PCB change
THE change at the top means Pakistan cricket is headed back to the future. In moves often akin to when a government is overthrown — this is pretty much the government appointing its own men at the helm of the Pakistan Cricket Board — the constitution adopted by the previous set-up is being done away with, the committees formed under it disbanded, and next on the cards is the structural reversal of the game in the country. Najam Sethi, who had resigned as PCB chairman four years ago when Imran Khan was elected prime minister, is the man tasked with the job as the incumbent government belatedly forays into cricket. As head of PCB’s managing committee, Mr Sethi has a four-month mandate to restore the 2014 constitution of the country’s cricket governing body before holding elections. It effectively means the revival of the old departmental system that had been done away with after the implementation of the 2019 constitution. Also making a return will be the previous structure of regional and club cricket while the board of governors will be constituted according to the old constitution. Garlanded upon his return to the PCB headquarters on Thursday, with some old governing board members also making a return, Mr Sethi hoped there wouldn’t be any confrontation with Ramiz Raja, whose dismissal as chairman was announced a day earlier. Mohammad Wasim was sacked as chief selector on Friday; the last team announced by him was for the home Test series against New Zealand, which begins on Monday with the opening game in Karachi.
Players who had been left out by the Ramiz-led set-up have gleefully welcomed the change. But reviving the old departmental structure will be time-consuming. Most departments had abolished cricket completely once the 2019 constitution was implemented, one which transformed the structure into a regional one. Once again, Pakistan cricket is facing an upheaval. It is hoped that the progress made during the previous set-up — especially the harmony within the national team — isn’t lost once the game returns to its old version.
Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2022
Islamabad bombing
AFTER wreaking havoc in KP, the banned TTP have struck the federal capital, highlighting the uncomfortable truth that unless the militant group is stopped in its tracks, the new wave of terrorism may well spread to other parts of the country. At least one policeman was martyred when a suicide bomber blew himself up in Islamabad on Friday, after police stopped his vehicle for verification. Terrorism is clearly moving from the peripheries to the centre of the nation. While acts of terrorism anywhere in the country are a matter of grave concern, the message the terrorists seem to be sending is that if the capital is not safe, no other place in the country is.
The time for prevarication and mudslinging is over. Leadership is required from the ruling elite, and a firm stand must be taken against terrorism. Sadly, both the government and opposition are too busy trading blame for the growing wave of violence, or are far more concerned with capturing the thrones of Lahore and Islamabad, than securing the country. For example, the interior minister used a recent National Security Committee report pointing out the “capacity gaps” in KP’s CTD to slam the PTI-led administration in Peshawar. On the other hand, the KP chief minister told the media that fighting militancy was the centre’s job. It is truly depressing to witness such combative and destructive politics while terrorists attempt to burst through the door. Instead of arguing over jurisdiction and who is to blame for allowing terrorists to regroup, both the federal government and the KP administration, and the PTI in general, must put aside their rivalry and focus their energies on neutralising the resurgent threat. The fact is that defeating militancy is not the domain of any single law-enforcement body; it will take the combined might of the provincial police forces, the intelligence apparatus, as well as the military to quell the terrorist tide. The centre and the provinces, along with the security establishment, must all be on the same page where counterterrorism is concerned, and Nacta or any other body the state feels has the required infrastructure should be the focal point of the fight against militancy. If the politicians and generals act now, Pakistan can still beat this new wave of terrorism. But if the dissonance and toxicity continue, the hapless people of Pakistan will be left to fend for themselves as a brutal enemy draws blood.
Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2022
Back to square one
A STORM in a teacup: that is what the dissolution drama has turned out to be. Practically nothing has changed: the Punjab government is back in power; Chaudhry Parvez Elahi is chief minister again; the PPP and PML-N have withdrawn to their lines; and that is how things will stay for the foreseeable future.
The Lahore High Court’s intervention has ensured that each of the players has been allowed a face-saving and can continue to strut their hour upon the stage till the next time Imran Khan tries to introduce a plot twist.
With the guarantee given by Mr Elahi to the court that no dissolution of the Punjab Assembly will be effected for about another three weeks at least, lawmakers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa can also rest easy as their fate is tied to that of the Lahore set-up.
The Punjab opposition’s withdrawal of the vote of no-confidence pending against Mr Elahi has confirmed that it never had the numbers to oust him in the first place.
There had been earlier signs it was on shaky ground when the governor’s office was brought to bear on the matter in a most undemocratic manner.
Likewise, the Punjab set-up’s meek compliance with a somewhat unusual demand by the Lahore High Court — that the chief minister provide a guarantee that he wouldn’t exercise his powers to dissolve the assembly till its next hearing of the case — belies the fact that the PTI and PML-Q never really intended to go ahead with the nuclear option.
Both sides are now free to make what they may of what transpired this week. The PML-Q and PTI are still thumping their chests and vowing loudly to anyone who’s still listening that the dissolution will be effected on Jan 11 and not a day later.
“Ultimately, the assemblies have to be dissolved — you can take a week or 1.5 weeks but the matter will not stretch beyond that. The assemblies have to dissolve and elections have to happen,” said the PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry post the LHC verdict.
But as a similar announcement made last Saturday has proved, there can be many a slip between cup and lip. In any case, by the time the LHC’s embargo expires, the timeline for subsequent by-elections would put them too close to Ramazan. No party would want that. Therefore, if the PTI really wants its early elections, its best option is still to sit down with the PDM and negotiate.
If that is out of the question, it should stop shedding crocodile tears over the deteriorating state of the economy and wait till August. The PDM, too, must stop acting like it has all the time in the world.
Considering its seeming inability to manage the economy, it should be making serious efforts to find a way out. As the party in power, it has greater responsibility.
Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2022