PGF NEWS

e-Newsletter

I. Gender

II. Democracy Watch

III. Governance at Large

IV.Geo-Political Dynamics

V.  Women Parliamentarians
     & Legislative Business

VI. Budget 2008-09

Proposed Initiatives for Women’s Empowerment 10 PROJECTS FOR WOMEN'S UPLIFT The Women's Development Ministry’s Director General Javaid Iqbal Butt has said that the Ministry plans to start 10 projects for women's uplift. He said the Ministry would provide one bus each for Govt College for Women, Sakardu, and Khyber Medical College, Peshawar, and a vocational centre in Rawalpindi. He said plans were afoot to open skill centres in cities to provide free of cost technical education for women. Butt said the Ministry would start a programme to raise awareness among women about their rights and responsibilities. He said the Ministry would educate and train women councilors at all levels by providing them with computer education, particularly in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Currently, the Ministry is running 25 women's centres in different cities imparting social counselling, temporary shelter and free legal and medical aid for the needy and intends to open 30 more centres. Butt said the Ministry would empower women in different fields including legal, political, social and economic sectors. He said the Ministry demanded Rs 520 million for development projects but the government had allocated Rs 183 million for the Ministry. WOMEN QUOTA IN PUBLIC SERVICE TO BE DOUBLED, SAYS SHERRY Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman, on June 6, said existing 10 percent women quota in public service would be doubled. She said at a workshop on “Social and Legal Aspects of Discrimination and Inequalities against Women” organized by Gender Development Section, Ministry of Law and Justice in collaboration with the National Gender Reform Action Plan (NGRAP) that we are struggling hard to empower women in the country and would use all available resource including other ministries in this respect. The workshop discussed laws and their implications for the social and legal aspects of women, how discrimination and inequalities are manifested and their impact on women. Later, talking to media, Rehman reiterated commitment of the PPP government to bring women into the national mainstream. She indicated that legislative process was underway to make laws regarding women prisoners, domestic violence and land allotment for ensuring social and economic rights to the women. “We’ll fast track it,” she added. IT TRAINING FOR WOMEN COUNCILLORS The Ministry of Women Development (MoWD) has planned to lessen high computer illiteracy among women councillors through an Information Technology (IT) training programme. The training is to get underway in the next few months throughout the country but this will happen only if Planning Commission approves its PC-1 before July. A senior MoWD official feared that any delay in the project’s launch would increase its capital outlay manifolds and obstruct achievement of objectives set in the Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF), 2005-10 and the MoWD and UN policy agendas on women issues. According to him, 89 percent (25,400) of a total of 28,500 women councillors are computer illiterate, while only 11 percent (3,100) have basic computer or IT know-how. Against this backdrop, the Ministry has now made a plan to reduce high computer illiteracy among female elected representatives at grassroots level. Under the plan, basic IT training will be imparted to 11,500 women councillors in the next five years from July 2008 to July 2013. Around 3,100 women councillors have already attended such training. For the training, the Ministry has set matriculation the minimum education qualification for female councillors from the Punjab, urban Sindh and the NWFP, and middle (8th grade) for those coming from Balochistan, interior Sindh and distant areas of the NWFP. Hence, 51 percent women councillors (14,600) are eligible for the training. According to the plan, 1,500 councillors (13%) will be trained in basic IT/computer education during 2008-09, 2,000 (17%) during 2009-10, 2,700 (23.5%) during 2010-2011, 2,700 (23.5%) during 2011-2012 and 2,600 (20%) during 2012-2013. 30 percent of these councillors (3,500) will be from the Punjab, 26 percent (3,000) from Sindh, 21 percent (2,400) from the NWFP, 16 percent (1,800) from Balochistan and seven percent (800) from Azad Kashmir, Northern Areas, Tribal Areas and Islamabad. The training will be undertaken in the Punjab’s 35 districts, Sindh’s 23, the NWFP’s 24, Balochistan’s 29 and Azad Kashmir, Northern Areas, Tribal Areas and Islamabad’s 22 districts. The official said that the MTDF, 2005-10, had no specific allocations for the 105.28 million worth of project but the ‘block allocation’ mentioned in the framework would ‘accommodate’ it. He said that a Project Committee would oversee the project in the light of input forwarded by four provincial coordinators, agencies from the tribal areas, FATA Secretariat, Women Development Social Welfare Department from Azad Kashmir and Islamabad DC’s office. With the MoWD secretary (principal accounting officer) its administrative in-charge, the committee will consist of the director general (Development), the deputy secretary (Empowerment) and a senior technical advisor. According to the official, women councillors will be paid Rs 400 TA/DA a day and Rs 2,800 for participation in the seven days training session. The amount of TA/DA will later be enhanced to 500 per day. The provincial coordinators will get Rs 6000 worth of monthly remuneration with a five percent annual increment. All other staff of the project will be entitled to five percent annual pay rise after completion of one-year service. He said that the trainees will also be provided with reading material. The official said that public or private agencies, NGOs and computer centres with well-equipped laboratories would train women councillors by hiring skilful IT teachers. He said that the proposed project would enable 11,500 women councillors to use technology with ease and comfort in their constituencies and improve their marketing and corporate skills. 