Restoration of judges: The PPP never accepted the unconstitutional, illegal and illegitimate imposition of martial law by the Chief of Army Staff on November 3, 2007. Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto travelled to the residence of the Chief Justice of Pakistan to declare support for the judges who had been imprisoned in their houses along with their families.
Upon formation of the People's Government, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's first order was to release the honourable judges. They were paid their salaries and they were restored to their positions by the People's Government.
Restoration of the judiciary was only the first step of the People's government in a long journey to protect and promote an independent judiciary: to provide prompt and inexpensive justice to the people, and to restore their confidence in the system of criminal justice administration.
The second step was to bring collective wisdom of the nation into work through the Pakistan Law Commission headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, and to have representation of bar councils and the Government's law officers. The commission initiated its work in earnest and has devised a new National Judicial Policy which focuses on "the perennial twin-problems of 'backlog' and 'delays' in the system of administration of justice".
Establishment of Law and Justice Commission:
The new judicial policy focuses on separation of judiciary from the executive, ridding the courts of the menace of corruption, to reduce backlog, to fix time frame for disposal of civil and criminal cases, and quick disposal of cases pertaining to fundamental rights, financial/rent matters and family/juveniles cases etc.
The People's Government believes that justice delayed is justice denied. In order to provide relief to the common man, the Government is addressing the problem of delays by increasing the number of judges and the business hours of the courts. It has also been decided to establish right courts to provide convenience to the litigant public.
Democracy creates equitable stakes for workers
Benazir Employees Stock Option Scheme Launched on August 14, 2009 by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, BESOS empowers workers of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) by offering them free ownership of 12 percent stocks in their organisations.
'It is a moment of pride for me to launch BESOS as a realisation of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's dream and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto's unfinished reform agenda for the workers and labourers of Pakistan, the Prime Minister said at the scheme's launching ceremony. 'I hope that after becoming shareholders, workers will work with more honesty, hard work and utilise their best abilities to make their units more effective, productive and profitable.
BESOS is a carry forward of the concept of mill-hand to be taken on the management boards of industries across the country -- first introduced by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1972 -- that led to amendments in the Industrial Relations Ordinance. 'Although drastic changes detrimental to the interests of the working classes were brought in the subsequent IRO by the governments after Bhutto, but no one dared to dispense with the entire system.
The scheme is being offered to more than 500,000 male and female workers of more than 80 SOEs across Pakistan. These 80 companies have been further classified into 16 listed public limited companies, 33 unlisted public limited companies, 17 private limited companies, and 14 SOEs not incorporated under the Companies Ordinance, 1984.
Distributing stocks worth Rs 100 billion free of cost to workers, BESOS is the first ever initiative in Pakistan's history through which workers have not only been given shares in State institutions, but have also been provided due representation in their Boards of Directors, thus empowering them to take decisions for the betterment of their institutions.
BESOS is being implemented by the Privatisation Commission in co-ordination with line ministries, holding corporations, and target SOEs. For this purpose, a cell has been created in the Privatisation commission.
The scheme has been designed around the now globally recognised organisational principle that institutions can only prosper if their employees have a direct stake and are provided a strong sense of ownership. Thus, not only BESOS aims to end decades-old sense of depravation prevalent among workers of Government organisations suffering from typical negligence, it is also a strategic intervention to overhaul the governance and outlook of SOEs and bring them at par with private sector entities.
BESOS must been seen as a creative mix of two key pillars of the PPP manifesto for fostering equitable economic growth in Pakistan. Translating its leadership's vision and promise into yet another deliverable for the people of Pakistan, the People's Government has combined in this scheme the basic ideas of implementing 'just labour policies and encouraging 'private sector as engine for growth'.
Privatisation was first introduced in Pakistan by the first government of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, first elected as prime minister in 1988. Successive governments have struggled with its continuation, but lack of transparency and undermining of workers interests have remained major challenges.
The People's Government is moving forward with the belief that value additions, such as BESOS, would enhance efficiency and competitiveness of SOEs, which in turn will maximise earning through their privatisation. The People's Government wants to realise maximum potential of SOEs by enhancing their cash value through value addition, besides enhancing their efficiency and competitiveness for getting higher prices in the process of privatisation.
In this context, the phased implementation of BESOS is an important step of the People's Government to surmount these challenges by ensuring transparency and keeping the scheme's real beneficiaries - the workers - and their interests central to its success. This will enable target organisations to transition smoothly through privatisation.
'Above all, I want to be remembered for what I did for women. My identity comes ultimately from being a woman, and I felt that my life has to make a difference to the lives of other women. So in terms of population control or in terms of exposing domestic violence or in terms of permitting women easy access to credit to start business of their own, I have always done my best to allow women to succeed.
Shaheed Mohtarma
Benazir Bhutto
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