the Court of St. Bush and appointed him National Security Adviser to the PM Raza Rabbani (Shirin is also a neocon and  knows Hussain Haqqani, Ayesha Siddiqua and others through IDSA and other fora.)

* The coalition appointed Hussain Haqqani, first as Ambassador-at-large and then as Ambassador-designate to the Court of St. Bush. Last week Blogger Pakistan ran a long, rambling article by Moin Ansari – Husain Haqqani:-Dangerous 5th Column or Selfish opportunist? which tried to establish Hussain Haqqani as a neocon at best and a neoconzix at worst. * Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has "detached himself" from the Balusa Group according to Mariana Babar.

The parachuting of Washington's dream team means status quo remains unchanged in Islamabad. And the criticism and bunking of President Musharraf's US tilt is self serving lip service. Playing His Master's Voice (no pun) does not indicate a "position of strength."

Yousaf Raza Gilani is in an unenviable position. He cannot tell people to eat cakes. He has to act boldly, clearly, firmly and quickly: which means refraining from blame-game and delivering results. 


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8 responses to “Cosmetic Changes in Islamabad”

  1. Imran Ahmed Avatar
    Imran Ahmed

    Husain Haqqani is a world renowned academic and scholar on Pakistan and the Muslim world. As a Pakistani American I am very proud that he has been appointed as Pakistan’s next Ambassador to the United States.

    Haqqani is not a neo-con or neoconix and all that has been written by Moin Ansari is a rambling by a crazy man who has yet to prove anything he has written.

  2. Wasiq Avatar
    Wasiq

    You guys are part of some propaganda machine against democratic govt in Pakistan.

    Brig hood apppointment took place under Musharraf’s caretaker govt not after Gilani’s election on March 24.

    Zardari is asking for nothing other than what was agreed in Charter of Democracy. Jusges are not perfect and Iftikhar Chaudhry’s support of Martial Law and many injustices should not be forgiven simply because he took a belated stand against Musharraf.

    In any case, Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan Tehrik Insaaf and lawyers movement boycotted election so the mandate of the people is not for their stance. They are now trying to hijack the people’s mandate.

    Athar Minallah and Munir Malik all served in Musharraf regime when Zardari was rotting in prison. Benazir Bhutto laid down her life as did her father but Bhutto haters do not see the PPP’s sacrifices. Having been let down by the judiciary so often why blame them for wanting guarantees that this time judiciary will be truly independent not just selctively independent?

    Read the text of the Charter of Democracy below:

    Dawn May 16, 2006

    Text of the Charter of Democracy

    LONDON, May 15: The following is the text of the Charter of Democracy signed by former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif here on Sunday:

    We the elected leaders of Pakistan have deliberated on the political crisis in our beloved homeland, the threats to its survival, the erosion of the federation’s unity, the military’s subordination of all state institutions, the marginalisation of civil society, the mockery of the Constitution and representative institutions, growing poverty, unemployment and inequality, brutalisation of society, breakdown of rule of law and, the unprecedented hardships facing our people under a military dictatorship, which has pushed our beloved country to the brink of a total disaster;

    Noting the most devastating and traumatic experiences that our nation experienced under military dictatorships that played havoc with the nation’s destiny and created conditions disallowing the progress of our people and the flowering of democracy. Even after removal from office they undermined the people’s mandate and the sovereign will of the people;

    Drawing history’s lesson that the military dictatorship and the nation cannot co-exist – as military involvement adversely affect the economy and the democratic institutions as well as the defence capabilities, and the integrity of the country – the nation needs a new direction different from a militaristic and regimental approach of the Bonapartist regimes, as the current one;

    Taking serious exception to the vilification campaign against the representatives of the people, in particular, and the civilians, in general, the victimisation of political leaders/workers and their media trials under a Draconian law in the name of accountability, in order to divide and eliminate the representative political parties, to Gerrymander a king’s party and concoct legitimacy to prolong the military rule;

