Fast Forward: Democracy, Bhutto-Style - Is the Charter of Democracy Dead?
Athar Osama August 3rd, 2007
By: Athar Osama
Just over an year ago, Pakistan’s two democratically elected Prime Ministers of the last decade–Ms. Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif–signed a Charter of Democracy (Please take a few minutes to read the text of the document below) in London vowing to wage a joint struggle against military dictatorship in Pakistan. The Charter–a document, though with its own faults and failings, is perhaps one of the finest Charters of anything ever developed by Pakistani politicians, and thus deserves to be studied in its entirey and digested–was welcomed, albeit with some bit of skepticism by most political observers and perhaps even the general public in Pakistan. After all, it was these very leaders who were atleast partially responsible for giving the Army an opportunity to step into politics. At the time of the signing of the Charter they had argued, and many took their words on face value, that they have become wiser today than they were yesterday and that they deserved a second (third?) chance to bring real and meaningful democracy back to Pakistan’s politics.
Like many others, I too, was willing to give them a third chance, if only because there was no other alternative. However, deep down in my heart, I was very skeptical of how comprehensive and thorough their “education” in democratic values has been. True, adversity is a great teacher but our politicians have repeatedly shown a tendency not to learn from their own mistakes and Nawaz and Benazir were probably no exceptions. I was concerned that this alliance between these leaders was only temporary in the sense that once either of them came to power, he or she will forget all the lofty democratic values expressed in this Charter. Transplanting meaningful and stable democracy in Pakistan requires not only that our learders learn how to handle the “power” of the government (”absolute power corrupts absolutely!”) but also that they learn how to sit on the opposition benches and engage constructively, critically, and meaningfully with the government. Above all, it requires a certain temperament that will only come when our leaders will truly understand what democracy really is–as a system–and develop the right democratic values to sustain and nourish it.
Of course I was totally wrong in predicting that either of the two leaders are likely to renege on the demands of the Charter once they got back into power for little did I know that I would be writing an obituary of the Charter of Democracy even before elections would be held in Pakistan.
I should have known better. The last few weeks and months have been interesting–to say the least–in Pakistani politics. While the “rumours” of a deal between the President and Ms. Bhutto have been around eversince the Charter was signed, the recent weeks and months have seen considerable increase in the intensity of these rumours. And as the intelligence agents tell you, when the “chatter” grows beyond a certain level something is inevitable. First Mohtarma’s reported meetings with British Foreign Secretary and American policy-makers and their emissaries in London and then her refusal to attend the Multiparty Conference (MPC) in London early last month all pointed toward the inevitable. Then came the final blow, namely, her reported meeting with General Musharraf in Abu Dhabi last week during which some details of a future power-sharing arrangement were discussed.
Following this meeting and just prior to it, Mohtarma chose to come out of the closet (surprise, surprise!) with a statement that “in the interest of democracy in Pakistan” she would be willing to accept General Musharraf as a non-uniformed President for another five year term and that a future PPP Government will be satisfied in focusing on domestic policy issues (also read as politics of perks and patronage) while foreign and national security policy would remain firmly under the control of the President. I think I don’t need to say any further and the readers can get the crux of where we’re heading with democracy in Pakistan. As they say, with democrats like these, who needs dictators!
However, I would point out just this (and this is hot off the press) for the following has really surprised me as to the degree of beligerence and lust for power in Pakistan Peoples Party and its Chairperson Ms. Bhutto. The News International on August 2, 2007, in a report titled “Benazir Turns Hostile to Nawaz” reported the following on Ms. Bhutto:
Benazir Turns Hostile to Nawaz: Says he always picked quarrels with Army chiefs; Chaudhrys have no share in caretaker set-up; blames MMA for harbouring terrorists
By Umar Cheema
ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto finally drew battle lines with the arch rival of General Musharraf – Mian Nawaz Sharif – when she termed him ‘unreliable and quarrelsome’ and declared that there would be no seat adjustment with the PML-N.
Behaving like the-third-time future prime minister, she told a party meeting in London soon after her Abu Dhabi visit that the Chaudhrys of Gujrat would have no role in the future caretaker set-up. She declared the MMA a ‘patron of terrorists’ and blamed it for providing sanctuary to terrorists.
Ms Bhutto said all this during a meeting of the PPP’s ticket aspirants from the Punjab, sources told The News on telephone from London.
According to the sources, Benazir blasted the PML-N and its leadership when a party leader from Gujranwala recommended seat adjustment with the PML-N in a constituency where Nawaz League had a strong candidate.
She gave a big ‘No’ to his suggestion and said seat adjustment with the PML-N was out of the question. Nawaz Sharif is “unreliable and quarrelsome” and always picked quarrels with the army chiefs and the presidents of his time.
“First, he (Nawaz) was not on good terms with President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, later developed differences with the army chief (Asif Nawaz), then with the chief justice (Sajjad Ali Shah) and then with another army chief (Gen Musharraf),” she said and added it was difficult for the PPP to take along the PML-N.
She said Nawaz wanted his deal with Musharraf to end at eight years and did not want to complete his ten-year exile. Instead of making efforts to cut another deal with Musharraf, he was blaming her for the deal.
Nawaz is a leader with whom she had pledged to wage a joint fight against the dictatorship and to field joint candidates in the coming elections. Things have altogether changed now for Ms Bhutto who is going to herald a new era of friendship with the General, courtesy to the efforts of the Uncle Sam with the US Vice President Dick Cheney emerging as her strong supporter.