4 MODEL WOMEN WELFARE CENTRES TO BE ESTABLISHED BY MINISTRY OF SOCIAL WELFARE Ministry of Social Welfare will establish four Model Women Welfare and Development Centres costing Rs. 160 million in four provinces to provide vocational training facilities to low income families. According to official sources, the Ministry is also introducing Pakistan Senior Citizens Welfare Bill to improve life of senior citizens and establishing women welfare development projects. Sources said that Nutrition Supplement Programme for Girls worth Rs. 600 million is a remarkable addition in the development programmes scheduled for 100 days. The pilot programme aims at provision of food supplement for 131,000 primary girls students in 10 high poverty stricken districts throughout the country to improve their nutritional status and control school drop-out ratio. The Programme also includes cash transfer programmes and Zakat, public works, school nutrition, social care services for disables and vulnerable children. The Ministry is launching a National Programme for Patients Welfare in 65 deficient districts costing Rs. 319.540 million. The Ministry of Social Welfare and Services has commenced medical social service projects being established at the federal level have proved very successful. These projects are being replicated in 65 deficient district headquarters (DHQ) hospitals. The Ministry has plan to establish the Monitoring and Evaluation Cell worth Rs. 28.718 million. The Cell is being established to monitor the efficient implementation of development projects within the stipulated time period as well as to evaluate the performance of team to be fielded for this purpose. Women & Laws WOMEN’ RIGHT TO DIVORCE: AN UNDER-EMPLOYED PROVISION Although Pakistan has in some areas moved slowly towards pro-female legislation, most women remain either unaware of their legally-recognized rights or are prevented from using them by a patriarchal society and a traditional mindset. Nowhere is this clearer than in the case of Section 18 of the nikahnama (Muslim marriage contract), which — subject to the groom’s agreement at the time of marriage – gives a wife the right to institute divorce proceedings. Lawyers and women’s rights groups point out that although this clause allows women to file for divorce using the same legal procedures as are ordinarily followed by men, in 99 per cent of the cases Section 18 of the nikahnama is struck out at the time of marriage and rendered not applicable, thus stripping women of a right that is recognized under the law. The right granted under Section 18 of the nikahnama refers to Section 8 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961. When invoked, it allows a woman to divorce her husband using Section 7 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961, which defines the procedure for talaq (divorce). Significantly, it allows a woman to institute divorce proceedings while retaining her rights over the dower amount, or haq meher, agreed upon by the contracting parties and recorded on the nikahnama. The clause is of vital significance since a woman who does not have the right of divorce under Section 18 of the nikahnama must resort to pleading for khula (dissolution of marriage), a procedure during which she loses her claim over the dower, alimony or maintenance. The usual procedure for divorce (as opposed to khula) is that under Section 7 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961, the husband presents a notice to the nazim of the relevant union council. If the nazim’s efforts to bring about reconciliation fail, a certificate of divorce is issued within 90 days. Section 8 of the same ordinance dictates an identical procedure for women who have the right of divorce under Section 18 of the nikahnama. Despite the advantages of this clause in the nikahnama, lawyers and clerics told that in actual practice, barely one per cent of women contracting marriages claim the right. ‘One of a thousand retain right’ Even though the law recognizes a woman’s right to institute divorce proceedings under Section 18 of the nikahnama, the procedure nevertheless remains controversial. University teacher Professor Abdul Ghafoor, for example, claimed that women cannot be granted the right of divorce. “Islam gives women the right to separation and men the right of divorce,” he maintained. “These rights cannot be reversed.” He added that in his long experience of conducting nikah ceremonies – over 600 – he had never come across a woman or family that asked for the right of divorce under Section 18 of the nikahnama. This may appear to question the relevance of the law concerned, which states that “Where the right to divorce has been duly delegated to the wife and she wishes to exercise that right […] the provisions of Section 7 shall […] so far as applicable, apply” (Section 8, Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961). But lawyer Aftab Bano Rajput argued that since the provision has remained part of the law for decades, there is little point in continuing to debate whether or not it is appropriate for women to be granted the right of divorce. Nevertheless, she conceded, there is a great gap between theory and reality. She is of the view that perhaps one out of a thousand women would have been given the right. She said that about ten years ago, she came across one case where the woman had the right under Section 18 of the nikahnama, and that too because her sister was a lawyer. Refuting the suggestion that retaining the right paved the way for a troubled marriage, she added that she knew a couple of women who had the right to divorce but remained happily married. The fact that Section 18 of the nikahnama is rarely invoked is confirmed by Noor Naz Agha of the Women Lawyers’ Association. She told that less than one per cent of the women or their families demand the right of divorce. First, few people know what the right means or entails and secondly, many feel that it is inauspicious to ask for this particular right at the time of marriage. Nevertheless, she pointed out, there is a stark contradiction since no one gives a second thought to the man’s right to divorce, but the same thing becomes objectionable when it refers to a woman. Irfan Aziz, for example, is a professor who gave his wife the right under Section 18 of the nikahnama, although he admits that neither his family nor that of his bride gave the provision a thought – or even knew about it. He commented that the fact is, however, that the days are long past when women were considered irrational. Today, they are educated and logical and compete with men in every field. Mr Aziz said that he came to know about the clause