    Noting our responsibility to our people to set an alternative direction for the country saving it from its present predicaments on an economically sustainable, socially progressive, politically democratic and pluralist, federally cooperative, ideologically tolerant, internationally respectable and regionally peaceful basis in the larger interests of the peoples of Pakistan to decide once for all that only the people and no one else has the sovereign right to govern through their elected representatives, as conceived by the democrat par excellence, Father of the Nation Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah;

    Reaffirming our commitment to undiluted democracy and universally recognised fundamental rights, the rights of a vibrant opposition, internal party democracy, ideological/political tolerance, bipartisan working of the parliament through powerful committee system, a cooperative federation with no discrimination against federating units, the decentralisation and devolution of power, maximum provincial autonomy, the empowerment of the people at the grassroots level, the emancipation of our people from poverty, ignorance, want and disease, the uplift of women and minorities, the elimination of klashnikov culture, a free and independent media, an independent judiciary, a neutral civil service, rule of law and merit, the settlement of disputes with the neighbours through peaceful means, honouring international contracts, laws/covenants and sovereign guarantees, so as to achieve a responsible and civilised status in the comity of nations through a foreign policy that suits our national interests;

    Calling upon the people of Pakistan to join hands to save our motherland from the clutches of military dictatorship and to defend their fundamental, social, political and economic rights and for a democratic, federal, modern and progressive Pakistan as dreamt by the Founder of the nation; have adopted the following, “Charter of Democracy”;

    A. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

    1. The 1973 Constitution as on 12th October 1999 before the military coup shall be restored with the provisions of joint electorates, minorities, and women reserved seats on closed party list in the Parliament, the lowering of the voting age, and the increase in seats in parliament and the Legal Framework Order, 2000 and the Seventeenth Constitutional Amendment shall be repealed accordingly.

    2. The appointment of the governors, three services chiefs and the CJCSC shall be made by the chief executive who is the prime minister, as per the 1973 Constitution.

    3. (a) The recommendations for appointment of judges to superior judiciary shall be formulated through a commission, which shall comprise of the following: i. The chairman shall be a chief justice, who has never previously taken oath under the PCO.

    ii. The members of the commission shall be the chief justices of the provincial high courts who have not taken oath under the PCO, failing which the senior most judge of that high court who has not taken oath shall be the member

    iii. Vice-Chairmen of Pakistan and Vice-Chairmen of Provincial Bar Association with respect to the appointment of judges to their concerned province

    iv. President of Supreme Court Bar Association

    v. Presidents of High Court Bar Associations of Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and Quetta with respect to the appointment of judges to their concerned province

    vi. Federal Minister for Law and Justice

    vii. Attorney General of Pakistan

    (a-i) The commission shall forward a panel of three names for each vacancy to the prime minister, who shall forward one name for confirmation to joint parliamentary committee for confirmation of the nomination through a transparent public hearing process.

    (a-ii) The joint parliamentary committee shall comprise of 50 per cent members from the treasury benches and the remaining 50 per cent from opposition parties based on their strength in the parliament nominated by respective parliamentary leaders.

    (b) No judge shall take oath under any Provisional Constitutional Order or any other oath that is contradictory to the exact language of the original oath prescribed in the Constitution of 1973.

    (c) Administrative mechanism will be instituted for the prevention of misconduct, implementation of code of ethics, and removal of judges on such charges brought to its attention by any citizen through the proposed commission for appointment of Judges. (d) All special courts including anti-terrorism and accountability courts shall be abolished and such cases be tried in ordinary courts. Further to create a set of rules and procedures whereby, the arbitrary powers of the chief justices over the assignment of cases to various judges and the transfer of judges to various benches such powers shall be exercised by the Chief Justice and two senior most judges sitting together.