Defending her deal efforts, she said the PML-N and MMA should look at their own misdeeds instead of blaming her for the deal. The PML-N leadership had cut a deal for going into exile in Saudi Arabia to escape legal action against them and the MMA helped in incorporating the LFO into the Constitution, in a bid to secure concessions from the military establishment, she said.
She also ruled out any sort of partnership with the MMA and said terrorists were often recovered from their homes and, as such, the PPP could not take them along in the future set-up. Ms Bhutto assured the ticket aspirants that her candidates would be provided a smooth sailing in the elections.
Although, she okayed a number of candidates for tickets, Ms Bhutto termed them as potential candidates and said the final decision would be made just before the elections, adding that many in the PML-Q had contacted her for tickets. Neither did she take the party members into confidence about her meeting with General Musharraf in Abu Dhabi nor did anybody muster up courage to stand up and question her dual standards.
She, however, said ‘thanks’ when a ticket aspirant congratulated her on ’successful’ dialogue with General Musharraf and expressed solidarity with her. “Although, she did not speak a single word on the Abu Dhabi meeting, her body language showed she was jubilant,” an insider commented.
According to a source, Ms Bhutto had no prior schedule to fly to Abu Dhabi. The dramatic development took place when her close friend in Washington, Tariq Malik, arrived in London. Ms Bhutto held one-on-one meeting with him for 40 minutes and later Rehman Malik joined them. It was followed by their plan to fly to Abu Dhabi.
A ticket aspirant from Gujrat complained against the Chaudhrys of Gujrat and said he would be in great trouble if the Chaudhrys got share in the caretaker set-up. Ms Bhutto made it clear that the Chaudhrys would have no role in the caretaker set-up and that the PPP candidates would be provided with level-playing field…
The rest, as they say, will be history. Would Benazir Bhutto be able to successfully pull off this double-deal with Musharraf? Would she ultimately ditch Musharraf as well, as her late father ditched Ayub Khan three decades ago? Would the electorate reward or punish Benazir for going against her words? Would this be the beginning of the end of Pakistan Peoples Party, as we know it, or “more of the same”?
The answers to these questions will become clear in the coming weeks and months. However, it might be worth the while of all Pakistanis today to ponder over the current state of political affairs in their country and to read and reflect upon the Charter of Democracy that lies in tatters just over a year after it was signed. The poor document remained just that–a document–that did not stand even a single test of its credibility.
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ORIGINAL TEXT: THE CHARTER OF DEMOCRACY
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 marginaliztion of civil society, the mockery of the Constitution and representative institutions, growing poverty, unemployment and inequality, brutalization 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 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 victimization 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 recognized 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 decentralization 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 civilized 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
The 1973 Constitution as on 12th October 1999 before the military coup shall be restored with the provisions of joint electorates, minorities, and women’s 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.
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 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 Councils with respect to the appointment of judges to their concerned province
iv. Presidents of High Court Bar Associations of Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and Quetta, with respect to the appointment of judges to their concerned province
v. Federal and Provincial (for the concerned provinces) Minister for Law & Justice
vi. Attorney General of Pakistan and advocate generals for the concerned provinces for concerned provinces
(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 percent members from the treasury benches and the remaining 50 percent 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.
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.
The Concurrent List in the Constitution will be abolished. A new NFC award will be announced.
The reserved seats for women and minorities 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.
The strength of the Senate of Pakistan shall be increased to give representation to minorities in the Senate.
FATA shall be included in NWFP province in consultation with them.
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.
The 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
National Security Council will be abolished. Defence Cabinet Committee will be headed by PM and will have a permanent secretariat. The PM may appoint a Federal Security Advisor 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.
The ban on a “Prime Minister not being eligible for a third” term of office will be abolished.
(a) Truth and Reconciliation Commission (T&RC)” 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 percent members from treasury benches and remaining 50 percent 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 judgments and would have not dealt with matters relating to a former or present member of the Federal cabinet or their families.
The Press and Electronic Media will be allowed its independence. Access to Information will become law after parliamentary debate and public scrutiny.
The Chairmen of Public Accounts Committee in the National and Provincial Assemblies will be appointed by Leaders of Opposition in the concerned assemblies.
Terrorism and militancy are by products of military dictatorship, negation of democracy, are strongly condemned, and will be vigorously confronted.
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.
Peaceful relations with India and Afghanistan will be pursued without prejudice to outstanding disputes.
Kashmir dispute should be settled in accordance with the UN Resolutions and the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
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 ostentatious living causes great resentment amongst the teeming millions. We pledge to practice simplicity, at all levels.
Women, minorities, and the under privileged will be provided equal opportunities in all walks of life.
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.
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.
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 fourteen days of receipt of letter failing which it will be deemed to have been notified on the expiry of that period.
All military and judicial officers will be required to file annual assets and income declarations like Parliamentarians to make them accountable to the public.
A 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.
C. FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS
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.
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.
The Local bodies elections will be held within three months of the holding of general elections.
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.
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
The ISI, M.I and other security agencies shall be accountable to the elected government through P.M Sectt, Ministry of Defence, and Cabinet Division respectively. Their budgets will be approved by D.C.C 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.
All indemnities and savings introduced by military regimes in the constitution shall be reviewed.
Defence budget shall be placed before the Parliament for debate and approval.
Military land allotment and Cantonment jurisdictions will come under the purview of Ministry of Defence. A Commission shall be set up to review, scrutinize, 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.
Rules of Business of the federal and provincial governments shall be reviewed to bring them in conformity with Parliamentary form of government.
(Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto) (Mr. Nawaz Sharif)
Chairperson, Pakistan Peoples Party Quaid, Pakistan Muslim League-N
Dated:14th May, 2006
London, UK
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