THE controversy that surrounds the Punjab government’s plans regarding the future of an administratively and financially autonomous south Punjab is not likely to go away with the withdrawal of notifications that reportedly rolled back the powers to be devolved to the people of this area. It is likely that the people will increase their focus on each step the provincial PTI government will take to empower, or disempower, the residents of south Punjab through the delegation, or otherwise, of authority to the small bureaucratic set-up created in the name of a separate secretariat. The latter had been regarded as the first step towards a full-fledged south Punjab province. The other day, Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said that “human error” was responsible for the controversial notifications. One notification had “erroneously” taken back the order issued in September to administratively separate the province’s three divisions — Multan, Bahawalpur and D.G. Khan — with split secretariats at the divisional headquarters of Multan and Bahawalpur. The other amended the rules of business for south Punjab, limiting the authority of the officers appointed in the south Punjab secretariat. The chief minister also announced the formation of a ministerial committee that is supposed to come up with recommendations for reinforcing the separate administrative set-ups for the southern districts and devolving more functions and departments to improve governance and resolve problems at the local level.
The PTI had won the majority of seats in the national and provincial legislatures from south Punjab in the 2018 elections on the promise of creating a new Janoobi Punjab province. Although it ring-fenced the share of the southern districts in the provincial development budget in accordance with their population, the administration continues to delay bringing the issue of the new province to the legislature for Punjab’s division into two parts. Not only did it take the Buzdar administration two years to set up a separate secretariat for the region, the officers working there have limited powers to take administrative or financial decisions in their jurisdiction. This has led to frustration even within the ranks of the ruling party. Indeed, the division of a province is never easy and requires much political give and take and several changes in the country’s constitutional and legal framework. But a fully functional and independent south Punjab secretariat equipped with complete administrative and financial powers could be the first effective step if the intentions are honest.
Opposition split
THE Pakistan Democratic Movement is collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions. The escalating war of words between its two largest parties, the PML-N and PPP, is rupturing the alliance beyond repair.
On Saturday, PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari taunted his PDM partners again in a press conference. This was perhaps triggered by the decision of the PML-N a day earlier to form a separate bloc of five opposition parties in the Senate, excluding the PPP and ANP. The parliamentary leaders of these parties have also asked PDM chairman Maulana Fazlur Rehman to demand an explanation from the other two parties regarding their conduct in the election of the leader of the opposition in the upper house. The PPP has reacted by saying they too can ‘charge-sheet’ the PML-N for its conduct.
Had the alliance shown greater maturity and political restraint, it would not have had to face this grim situation. It was always evident that the past would continue to haunt prospects of cooperation between the PML-N and PPP. The level of distrust between the two rivals had built up over the decades. It would have been naïve of anyone to expect that this accumulated reservoir of distrust would dissipate with the formation of the PDM. However, many believed that their common desire to see the back of the PTI government would provide the bond that the alliance needed. It worked well for the first few months but by January, when the hard decisions about the long march and resignations from the assemblies cropped up, the alliance began to strain at the seams.
For a while it appeared that the PPP’s strategy of prioritising the parliamentary over the street option was producing results and the other parties were content to follow its lead, but then suddenly everything began to unravel. It was at this juncture that wise leadership could have saved the day.
Had the leaders of the two parties confined their disagreements to closed-door meetings, and attempted to resolve these differences with a flexible approach, perhaps the alliance could have been saved. The aggressive manner in which both Maryam Nawaz and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari tackled these disputes in full glare of the cameras left reduced any chances of a rapprochement. Whether it was inexperience or ill judgement on part of these young leaders, the end result was the veritable rupturing of the alliance.
The Supreme Court decision on the Daska election, which has gone in favour of the PML-N, may be dulled by the impact of the PDM fracture. The PTI now finds itself in a better position to take advantage of the split in the opposition. For this no one is to blame other than the leadership of the two opposition parties. They cut the branch they were sitting on and now they are paying the price for it.
Pakistan football saga
THE nasty tug-of-war for administrative control of football affairs in Pakistan has brought the sport to the brink of an indefinite suspension by FIFA. An unprecedented chain of events has seen officials of the FIFA-backed PFF Normalisation Committee forced to vacate the PFF headquarters by the rival Ashfaq Group following a vicious attack. FIFA on Tuesday issued a stern warning to the Ashfaq Group that failure to hand the PFF headquarters back to the PFF NC could see Pakistan suspended for the second time in four years. However, the Ashfaq Group has refused to budge and, instead, demanded negotiations with FIFA. A FIFA suspension would see Pakistan miss out on international events, while foreign teams’ participation in football competitions of the South Asian Games, scheduled to be hosted by the country in 2023, are likely to be in peril. The recent events add to the long-running crisis that has afflicted football in the country for the better part of the last decade. From the abuse of power and financial and administrative irregularities to court battles, allegations and counter allegations, Pakistan football has seen it all, barring, of course on-field action that has pushed the national football team to an ignominious 200th spot in international rankings.
It is lamentable, too, how the government has been a mere bystander in the saga. In spite of the capture of the PFF headquarters, all that the government has done is to ask FIFA to open a fresh dialogue with football officials in Pakistan, claiming that suspension isn’t the way forward. Regrettably, the history of sports in Pakistan is replete with incidents of political appointments of officials whose arbitrary dealings have greatly damaged the development of a variety of sports in the country. The other big menace are the parallel bodies formed by vested interests who eventually leave things in a mess. Such practices must be done away with to ensure a better future for our sportsmen and sportswomen.