through debates on TV, and resolved to give his wife the right to divorce. However, he did not tell his family what Section 18 of the nikahnama pertained to, since he believed that they would have trouble accepting it. The fact that few women or their families retain the fundamental right to divorce is a sad indictment on citizens’ level of familiarity with their legal rights and obligations. In most cases, a number of sections of the nikahnama are struck out at the time of marriage, and Section 8 is one of the most common casualties. Women & HR VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN -- URBAN WOMEN FACED GREATER RISK OF INJUSTICE According to a report published by the Aurat Foundation, a total number of 1,321 women were subjected to violence in the four provinces and Islamabad in the first quarter of 2008. The report said that during the first quarter of the current year – January to March – a total of 1,321 women were subjected to violence in Islamabad (44), Punjab (546), Sindh (298), NWFP (282), and Balochistan (151). In addition to these incidents, 30 men in Sindh and one man in Balochistan also lost their lives in incidents of ‘honour killings’ during the period. The percentage of women murder cases was highest – 27.7 percent – followed by abduction 18.6 percent, hurt or body injury 13.5 percent, domestic violence 9 percent honour killings 6.8 percent, rape/gang rape 6 percent, sucide 5 percent, offences of miscellaneous nature, 4.3 percent, sexual assault 2.6 percent, attempt to murder 1.9 percent, custodial violence 1.8 percent and burning/acid throwing 1.4 percent. Nearly 99 percent of these incidents were male either relatives or outsiders.   Cases of Violence in Punjab Province: According to the report violence against women has been more common in urban areas where 275 cases were reported from January to March 2008, while 186 such cases were reported from rural areas. The total number of such cases in 35 districts of the province was 546 during the period. It said that 141 of theses cases were of murder, including 11 of ‘honour killing’, 177 of abduction, 56 of injuries to women, 42 of rape, including eight of gang rape, 27 of suicide, 34 of domestic violence, 13 of sexual assault, 13 of attempt to murder, 10 of custodial violence, six of burning, four of trafficking and 20 cases of violence of miscellaneous nature. The report said the motives behind 47 murder cases were domestic disputes. The reason was suspicion of illicit relations in 30 murder cases. Two victims’ choice marriage was behind their murder. Property disputes became the reason for the murder of seven women. In honour-killing cases, most of the accused were the immediate family members of the victim, such as husband, brother, father, brother-in-laws and cousins. The motive was ‘unknown’ or ‘uncertain’ in 20 murder cases, the report added. The report said that in 27 suicide incidents, 15 women took their lives after being treated harshly by their husbands or in-laws, six women committed suicide due to family suppression, including parents’ denial to let the girls marry choice husbands. Women committed suicide due to property disputes in two cases. In one case, the cause was illness and in another it was unknown why the women committed suicide. In another case, a woman committed suicide because of her forced marriage, while in two other cases they killed themselves due to fear of angry husbands. Of the 34 cases of domestic violence, 24 cases were related to physical violence by husbands and in-laws, and in 10 cases, women met with emotional or psychological violence. The report said of the 546 cases, 402 (74 percent of the total) were registered with the police. Aurat Foundation officials said the government was responsible for addressing women’s issues. They said people should show tolerance towards women and help the government curb violence against women. Women & Media MEDIA URGED ‘TO STOP PORTRAYING NEGATIVE IMAGE OF WOMEN’ Condemning the stereotypical approach of electronic and print media towards women, speakers at a project launch said on June 5 that women are presented through the lens of male gaze while ignoring her dignity and integrity. These views were expressed at the launching of Rozan’s media project ‘Munsalik’. Minister for Information, Women Development and Health Sherry Rehman was the chief guest on the occasion. Aimed at utilizing media power to tackle social issues like violence against women, the project is designed to sensitize media on gender and gender-based violence. Giving an introduction, project coordinator Shabana Arif said that it would be a three-year project focusing especially on less developed cities. “It will also include annual meetings and scholarships for aspiring journalists in this field for regional exposure. With prominent journalists from both mediums as panelists at the discussion titled ‘Pakistani Aurat Ki Kahani, Media Ki Zubani,’ the portrayal of women was discussed through different angles. They stressed the need to develop intellectual infrastructure and working on out of the box solutions to tackle social issues effectively. The team of panelist included Ghazi Salahuddin, Faryal Gohar and Absar Alam. In their presentations, Ghazi Salahuddin analyzed the reasons for negative portrayal of women and issues related to her under the theme ‘Adhoori Kahani,’ Gohar spoke on the portrayal of women in cinema and theatre while Alam highlighted the use of women, as a commodity to market a commodity in the advertising sector. Pointing out gaps in the coverage of women-related issues, Salahuddin said while reporting an event, the process that led to the incident or the impact it would have on the readers or the audience was usually ignored. Calling for more coordination between the media and NGOs, he said that there was a need to develop a more tolerant society, as absence of any intellectual infrastructure was leading us towards violence. “The negative or stereotypical portrayal of women is a holistic issue and all stakeholders need to cooperate for a real change. In her elaborate presentation on the status of women in Pakistani cinema, Faryal Gohar said that female sexuality had always been the focus of movies produced in the country. She said that male gaze completely dominated the film script, camera and even women audience never resisted this image. Gohar regretted that rape scenes were the ones most enjoyed in Pakistani