    4. A Federal Constitutional Court will be set up to resolve constitutional issues, giving equal representation to each of the federating units, whose members may be judges or persons qualified to be judges of the Supreme Court, constituted for a six-year period. The Supreme and High Courts will hear regular civil and criminal cases. The appointment of judges shall be made in the same manner as for judges of higher judiciary.

    5. The Concurrent List in the Constitution will be abolished. A new NFC award will be announced.

    6. The reserved seats for women in the national and provincial assemblies will be allocated to the parties on the basis of the number of votes polled in the general elections by each party.

    7. The strength of the Senate of Pakistan shall be increased to give representation to minorities in the Senate.

    8. FATA shall be included in the NWFP province in consultation with them.

    9. Northern Areas shall be developed by giving it a special status and further empowering the Northern Areas Legislative Council to provide people of Northern Areas access to justice and human rights.

    10. Local bodies election will be held on party basis through provincial election commissions in respective provinces and constitutional protection will be given to the local bodies to make them autonomous and answerable to their respective assemblies as well as to the people through regular courts of law.

    B. CODE OF CONDUCT

    11. National Security Council will be abolished. Defence Cabinet Committee will be headed by prime minister and will have a permanent secretariat. The prime minister may appoint a federal security adviser to process intelligence reports for the prime minister. The efficacy of the higher defence and security structure, created two decades ago, will be reviewed. The Joint Services Command structure will be strengthened and made more effective and headed in rotation among the three services by law. 12. The ban on a ‘prime minister not being eligible for a third term of office’ will be abolished.

    13. (a) Truth and Reconciliation Commission be established to acknowledge victims of torture, imprisonment, state-sponsored persecution, targeted legislation, and politically motivated accountability. The commission will also examine and report its findings on military coups and civil removals of governments from 1996.

    (b) A commission shall also examine and identify the causes of and fix responsibility and make recommendations in the light thereof for incidences such as Kargil.

    (c) Accountability of NAB and other Ehtesab operators to identify and hold accountable abuse of office by NAB operators through purgery and perversion of justice and violation of human rights since its establishment.

    (d) To replace politically motivated NAB with an independent accountability commission, whose chairman shall be nominated by the prime minister in consultation with the leader of opposition and confirmed by a joint parliamentary committee with 50 per cent members from treasury benches and remaining 50 per cent from opposition parties in same manner as appointment of judges through transparent public hearing. The confirmed nominee shall meet the standard of political impartiality, judicial propriety, moderate views expressed through his judgements and would have not dealt.

    14. The press and electronic media will be allowed its independence. Access to information will become law after parliamentary debate and public scrutiny.

    15. The chairmen of public accounts committee in the national and provincial assemblies will be appointed by the leaders of opposition in the concerned assemblies.

    16. An effective Nuclear Command and Control system under the Defence Cabinet Committee will be put in place to avoid any possibility of leakage or proliferation.

    17. Peaceful relations with India and Afghanistan will be pursued without prejudice to outstanding disputes.

    18. Kashmir dispute should be settled in accordance with the UN Resolutions and the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

    19. Governance will be improved to help the common citizen, by giving access to quality social services like education, health, job generation, curbing price hike, combating illegal redundancies, and curbing lavish spendings in civil and military establishments as ostentious causes great resentment amongst the teeming millions. We pledge to promote and practice simplicity, at all levels.

    20. Women, minorities, and the under privileged will be provided equal opportunities in all walks of life.

    21. We will respect the electoral mandate of representative governments that accepts the due role of the opposition and declare neither shall undermine each other through extra constitutional ways.

    22. We shall not join a military regime or any military sponsored government. No party shall solicit the support of military to come into power or to dislodge a democratic government.

    23. To prevent corruption and floor crossing all votes for the Senate and indirect seats will be by open identifiable ballot. Those violating the party discipline in the poll shall stand disqualified by a letter from the parliamentary party leader to the concerned Speaker or the Chairman Senate with a copy to the Election Commission for notification purposes within 14 days of receipt of letter failing which it will be deemed to have been notified on the expiry of that period.

