December 22, 2016

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/173675-Political-parties-bound-to-award-5pc-tickets-to-women

By Mehtab Haider

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar has said the draft election bill 2017 has proposed to grant administrative and financial powers to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and bind the election tribunal to conduct day-to-day hearing without seeking adjournment on writ petitions against any wrongdoings on the election process.

Under the reform package the political parties are bound to award 5 percent tickets to women. To a query regarding consideration of any proposal for slapping ban on banned outfits from participating in the polls, the minister said although it was sensitive subject but they could not impose discriminatory restrictions. He added that the government was implementing all envisaged points under the NAP which would help in overcoming extremism.

“We have proposed changes in election laws after 40 years with the purpose to hold upcoming elections under fresh laws in free and fair manner. The draft law also proposes synchronising wealth statement and empowering the ECP to scrutinise returns filed by parliamentarians. The ECP is proposed to be empowered to take disciplinary action against deputed officials on allegations of rigging,” Ishaq Dar said while briefing reporters on the draft election bill 2017 along with Minister for Law Zahid Hamid and Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rehman here at FBR’s headquarters on Wednesday.

The law minister said the parliamentary committee could not take decision on granting rights to overseas Pakistanis, biometric verification and using electronic voting machines. He said the proposed rules were also framed by the parliamentary committee in order to ensure that all regulations should be in align with the spirit of laws approved by the Parliament.

To another query regarding regulatory bodies, the minister said there were three aspects related to regulatory bodies including laws, policies and administration and the government brought them under the administrative control of line ministries through a notification.

He said regulatory bodies would continue to perform their role as regulator and in accordance with the law but the administrative matters would now be tackled by the line ministries instead of Cabinet Division. He argued that the change in administrative control was grossly misunderstood by some politicians and media persons. He said there was no proposal under consideration to withdraw powers of Nepra for tariff determination and the role of Ogra would also remain the same as they were calculating pricing of POL products and then forward to Ministry of Finance for taking final decision by the PM.

When asked about delimitation of constituencies in the aftermath of upcoming population census, Dar replied that it would require constitutional amendment which could be discussed at later stage. Regarding differences within the ranks of Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms, the minister said that it was pending issue related to declaring the election null and void by the ECP if in any constituency the women polling votes would be less than 10 percent out of total polled votes. Some members proposed that this ratio should be fixed at 5 percent and some argued that there should be no such restrictions, he said, and added that now this decision could be taken through consensus or through majority voting.

He said the draft election package would be tabled before Senate on Thursday (today) as 30 days would be given to all walks of life to give their suggestions to make it best future unified law for holding elections.

Minister for Law Zahid Hamid said that the proposed law would grant administrative and financial powers to the ECP as it would be in position to take disciplinary action in case of committing rigging by any deputed official for holding the election process. The ECP will be bound to unveil action plan six months before the elections as the commission would place result based management (RBM) system. The ECP officials and polling staff would take oath and the polling scheme period would be slashed down from 60 days to 35 days. On the polling day, camera will be installed and the returning officers will have to follow fixed formula for printing of ballot papers.

The minister said that in case of tie whereby candidates get equal votes then toss would be done to give equal and half tenure to both the candidates. When asked about electronic voting machines (EVM), the minister said its financial impact and security of used equipment was needed to be considered as they asked three displayer parties to submit list of their suppliers in order to ensure security.

To another query regarding four demands of the PPP, the minister said the first demand was inclusion of western route into CPEC on which the government assured them that it was part of the CPEC route. The PPP demanded revival of Parliamentary Committee on National Security and that could also be considered by the government, he added.

Regarding third demand of appointing permanent Foreign Minister, the minister said that Sartaj Aziz was performing as advisor to PM on Foreign Affairs but he would have to be elected as MNA or Senator for becoming federal minister but for all practical purpose he was performing well.

On fourth demand of investigating Panama case, the minister said this demand became infectious because this case had now been landed into the apex court of the country. “Doors are not closed in politics so we are ready to take PPP into confidence,” the minister concluded.