cinema with audience seen whistling and even clapping. “It is always depicted that the women invite rape and the vamp character commonly gets violent death, indirectly punishing women for her sexuality,” she added. “Rape is usually shown as the ultimate act of revenge seeking redress of a crime committed.” Gohar said that women were presented in extreme roles and either the producers and storywriters portrayed her as an angle or a vamp. She pointed out that women’s image was compromised for revenue generation. She said that unfortunately both male and female producers never realized the unjust approach towards women in cinema. There is a need to develop female gaze and invent new dynamics to counter patriarchal domination in the cinema.. Absar Alam said that in 90 per cent of advertisements of products from motorcycles to fans women were used as a marketing commodity. It’s a global phenomenon that gender, skin or suggestive gestures of women are unnecessarily used to attract customers. He further said that models, advertising agencies and concept makers were equally responsible for this kind of presentation. He said that during prime time on news channels, 60 per cent of the time was reserved for advertisements, which were also taken as news by the viewers. Alam also screened clippings of advertisements focusing on women sexuality. He criticized media groups that use images of women to attract readership and viewer ship. Speaking on the occasion, Sherry Rehman said that there was always a woman at the back of a story and her version should come forward. There is a need to gender sensitize all stories rather than focusing on stories regarding women issues. Sherry said that there was a need to enhance funding and resources of Ministry of Women Development and that she was planning to introduce gender experts in all ministries to make all planning and policies of key ministries gender specific. She urged reminding the authorities of such issues again and again so that those do not get ignored in the political and economic crises of the country. Books/Articles/Reports on Gender Title          Whispers to Voices: Gender and Social Transformation in Bangladesh  Author                       Das, M. B. Publication Date     March 2008 Publisher                  World Bank Donor                        World Bank  Short Summary      Why has Bangladesh been hailed as 'a shining new example' of a poor country achieving impressive gains in gender equality? According to this World Bank report, Bangladesh has made great progress in achieving gender equality and enhancing the status of women. It points to successes in increasing girls' school enrolment rates, in reducing fertility and mortality and increasing access to microcredit, and argues that these advances are the result of concerted efforts by the government, the women's movement and civil society groups to improve the quality of life for all citizens. In particular, it suggests that women have found it easier to organise because of the relative homogeneity of the population, and that this has helped them make significant gains. The report is divided into seven chapters. The first considers the evolution of policy within institutions that have furthered gender equality and woman's status in Bangladesh. Others discuss advances made in particular sectors, including health, education, labour market issues, and women's empowerment, but also in marriage and violence against women. However, it recognizes that significant challenges remain, for example: - Women still lack adequate access to reproductive health services - Boys are now lagging behind girls in education achievement - Female employment rates are still very low - Women's decision-making power within households and at   community levels is weak - Property ownership is still overwhelmingly male (96.5% for   agricultural holdings) limiting women's control over key assets. - Girls and women continue to be at risk of gender-based violence at   home, and have their external mobility curtailed because of security   concerns. Complete Document (Portable Document Format)

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By-Polls RULING COALITION SWEEPS BY-POLLS The ruling coalition swept the by-elections on June 26, winning most of the five national and 23 provincial assemblies’ seats, while 26 people were injured in election related violence. Following are the returned candidates in by-elections: Constituency Returned Candidate Party Votes National Assembly NA-11 (Mardan-III) Khanzada Khan PPPP 20896 NA-52 (Rawalpindi-III) Muhammad Safdar PML-N 54917 NA-55 (Rawalpindi-VI) Haji Pervaiz Khan PML-N 25237 NA-131 (Sheikhupura-I) Rana Afzaal Hussain PML-N 119180 NA-147 (Okara-V) Khurram Jahangir Wattoo PPPP 79195 Provincial Assemblies Punjab PP-10 (Rawalpindi-X) Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif PML-N Un-Contested PP-48 (Bhakkar-II) Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif PML-N Un-Contested PP-59 (Faisalabad-IX) Qasim Zia PPPP 79195 PP-70 (Faisalabad-XX) Rana Sanaullah Khan PML-N 23070 PP-99 (Gujranwala-IX) Qaiser Iqbal Sandhu PPPP 33943 PP-118 (Mandi Bahuddin-III) Major (R) Zulfiqar Ali Gondal PPPP 20859 PP-124 (Sialkot-IV) Rana Shamim Ahmed Khan PML-N 24994 PP-141 (Lahore-V) Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman (Un-Contested) PML-N Un-Contested PP-154 (Lahore-XVIII) Syed Zaeem Hussain Qadri PML-N 8211 PP-171 (Nankana Sahuib.II (Old Sheikupura-X) Rana Muhammad Arshad PML-N 22715 PP-219 (Khanewal-VIII) Karam Dad Wahla Independent 38098 PP-229 (Pakpattan-III) Sardar Wajid Ali PML-N 24989 PP-243 (Dera Ghazi Khan-IV) Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa PML-N 27829 PP-258 (Muzaffargarh-VIII) Mukhdoom Zada Syed Haroon Ahmed Sultan Bukhari. Independent 27829 PP-277 (Bahawalnagar-I) Mian Fida Hussain PML-N 32706 PP-295 (Rahimyar Khan-XI) Syed Abdul Qadir Gillani (Un-Contested) PPPP Un-Contested Sindh PS-30 (Khairpur-II) Pir Syed Muhammad Bachal Shah PPPP 23548 PS-44 (Matiari-Cum-Hyderabad (Old Hyderabad-II)) Syed Pir Amir Ali Shah (Un-Contested) PPPP Un-Contested PS-62 (Tharparkar-III) Sharjeel Inam Memon (un-Contested) PPPP Un-Contested NWFP PF-20 (Charsadda-IV) Muhammad Taimoor Khan ANP 8351 PF-45 (Abbottabad-II) Sardar Shamhoon Yar Khan PML-N 23126 PF-59 (Battagram-I) Taj Muhammad Khan Tarand Independent 16528 PF-75 (Lakki Marwat-II) Dr. Muhammad Khalid Raza Pir Zakori Sharif Independent 24997 PF-81 (Swat-II) Sher Shah Khan ANP 7731 PF-91 (Upper Dir-I) Muhammad Anwar Khan Advocate PPPP 14445 PF-92 (Upper Dir-II) Badshah Saleh PPPP 11967 Balochistan PB-9 (Pishin-II) Asfand Yar Khan Kakar PPPP 15182 PB-32 (Jhal Magsi. (Old Kachhi-III) Nawabzada Tariq Magsi Independent 56261 PB-44 (Lasbela-I) Peer Abdul Qadir Al-Gillani Independent 16911 BY-POLL TURNOUT 32 PERCENT Overall turnout in by-polls was recorded at 32 percent as widely expected by the electoral experts. The ECP Secretary Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad told that the turnout in the electoral exercise remained 32 percent. He said that it was primarily the responsibility of political parties and the contesting candidates to motivate people to turn-up and take part in the process. The Secretary explained that the turn-out in the five National Assembly constituencies was 27 percent whereas it was much higher in case of 23 provincial assembly constituencies and remained 37 percent. FAFEN RELEASES BY-POLLS REPORT  The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), on June 27, released its detailed observation report about the June 26 By-Elections and noted that voters were influenced inside polling stations. The network had deployed as many as 464 observers to monitor over 2,500 polling stations in 28 constituencies. The report is based on data received from more than 1,500 polling stations in five National Assembly and 12 provincial constituencies. Unlike the February 18 general elections, this time the interference of local governments was minimal. However, there had been significant increase in interference, as both federal and provincial ministers were active on and before the election-day, campaigning for their party candidates. Media reports, he pointed out, had given coverage to the fact that the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and Federal and Provincial Ministers used official protocols and vehicles for the campaign of their favourite candidates, which was against the election law and code of conduct. The report noted that turnout in 25 all-female polling stations in the Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) sample for the NA constituencies was lower than that of male and combined polling stations. In all-female polling stations, turnout was recorded at 17.7 per cent, compared to 22 per cent in all-male polling stations and 32 per cent in 83 combined polling stations. Turnout in all-female polling stations was lowest (7.3 per cent) in NA-55, followed by NA-147 (14 per cent) and NA-52 (15 per cent). Turnout of 45 per cent in all-female polling stations in NA-131 was comparatively high, but still less than that of all-male polling stations, which reported 53 per cent turnout and combined stations, which reported 61 per cent turnout. FAFEN observers reported the presence of unauthorized people inside many polling stations trying to coerce, coax or intimidate voters to vote for one candidate or the other. Detailed report can be accessed through following link: http://www.fafen.org/admin/products/p485bee53f1dfc.pdf SC POSTPONES BY-ELECTIONS IN NAWAZ’S CONSTITUENCY The Supreme Court, on June 25, stayed by-elections in NA-123 until final disposal of the federation’s position against the disqualification of PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif by the Lahore High Court (LHC). A three members bench of the SC, comprising, justices Mohammad Moosa leghari, Syed Zawwar Hussain Jaffery and Muhammad Farrukh also issued notices to respondents before adjourning the proceedings until June 30. A full bench of the Lahore High Court, on June 23, disqualified former Prime Minister and PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif from contesting the by-election. The bench consisting of Justices Abdul Shakoor Paracha, M Bilal Khan and Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi also turned down a request to prevent Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif from standing in the by-elections and forwarded a petition seeking Shahbaz’s disqualification to the election tribunal. The bench directed the Election Commission of Pakistan to have the appeal against Shahbaz’s candidature adjudicated upon while allowing him to continue in office. Shahbaz qualified: Counsels for petitioners Dr Qazi Mohyuddin and Raza Kazim pleaded that the question of qualification had not been decided by the election tribunal as the judges had opposing opinions on the matter. Shahbaz had though been held qualified under Section 14(6) of the Representation of the People’s Act 1976, Kazim said. He said the provision was repugnant to the constitution and asserted that a candidate could not be allowed campaign for polls without scrutiny. When asked by the bench what the legal position is now that Shahbaz had been declared a member of the Punjab Assembly and had assumed the post of chief minister, Kazim said he had also raised the qualification question before the returning officer – which was the proper stage for doing so – but his objection had yet to be decided on. He said the full court should decide on the pending objection first. SHAHBAZ SHARIF ELECTED AS CM PUNJAB PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif took oath as Punjab Chief Minister on June 8 after getting elected unopposed to the Punjab Assembly. After taking oath, Shahbaz said that he was not the Chief Minister, but the chief servant (khadim-e-ala). He said that the country’s wealth looted by the previous regime would be recovered. He said that he would ensure the rule of law, access to justice and availability of basic needs to everyone. He said that his government would make sure that food, medicine and education was available to everyone. He said that a complaint cell would be formed at the chief secretary’s office, where the staff would redress every complaint. He thanked Dost Muhammad Khosa for his services and said that he had attained a prestigious level at such a young age. He also appreciated the wisdom of Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif and paid tribute to Benazir Bhutto for scarifying her life for the cause of democracy. Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal chaired a special session convened for the election of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who was the only candidate for the slot and was elected Leader of the House by securing 265 votes. SHEIKH RASHID QUITS PML-Q, FORMS AWAMI MUSLIM LEAGUE: WITHDRAWAL FROM ELECTION RACE Former Federal Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has finally parted ways with the Pakistan Muslim League-Q and set up his own party after withdrawing his candidature for the by-election for National Assembly’s NA-55 seat. He announced at a press conference here on June 1 that his party would be named Awami Muslim League (AML) and that he had resigned from the membership of the PML-Q of which he was a senior Vice-President. He said he foresaw a change taking place in the country during the current month. The former Minister said he did not expect the government to last long because the situation was serious and the atmosphere was charged with uncertainty. He said he had reversed his decision to contest the by-election because of people’s lack of interest in the process and the deteriorating law and order situation. He said his constituency had gained international fame after his defeat in the general elections and everybody was interested in contesting the by-election from there. He said he had decided to withdraw from the ‘short-term’ election and support the covering candidate, Syeda Nasim Ali. Government Watch COALITION OR COLLISION PML-N Threatens to Quit Coalition: PML-N spokesman Sadiq ul Farooq said that PML-N is not taken into confidence by the coalition Government regarding the military operation in NWFP and other issues. Sadiq ul Farooq said that there consent was not taken on any major issue after May 15 and gave strong signals pertaining to separation of PML-N from the ruling coalition. However, he said that PML-N would analyze the month of July to provide time to the other coalition partners for consideration. On being asked to depict the scenario of Punjab Government in case the coalition ends, he said the position of PML-N in Punjab was strong, adding that the Central Executive Committee would be contacted if no solution was found. Boucher comes to Rescue Coalition: With an aim of keeping Pakistan’s ruling coalition intact, the senior US diplomat Richard Boucher arrived, on June 30, on a four day visit during which he will try to help end differences between PPP and PML-N over  the thorny issue of judges’ restoration. PML-N Pours Cold Water on Package: PML-N has poured cold water on the proposed constitutional package presented by PPP, saying it is part of the delaying tactics for not restoring the pre-November 3 Judiciary in accordance with the Murree Declaration. Top PML-N leaders said after analyzing the proposed constitutional package clause by clause. A senior PML-N leader commented that when you talk about the strength of the democratic institutions, empowering the democratically elected Prime Minister and curtailing the powers of the President, you are not supposed to purpose just the opposite in the Constitutional package. He further said that PML-N will definitely come up with its suggestions on almost every clause of the proposed package but only after the judges sacked by Musharraf are reinstated to the November 2 position in accordance with Murree Declaration. On the other hand, other parties in the sitting coalition JUI and ANP have left the judges’ restoration issue to the two major parties. A senior JUI leader told that except the clauses concerning the restoration of judges seemed to be in favour of the Presidential form of Government in the country. ANP, on the other hand, is interested in getting the name of NWFP changed to Pakhtoonkhawa, abolition of the concurrent list and the provincial autonomy. Haji Adeel, senior vice-president of ANP told that he was hopeful of getting the package approved from the Parliamen, as many Q-Leagures would also favour some of the clauses of the package. He said that even MQM is ready to support some of the clauses to curtail the President’s power. INTRA-PPP DIFFERENCES – INTERVIEW BY SENATOR SAFDAR ABBASI Speaking exclusively to Business Plus, PPP Senator Safdar Abbasi said on June 30 that the time had come to voice and highlight any difference of opinion within the party, whether the leadership liked it or not. He said that “my first choice for the premiership was Makhdoom Amin Fahim and I also suggested the name of Shah Mehmood Qureshi because of my 40-years association and their charismatic personalities. He said that there is no forward bloc in the PPP.   MUSHARRAF GETTING UP THE NERVE TO ADDRESS PARLIAMENT President Pervez Musharraf hinted at addressing the joint session of Parliament. The indication came during the meeting with opposition leader in the National Assembly Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi, who called on the President at the Presidential camp office in Rawalpindi and discussed with him political and economic situation of the country besides other important issues. During the meeting Pervaiz Elahi suggested to the President to address the Parliament adding that it will be the Government’s responsibility to maintain law and order in the House along with the security. He was of the view that it will make the President’s position strong. PM OPENS NADRA MOBILE FACILITY Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, on June 24, inaugurated a mobile facility introduced by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) for issuance of free of charge Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs) to the people, especially those belonging to the poor segments of the society. Around 22 million out of a total of 85 million eligible citizens would benefit from this facility introduced by the authority on the directive of Prime Minister. The facility would be available to only those applying for the first time, while those applying for the second or third time in case of misplacement of card will have to pay the charges. Gilani said it was not a mere card but an authentic identity that would help the citizens, especially the poorest of the poor, to benefit from the government’s various initiatives like micro-financing, Benazir Stipend Programme, Hepatitis Programme and other socio-economic programmes and health and education facilities. He also stressed the need for creating awareness among the masses of the necessity of having an identity card and urged public representatives to create awareness among the masses in this regard. Te prime minister also directed NADRA officials to increase the number of mobile vans to ensure quick registration and delivery of ID cards. Rehman Malik told media persons that NADRA was also introducing a system to place finger-prints of a person on the CNIC with a view to eliminating the chances of any fraud or rigging in the elections in future. He said computerization of land revenue record was also being considered. Under the free of charge facility, the cards would be delivered to the applicant within 30 days.   