NA Reforms, the good, the bad and the ugly

NA reforms, the good, the bad and the ugly

The News - Tuesday, October 30, 2007


In what has been widely termed as a significant move, President Musharraf last week announced a package of reforms to amend the Legal Framework Order (LFO) of the Northern Areas. The package high on rhetoric and symbolism and low on substance has generated a mix reaction among people of the Northern Areas, who at once feel elated at finding themselves in the midst of presidential favour in the very first month of his re-election, and are disappointed at receiving the same old LFO wine in a new bottle. The people found it quite magnanimous on part of the president to have spared two valuable days out of his extremely hectic schedule to visit the region, and for making a number of grand announcements. The best one as far the locals were concerned was remission of agricultural and small loans of up to fifty thousand rupees. This, they thought, would provide much needed relief to many at the onset of a usually harsh winter. Other important announcements includes renaming of Northern Areas Legislative Council (NALC) as Northern Areas Legislative Assembly (NALA), granting of the title of chief executive to the locally elected and formerly deputy chief executive, and elevating the unelected and non-local chief executive who is also the Minister for Kashmir and Northern Areas (KANA) to the new position of chairman of the Northern Areas assembly. The president inaugurated development projects in Gilgit and Skardu, and reminded the people about the government sector development spending which is reflected in the raise in region's annual budget over the years. He announced formation of a commission to determine the boundary disputes between NWFP and Northern Areas, proclaimed establishment of Northern Areas Development Working Party (NADWP) to be headed by new additional chief secretary for approval and execution of development projects, and appointed the chief secretary who will function as a principal accounts officer.But the major change is the conversion of the NALC into the NALA. Granting assembly status to the council is significant in the backdrop of ongoing dialogue between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. Autonomy and self-governance to each part of the former state was one of the main thematic components of President Musharraf's four-point formula for resolution of the dispute. Many Kashmir analysts are interpreting the reforms in the Northern Areas as a possible step forward in back-channel diplomacy and as evidence of some sort of understanding between the two countries. Interestingly, almost all major Kashmiri leaders and intellectuals have extended their voice of support to the president's initiative of breaking away from the status quo. Leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference including the Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, appreciated government's attempt to empower people of the Northern Areas through a credible legislative assembly. The spontaneous positive reaction emanating from Kashmiri leadership goes to show that there is now more awareness among them about the sacrifices made by the people of Northern Areas for the Kashmir cause. To some extent, the reaction from the Valley is also an outcome of interaction between political and civil society activists from Northern Areas and other parts of Jammu & Kashmir over the last few years. The conferences, meetings and dialogues have helped people understand each other's point of view and reconcile their respective political positions. The bad part of the reform package is that it has failed to fill the yawning gap in the level of self governance related institutional regime which currently exist in Azad Kashmir, Indian-administered Kashmir and the Northern Areas. While both Azad Kashmir and Indian-administered Kashmir have an interim constitutional set-up, the Northern Areas is still being administered through an LFO -- which has no constitutional cover whatsoever. The LFO remains a major point of contention for the people because not only to them it is an extra-constitutional, immoral and illegal instrument of governance but technically it is adequate to protect fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution or in the universal conventions, protocols and treaties to which the country is signatory. A new provision in the rule of business now allows a no confidence move against the chief executive, speaker and deputy speaker is expected to stir some sort of dynamism in the otherwise docile proceedings of the NALA. The new provision in the rules of business concerning presentation, debate and approval process of the annual budget is another novel experience for the members who were earlier used to get a copy of budget statement for information and discussion, if necessary. But the office of the chairman (formerly chief executive and minister for KANA) continues to remain above political accountability and legal censorship. There is no provision for impeachment of the chairman; he cannot be removed from his office through a no-confidence motion. The NALA will be able to make laws without the assent of the chairman. In case the (non-elected) chairman vetoes a piece of legislation there is no mechanism to overturn his decision. All bills and laws made by the NALA will be subject to his approval, he can in fact arbitrarily nullify or veto a law passed by the assembly. Therefore, in political sense nothing has changed in the relationship between the rulers and the ruled. Other then the crises of legitimacy, a major gap in the administrative reforms package, which has been announced without a proper public consultation process, is absence of any restructuring of the judiciary. The judiciary in the Northern Areas works as a sub-department under the chief executive (the would-be chairman). At the moment, there is a chief court comprising a chairman and two members, and a court of appeal with a similar number of members. Minor changes, mainly related to nomenclature, instead of the function and jurisdiction of the courts are under consideration in the ministry. These courts are subservient to the bureaucracy and the chairman and high officials working under him are not answerable to the NALC. There is no civil service tribunal in the Northern Areas either. The courts cannot interpret the LFO or proceeds against legislation passed by the assembly, which once approved by the chairman will become part of the LFO. In the absence of an independent and adequate judiciary cases pertaining to corruption, malpractice and abuse of power by the executive cannot be addressed. Therefore, devolution of power without creating matching system of checks and balances could further jeopardize the well being of the ordinary souls. The writer is based in Islamabad and has a background in media, public policy and development.