Delay is dangerous

Talking to the PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif on the phone, Prime Minister Gilani had assured him that there would be good news about the undoing of amendments in the constitution introduced by Zia and Musharraf anytime soon. While the presence of a broad agreement on constitutional amendments has never been in doubt, the committee, assigned the task to evolve an agreed document, has yet not been able to perform its job.
As happens in cases of the type, the devil lies in the details. Gilani has again not clarified how long it will take for an agreement on the issue to be finally brokered. The delay in striking down the 17th amendment and replacing it with a consensus 18th amendment continues to stoke suspicions between the PPP and the PML-N. Assurances advanced by Zardari that the constitutional package would be passed by Parliament in December were not carried out. Later, it was given out that the task would be finalised by the first week of January.
Now we are being told that the deadline might be extended to March. The delay is giving birth to suspicions of foot-dragging. Unfortunately, however, hopes created by the recent Gilani-Shahbaz meeting have consequently been dashed. Nawaz Sharif's return home, after cutting short his foreign visit, had roused strong expectations of Zardari-Nawaz talks leading to a breakthrough. The PML-N's information has, however, said that a meeting is not on the cards.
The PML-N chief has, meanwhile, accused the government of not being serious in resolving the outstanding issues. According to him, the statements by the ruling party leaders had "disappointed everyone." The last meeting between the two leaders, held on October 26, turned out to be fruitless. Another meeting, expected in November, failed to take place on account of the PML-N's insistence on a concrete agenda.
There are hints that the PPP is reluctant to yield on a number of issues, the foremost being a third term for the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers, over which the two sides had agreed in the Charter of Democracy (CoD). Zardari, avowedly, sent two emissaries to Nawaz on Friday. While the latter met ANP's federal minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, he reportedly declined to entertain Fazlur Rehman who then met Shahbaz.
The statement subsequently issued by Nawaz indicates that the emissaries' visit failed to produce any positive results. The press release, issued after the meeting with Bilour, quoted the PML-N chief telling the ANP leader that the country was facing a difficult situation because of the government's unwillingness to implement the CoD and fulfil written and verbal promises.
He said 20 months had elapsed but the government was still being run under a "defaced" Constitution, given by former army ruler Pervez Musharraf while nothing had been done to establish an independent accountability system as enshrined in the CoD. He also criticised the PPP leadership for making the Supreme Court's verdict on NRO controversial and claimed that this was creating anger among the masses.
This indicates clearly and unambiguously that there is still no end to the stand-off. The Reforms Committee, set up to suggest changes in the constitution, is reportedly stuck over the issue of the limits of provincial autonomy and is thus unlikely to compile its reforms package before March 2010. Members from the smaller provinces are avowedly demanding that most of the subjects in the federal list be handed over to the provinces.
With a widespread consensus in the country over maximum provincial autonomy, it should not have taken so long to finalise the recommendations. The Committee has had enough time and unless it completes the job assigned to it apace, it could be seen to be indulging in foot-dragging. The pursuit for unanimity, laudable as it might otherwise be, is unrealistic in view of so many shades of opinion being represented in the committee.
Even the 1973 constitution, considered the expression of the combined will of the nation, was not unanimously passed as Khair Bux Marri and Abdul Hayee Baloch insisted on getting their dissent recorded. Gilani has hopes that the new year would see the PPP and the PML-N work jointly to help the country overcome the prevailing crises and strengthen democratic institutions for the welfare of the masses.
To fulfil the hopes, he will have to give a nudge to the committee to complete its assignment and get the 18th amendment passed during the present session of the Parliament beginning soon. A meeting with a well-thought out agenda, leading to a joint statement spelling out agreements reached between the two sides should meanwhile be arranged between Zardari and Nawaz.