BALOCHISTAN CABINET – BURDEN ON ECONOMY Following article by Shahzada Zulfiqar has been published in Herald (June 2008) titled as ‘A Minister’s Worth’  Despite having absolute majority in the Provincial Assembly, the Government of Nawab Muhammad Aslam Khan Raisani, Chief Minister of Balochistan is struggling to keep loose coalition together. Raisani’s problems in putting together his cabinet proved how difficult it was for him to accommodate competing demands from his disparate coalition partners. As a consequence, a record 45 out of 62 members of the provincial assembly have become ministers. After the February elections, Raisani’s PPP had won only seven seats in the Balochistan Assembly. Two independent legislators, Agha Irfan Karim and Jan Ali Changaizi, later joined the party that also had two seats reserved for women and one for minorities, thereby bringing the total strength to 12. Though PML-Q had emerged as the single largest party in the province, internal discords frustrated its plans, if it had any at all, to form speaker of the provincial assembly, joined ranks with five other legislators from the Party against Jam Yousaf, former Chief Minister of Baalochistan, before the Caretaker Government came in. The six-some offered to support Raisani and his PPP for the top slot in the province. More PML-Q legislators joined them as the formation of the Government drew closer with Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind, a lone party legislator and former Minister, remaining in opposition and that too because of a long-running feud has with the tribe of Raisani. Even when the PML-Q and the PPP could have formed a Government without requiring support from any other party, there was no dearth of others willing to lend a helping hand. At the end of the day all eight parties – PPP, ML-Q, PML-N, JUI-F, JUI, BNP, ANP and NP – as well as seven independents led by Sardar Aslam Bizenjo, formed a ruling coalition with a single-member opposition. While all and sundry were joining the Government, Raisani was promising cabinet slots to almost everyone. Though the central leadership of his party had promised him that e would have around 30 people in his cabinet, he was unable to withstand pressure from his allies. When he announced his cabinet on April 23, a full two weeks after he was sworn-in as Chief Minister, as many as 38 Ministers took oath with one of them getting berth in the Cabinet only few minutes before swearing-in. Two days later, the Cabinet had its first expansion with one more legislator becoming a Minister and four other including a former of Provincial assembly, getting appointed as Advisors. In the second phase of expansion, three more were made Ministers, including two PML-Q women legislators who were appointed special assistant and advisor. In the final phase, special assistant Dr. Ruquiya Saeed Hshmi and advisor Raheela Hameed Khan Durrani as well as another PML-Q legislator, Saleem Khoso were made Ministers. The few remaining assembly members without cabinet appointments are sure to become Chairmen of the Standing Committees of the House though the agreement on their names is yet to be reached.  The most interesting aspect of this generous dishing out of cabinet slots is that many Ministers don’t have departments to head. Only 33 of them could get portfolios even after some departments were bifurcated to accommodate the large cabinet. All this raises a pertinent question: can a poor province like Balochistan afford such a large cabinet, requiring millions of rupees every month for the upkeep of its Ministers? Raisani believes it should, even if it cannot. “If Balochistan can suffer five military operations, why cant it bear the burden of 44 Ministers who have been appointed with the consensus of all the parties in the Provincial Assembly?” Financial experts estimate that one Minister costs the public exchequer half a million rupees per month. For a province facing a financial crisis, how all this money will be arranged is a moot point. The Provincial Government has inherited a 19-billion rupees debt from the State Bank of Pakistan. With interest due on it, the debt is now worth 22 billion rupees. The Province must pay the State Bank 350 million rupees per month (3.6 billion rupees per annum) to keep servicing this debt. Balochistan is also facing problems in paying all its employees – with provincial resources failing short by a massive 300 million rupees every month from what it needs to pay in salaries. Raisani is seeking a 50 billion grant from Federal Government to overcome the financial crises and a decrease in the interest payment on the State Bank overdraft will reach 25 billion rupees by the end of current fiscal year. This will force the Government to cut its already meager development budget. Standing at around 10 billion rupees for one financial year, it will certainly come down to as low as six to seven billion rupees. If resolved, some pending financial issues between Quetta and Islamabad cannot only generate the money that Balochistan needs urgently but may also help stabilize the provincial finances in the mid-term. The Federal Government owes Balochistan 29 billion rupees in gas development surcharges that this money will multiply to 100.25 billion rupees after interest is taken into account. Experts also point out that the formula for the distribution of money generated by natural gas leaves Balochistan with a clear advantage. The Federal Government, these experts claim, earn 96 billion rupees a year on gas from Balochistan but the provinces get no more than 5 billion rupees in return. The Province also wants the distribution of resources under the National Finance Commission on a formula not solely based on population but also on the geographical size and deprivation. Currently there are issues which will not be resolved quickly. In a province beset by a low-level insurgency, large scale disappearances of Baloch political activists and a military presence in vast tracts of land, the resolution of financial problems can go some way in allowing the Government to focus its attention on resolving the other problems. Common sense commands that this may be better achieved by keeping minimum burden on the exchequer – through a lean, mean but efficient cabinet. this may be better achieved by keeping minimum burden on