The News

December 22, 2016

Protest as bailiffs molest transgender in courtroom

SIALKOT -A transgender was allegedly sodomised by a court bailiff official and his companion in the courtroom in Daska here on Wednesday.
According to the FIR (1055/2016) lodged at Daska City police station under section 377 PPC by the victim Zahid, the nasty incident was occurred in the night of December 14, 2016.
The FIR revealed that accused Azhar, a bailiff official of Daska family court,m arrested Zahid from his house in village Veerwala-Satrah, Daska tehsil here on Dec 14, 2016 in a family case under trial against him in the Family Court of Judge Imran Ali Jaffari.
The FIR added that instead of producing the victim before the court, the accused with the help of his unworn companion kept him detained illegally in the courtroom.
The FIR narrated that the accused sodomised the transgender in the courtroom. On the other hand, on very next day, the victim submitted a petition in the court of local magisterial court in Daska for the medical examination. On this, Magistrate Tasneem Ejaz directed the Medical Superintendent of Daska Civil Hospital and SHO of Daska City police station to get the medical examination of the victim conducted.
Meanwhile, scores of the transgenders gathered in front of the Daska City police station and lodged their strong protest against the incident. The eunuchs also staged a sit-in. They demanded immediate arrest of the accused and speedy justice for the victim.
PROJECT IN A DOLDRUMS
A project is in the doldrums due to the funds paucity and slackness of the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) for one and a half years.
Sialkot TMA had started “Great Wall of Sialkot” project at Allama Iqbal Chowk with the funds donated by the local philanthropists. It had not allocated even a single penny from its local government’s funds for this project.
The then Gujranwala commissioner had inaugurated the project, saying that the 300 feet long “Great Wall of Sialkot” would be established to pay homage Great Poet-Philosopher Allama Iqbal.
According to Tehsil Municipal Officer (TMO) Muhammad Zafar Qureshi, the great wall of Sialkot had to be attributed to son of soil of Sialkot Allama Iqbal. Some other TMA officials added that the wall was being established to promote “Iqbaliyat” in active collaboration with Sialkot business community.
The wall had to reflect the Sialkot’s historical perspective, culture, heritage and its global industrial significance, they added. The murals of Allama Iqbal’s poetry and art would be displayed on the great wall of Sialkot, which would be reflecting the imagination of Iqbal’s poetry and philosophy, the TMA officials added.

The Nation

December 22, 2016

‘Honour killings increasing in urban areas’

By HANEEN RAFI

KARACHI: “No longer restricted to the rural and tribal areas of Pakistan, but sadly increasing in urban communities as well is a very serious human rights issue that Pakistan faces — violence in the name of honour,” said Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari at the launch of Nafisa Shah’s book Honour Unmasked: Gender Violence, Law, and Power in Pakistan at the Arts Council on Wednesday.

With regard to 2016 alone, he reminded the audience of a few such heinous incidents of young women being murdered in the name of ‘honour’. From a jirga in Abbottabad ordering the killing of a teenager, a mother torching to death her own teenage daughter, and even the honour killing of social media activist Qandeel Baloch, Bilawal lamented the reality of how women in the country are falling prey to crimes of ‘honour’ perpetrated by those near and dear to them.

In the midst of his speech, Bilawal went off script and decided to engage the audience in a more honest appraisal of the political standing of laws and consequent amendments to prosecute those guilty of honour killings. It was then that the contradictions the country faces came right to the fore.

“It is rightly said that it is up to my generation to find a solution, but the problem is that we cannot do it alone. We know how controversial, how dangerous this topic gets. We, as the PPP, have lost Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and despite having a UN commission investigate her assassination, we have not got justice. Then how am I expected to get justice for every woman and child in Pakistan who suffers at the hands of the violence of men?” he questioned.

“The challenge before us is to create a system of justice that will punish the [perpetrators of] violence and not seek out cultural, religious or moral rationales.”

The author of Honour Unmasked, Nafisa Shah, also spoke about how the book is primarily academic while incorporating anthropological theories of honour and law. “I have explored connections between practices of violence and ideologies of peace, between victims and perpetrators, between custom and law, between state and society,” she explained.

The heinous incidents of honour killings have been a subject of study for Shah in several capacities, be it as a journalist, writer, academic, or politician. She has dedicated almost 16 years to understanding the nuances of the crime.

Her time as nazim of Khairpur formed the basis of field work for her PhD thesis. “During that time I lived and experienced all the issues I had studied. I faced tribal feuds, violent deaths, and runaway brides, and dealt first hand with people’s day-to-day conflicts.”

Eminent Sindhi writer Noorul Huda Shah’s passionate refusal to allow the issue of karo kari to become politicised was touted by many in the audience as the highlight of the evening. “This book is not merely a piece of research, but in fact a testimony on the karo kari case,” she said.

The reality is, she lamented, that whether Shah’s book is read, or the statistics of women murdered in the name of honour known, this gruesome act still prevails.

“The plots do not change, the characters do,” she quoted Nafisa Shah from the preface of the book.

“In the history of all of the previous governments of the PPP, complete or incomplete tenures, the tradition of karo kari in Sindh has not changed and has [been] maintained. But this is not only Sindh’s shame. In every province, brothers are killing their sisters and we are just watching this unfold.”

One of the prevalent criticisms of the event was regarding the presence of several politicians, which left many from the public unable to access the venue. There were several instances when attendees from different parts of the province were rudely turned away due to ‘security concerns’ despite possessing invitation cards.

Other speakers at the book launch included Zohra Yusuf, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Speaker of the Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani, and former chief minister, Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah.

Dawn

The News: Only democratic system can provide solution to problems: Bilawal

The Nation: Change mindset to stop honour killings: Bilawal