No excusesÂ
IT appears that the PDM government is indulging in some ill-advised legal gymnastics as it attempts to delay elections for the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies till after their constitutionally mandated deadline expires.
After the KP and Punjab governors earlier ‘agreed’ that holding provincial elections before a general election was ‘unaffordable’, and that all elections should instead be held together later in the year, PML-N leaders Khawaja Saad Rafique, Malik Ahmad Khan and Attaullah Tarar have made very similar assertions.
Malik Ahmed Khan, in fact, has gone so far as to claim that the Constitution does not say anything about holding elections within 90 days, even though the timeline appears to be laid out quite explicitly in Article 224(2).
In the same vein, the KP and Punjab police chiefs have now cited resurgent terrorism as an excuse for the Election Commission of Pakistan to put off the polls for another four to five months. They have both also made similar claims regarding not having enough personnel to ensure the security of the upcoming polls.
It would be extremely unfortunate if the ECP plays along with this little charade. As President Arif Alvi reminded the commission on Wednesday, holding elections under the guidelines set in the Constitution is the primary and essential duty of the ECP.
It is ultimately the commission which will be held responsible for any violation of the Constitution if it fails to discharge its functions and duties accordingly.
The law is quite clear that elections must be held within 90 days in case of the early dissolution of the national or provincial assemblies, and those in power should stop finding creative excuses not to obey.
There had rightfully been much anger and indignation last year when the PTI attempted to railroad the Constitution to announce an early election; the PDM, too, must not be allowed to railroad it to do the opposite.
The democratic process cannot be suspended. It is not up to the two governors or even the federal government to decide on the ‘affordability’ of elections. Indeed, they should ensure the necessary funding for the ECP even if it means curtailing expenditures in other areas.
Likewise, the threat of terrorist attacks cannot be made a reason to delay polls. Keeping the people safe is the responsibility of our law-enforcement agencies and the military: their ineptitude and failures have no bearing on the responsibilities assigned by the Constitution to the ECP.
The PDM must stop trying to manufacture bad precedents that future governments may also use to unlawfully extend their rule.
The government should stop attempting to hijack the electoral process with its shenanigans, assist the ECP in its preparations and ensure that the commission has whatever resources it needs. Democracy should not be so crudely thwarted.
Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2023
Growing expenses
WITH their costs going up following the massive currency devaluation and increase in fuel prices in the last couple of weeks, it was only a matter of time before the producers of packaged milk and baby formula raised their rates to protect their profits. As a report in this paper suggests, an international food company with the largest market share has blamed the inflationary environment for the latest hike in milk prices. The sellers of loose milk and its derivatives have already raised prices to recover the increase in the cost of animal feed and transportation. At a time when everything ranging from lentils to vegetables to medicines to clothing to stationery to cars is getting more expensive by the day, it is naive to expect the producers of packaged foods to keep their prices unchanged. Considering the consistently falling rupee and the anticipated hike in petroleum, electricity and gas prices in the days ahead, to meet IMF conditions, inflationary pressure will intensify further going forward. The 2.6pc increase in the weekly SPI inflation is just an indication of the shape of things to come. The price increase trajectory, however, will depend on the size of these adjustments, as well as on whether the latter are implemented all at once or staggered over a period. The potential implementation of the sales tax on fuel, as being demanded by the IMF, could quicken the pace of monthly inflation that already has surged to a 48-year high of 27.6pc.
The rising inflation hasn’t spared anyone, but the impact of the surging cost of living since last June on low-middle-income families has been unbearable. Inflation indices don’t capture fully the misery of ordinary Pakistanis who have seen high prices wear down their savings and force them to cut expenditure on food, healthcare and education to make ends meet as their purchasing power erodes. The government and its finance ministers, past and current, have consistently blamed the previous PTI government for sowing the seeds for the dire economic situation and surging cost of living today. They are not wrong. But it doesn’t absolve the current set-up of its own responsibility for contributing to the rot by taking decisions that have worsened the crisis in the last 10 months. The inflation-stricken people deserve better than just lip service and a blame game played by politicians.
Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2023
Toxic environment
FOR millions in our teeming cities, clean air and water have become luxuries. What is even more alarming is that environmental pollution is quite literally having a deadly impact on people’s health. Mystery shrouds the deaths of 18 people, mostly children, who died in Karachi’s Keamari area last month. Experts are of the view that toxic emissions from industrial units in the area caused the deaths, but thanks to a botched probe by the authorities many questions about the tragedy remain unanswered. Taking notice of this pathetic state of affairs, the Sindh High Court on Tuesday ordered registration of FIRs of the case as well as a thorough investigation into the incident. Reportedly, 15 deaths occurred in the same area in 2020 as well. Regarding flaws in the initial probe, officials are said to have failed to carry out detailed autopsies of the victims, while Sepa, Sindh’s environment watchdog, apparently collected samples from factories allegedly responsible for the toxic emissions after the units were sealed. In a related development, Sepa recently found that several industries in Keamari were releasing hazardous emissions.
The Keamari tragedy highlights two major deadly environmental hazards in Karachi: toxic air and industrial units functioning in or near residential areas. Bad air, as medical experts have pointed out, is responsible for causing cancer and gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and kidney diseases, while due to the non-implementation of zoning laws, industrial units and congested, often poor, residential localities have been merged, creating a recipe for disaster. Industrial zones, particularly where units deal with hazardous material, should be located far from residential areas. Unfortunately, the Sindh authorities have failed to enforce this basic safety precaution, and at present there seems to be no check on factories and industrial units operating in populated areas. For the sake of the people’s health, action needs to be taken in this regard, while the Sindh administration can definitely do more to rein in rampant air pollution.
Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2023