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Surveys/Reports ECONOMIC SURVEY OF PAKISTAN 2007-08 Finance Minister Syed Naveed Qamar launched Economic Survey 2007-08 on June 10.The survey conceded that there were failures in major areas, particularly GDP growth rate, agriculture, overall manufacturing, large-scale manufacturing, inflation, fiscal policy, monetary policy, exports, imports, current account deficit and trade balance during the first 10 months of the financial year ending on June 30. Mr Qamar said the new government is facing dual challenges of pulling the country out of the current economic mess and removing difficulties of the common man by framing “correct and viable” economic policies. He expressed the hope that the government would receive considerable budgetary support from “friendly countries and international donors” to help it improve the economy during the next financial year. He believed that the government might get about $3 billion by June 30 which would enable it to achieve some of the economic objectives. He said that 2007-08 had been a “challenging year” as the economy experienced several unexpected political and economic events inside and outside the country. These events had an adverse impact on the economy. Following are some findings of the Economic Survey: Growth and Investment: Real GDP grew by 5.8 percent in 2007-08 as against 6.8 percent last year and growth target of 7.2%. The economy has shown great resilience against internal and external shocks of extraordinary nature during the out going fiscal year. Pakistan’s economy has grown at an average rate of almost 6.6 percent per annum during the last five years. Agriculture sector showed dismal performance and grew by 1.5 percent as against 3.7 percent last year and target of 4.8 percent. The poor show was mainly because of growth performance Major crops which registered negative growth of 3.0 percent as against an impressive positive growth of 8.3 percent last year and target for the year at 4.5 percent. Livestock a major component of agriculture exhibited some improvement in growth from 2.8 percent last year to 3.8 percent in 2007-08. Pakistan’s per capita real GDP has risen at a faster pace in real terms during the last six years (4.5% per annum on average in rupee terms) leading to a rise in average income of the people. Such increases in real per capita income have led to a sharp increase in consumer spending during the last three years. The per capita income in dollar term has grown at an average rate of 13.5 percent per annum during the last six years rising from $ 586 in 2002-03 to $ 1085 in 2007-08. The main factor responsible for the sharp rise in per capita income include acceleration in real GDP growth, stable exchange rate and four fold increase in the inflows of workers’ remittances. Total investment could not sustain its record level of 22.9 percent of GDP of the last fiscal year and declined to 21.6 percent of GDP in 2007-08. However, total investment has increased from 16.9 percent of GDP in 2002-03 to 21.6 percent of GDP in 2007-08 — showing an increase of 5.7 percent of GDP in five years. Agriculture: The agriculture growth this year is estimated at 1.5 percent as compared with 3.7 percent during 2006-07. Cotton production at 11.7 million bales in 2007-08 has decreased by 9.3 percent in comparison to 12.9 million bales of last year. Wheat production is estimated at 21.7 million tons in 2007-08 as against 23.3 million tons last year, showing a decrease of 6.6 percent. Rice production has increased from 5.4 million tons in 2006-07 to 5.6 million tons in 2007-08, showing an increase of 2.3 percent. Sugarcane production has increased by 16.8 percent in 2007-08 from 54.7 million tons in last year to 63.9 million tons in 2007-08. As regards the minor crops, the production of mung, mosoor and mash increased by 28.4 percent, 13.8 percent and 8.8 percent, respectively. The production of chillies and onion increased by 96.1 percent, 13.8 percent respectively. The production of potato crop declined by 3.8 percent. Manufacturing and Mining: Overall manufacturing posted a growth of 5.4 percent during the first nine months of the current fiscal year against the target of 10.9 percent and 8.1 percent of last year. Large-scale manufacturing, accounting for 70.0 percent of overall manufacturing registered a growth of 4.8 percent in the current fiscal year 2007-08 against the target of 12.5 percent and last year’s achievement of 8.6 percent. Money and Credit: Overall developments in the money and credit sector during the fiscal year 2007-08 have been satisfactory. During July-May 10, 2007-08, money supply (M2) grew by 9 percent against the annual target of 13.7 percent and last year expansion of 14 percent for the same period. Weighted average lending and deposit rates increased to 10.9 percent and 4.2 percent in March 2008 while weighted average yields on 6 months T-bill increased to 9.4 percent in March 2008.   Inflation: The inflation rate as measured by the changes in Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 10.3 percent during the first ten months (July-April) of the current fiscal year, 2007-08, as against 7.9 percent in the comparable period of last year. The food inflation is estimated at 15.0 percent and non-food 6.8 percent, against 10.2 percent and 6.2 percent in the corresponding period of last year. The increase in inflation rate during the current year 2007-08 is attributable to the increase in food price inflation which has been due to increase in prices of wheat, edible oil, rice, pulses, milk, poultry, meat, fresh vegetables and fruits. External Debt and Liabilities: External debt and liabilities (EDL) at the end of March FY08 were US$ 45.9 billion. The net addition of $ 5.4 billion represents a 13.3 percent increase over the stock at the end of FY07. Education: The overall literacy rate (10 years & above) was 45 percent in 2001 which has increased to 55 percent in 2006-07, indicating a 10 percentage points increase over period of only six years. Male literacy rate (10 years & above) increased from 58 percent in 2001 to 67 percent in 2006-07 while it increased fr