    24. All military and judicial officers will be required to file annual assets and income declarations like Parliamentarians to make them accountable to the public.

    25. National Democracy Commission shall be established to promote and develop a democratic culture in the country and provide assistance to political parties for capacity building on the basis of their seats in parliament in a transparent manner.

    26. Terrorism and militancy are by-products of military dictatorship, negation of democracy, are strongly condemned, and will be vigorously confronted.

    C. FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS

    27. There shall be an independent, autonomous, and impartial election commission. The prime minister shall in consultation with leader of opposition forward up to three names for each position of chief election commissioner, members of election commission, and secretary to joint parliamentary committee, constituted on the same pattern as for appointment of judges in superior judiciary, through transparent public hearing process. In case of no consensus, both prime minister and leader of opposition shall forward separate lists to the joint parliamentary committee for consideration. Provincial election commissioner shall be appointed on the same pattern by committees of respective provincial assemblies.

    28. All contesting political parties will be ensured a level playing field in the elections by the release of all political prisoners and the unconditional return of all political exiles. Elections shall be open to all political parties and political personalities. The graduation requirement of eligibility which has led to corruption and fake degrees will be repealed.

    29. Local bodies elections will be held within three months of the holding of general elections.

    30. The concerned election authority shall suspend and appoint neutral administrators for all local bodies from the date of formation of a caretaker government for holding of general elections till the elections are held.

    31. There shall be a neutral caretaker government to hold free, fair, and transparent elections. The members of the said government and their immediate relatives shall not contest elections.

    D. CIVIL – MILITARY RELATIONS

    32. The ISI, MI and other security agencies shall be accountable to the elected government through Prime Minister Sectt, Ministry of Defence, and Cabinet Division respectively. Their budgets will be approved by DCC after recommendations are prepared by the respective ministry. The political wings of all intelligence agencies will be disbanded. A committee will be formed to cut waste and bloat in the armed forces and security agencies in the interest of the defence and security of the country. All senior postings in these agencies shall be made with the approval of the government through respective ministry.

    33. All indemnities and savings introduced by military regimes in the constitution shall be reviewed.

    34. Defence budget shall be placed before the parliament for debate and approval.

    35. Military land allotment and cantonment jurisdictions will come under the purview of defence ministry. A commission shall be set up to review, scrutinise, and examine the legitimacy of all such land allotment rules, regulations, and policies, along with all cases of state land allotment including those of military urban and agricultural land allotments since 12th October, 1999 to hold those accountable who have indulged in malpractices, profiteering, and favouritism.

    36. Rules of business of the federal and provincial governments shall be reviewed to bring them in conformity with parliamentary form of government.

  3. Tahseen Alam Khan Avatar
    Tahseen Alam Khan

    Kaya loogon nain iss waqat ka intezar kia tha???????????????

  4. Moin Ansari Avatar

    Mr. Haqqani is a Neocon who has written multiple articles books against Pakistan and Muslims. Read all about his misdeeds on http://www.rupeenews.com. It is indeed shameful that such a person is an Ambassador to the USA.

    Pakistanis would be appalled if they could or would read Mr. Haqqani’s comments about Pakistan

  5. Moin Ansari Avatar

    We simply quoted his articles….those who want to judge him can read his artciles. We simply referred to his own writings http://www.rupeenews.com

  6. Moin Ansari Avatar

    http://rupeenews.com/2008/04/16/husain-haqqani-dangerous-5th-column-or-selfish-opportunist/

    Actual AIPAC invitation and the money he received from them is posted on the site.

    As Islam continues to win converts in the United States, these new converts are more likely to be influenced by radical Islam than by traditional Islam.Husain Haqqni

    Hussain Haqqani during JINSA’s March 2, 2004 Policy Forum.
    Pakistan’s Role as a Center of an Militant Islamic Movement

    Concerns over “nuclear weapons, Islamic militancy, extreme poverty, and a military that doesn’t want to relinquish power” exist in Pakistan, Haqqani noted. But complicating possible reformers is the fact that Pakistan’s leadership has historically enjoyed a “grossly exaggerated notion of [its] significance in the world.” Hisain Haqqani speaking at JINSA on Pakistan

    Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are two of the United State’s most difficult allies. Why difficult? Because there are those who would argue they are not allies at all… but [are, in fact] sources of trouble.” Speaking before a standing-room only crowd at the JINSA Policy Forum on March 2, 2004, Husain Haqqani, a Visiting Scholar at the Carnegie

    In 2004, along with Stephen Schwartz – (writer for the ultra-right FrontPage Magazine, Weekly Standard and National Review ) – Haqqani co-founded the Institute for Islamic Progress and Peace (IIPP), tasked with the neocon project of “religion building”.[Jim Lobe, “US: From nation-building to religion-building”, Asia Times, April 9, 2004] Their repertoire included attacks on US based Muslim advocacy groups such as the Islamic Society of North America, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Students Association. Critics of Israel were hit with the familiar “anti-Semitism” charge. During a tour promoting IIPP, they advised members of a Jewish advocacy group and the Jewish Community Federation that “[t]he Jewish lobby has to organize, write letters, and continue to contribute to politicians to counter the Saudi lobby, which has extraordinary influence in Washington, D.C.”[22]

    Mr. Haqqani addressed the Jewish Institute of National Security Affairs (JINSA). The tone and content of his sppech disparaged Pakistan and Pakistanis.

    April 27, 2004 in JINSA Events, Programs, Publications and Notices : Events, Meetings and Programs : The Policy Forum
    ————————————————————————–
    Printer friendly version E-Mail this article Subscribe to the Article Digest

    Dealing with a Difficult Ally; Pakistan’s Tenuous Role in American Foreign Policy
    Husain Haqqani Outlines Four Trouble Spots in Pakistan-U.S. Relations

    Nuclear Weapons Proliferation
    Reflecting recent mainstream news coverage on the issue, Haqqani, a syndicated columnist for the Indian Express, Gulf News and The Nation (Pakistan), reiterated the pressing danger of Pakistani-orchestrated nuclear arms proliferation. Though such dangers have been recognized by the American government as a growing security threat, he explained, “there is going to be no consequences for Pakistan, because Pakistan is cooperating with the United States in the hunt for Bin Laden.”
    Hussain Haqqani during JINSA’s March 2, 2004 Policy Forum.

    “The major Kashmiri Jihadi groups retain their infrastructure because the Pakistani military has not decided to give up the option of battling India at a future date. Afghanistan’s Taliban also continue to find safe haven in parts of Pakistan”.Hussain Haqqani

    Many mosques and organizations in North America are influenced or controlled by associates of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hussain Haqqani

    The Politicization of American Islam HUSAIN HAQQANI

    Contributors and Editors

    Hillel Fradkin, a Hudson Institute Senior Fellow, is the Director of the Center for Islam, Democracy, and the Future of the Muslim World.

    Husain Haqqani is co-chair of the Islam and Democracy Project at the Hudson Institute.

  7. Moin Ansari Avatar

    The above actual quotes from Mr. Husain Haqqani prove his anti-Pakistan Islamphobic stance. His writings re-produced on http://www.rupeenews.com and elsewhere are for everyone to see.

    His ideas are no hidden secret.

    http://rupeenews.com/2008/04/16/husain-haqqani-dangerous-5th-column-or-selfish-opportunist/

    We have no political axe to grind. We simply present the facts. It is up to the readers to make up their minds.

  8. Tahseen Alam Khan Avatar
    Tahseen Alam Khan

    Now we will have to adopt Islam as per American Defination, therfore anybody comming from there will bring the Americo Islamic Ideology.