EDITORIAL: Perhaps nobody said it better than PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz) legislator Irfan Siddiqui, as senators lashed out at the Prevention of Violent Extremism Bill 2023 in an unusual session of the upper house on Sunday, when he warned that getting the bill passed without referring it to the relevant standing committee and following due procedure would entail “detrimental consequences”.
Indeed, nobody on the floor was in any doubt that the draft reeked of a desire to target PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) without any consideration for the implications on other parties – present ruling coalition included, of course – not long down the road.
However, according to law minister Ata Tarar, the draft presented in the senate was prepared during the tenure of the PTI government. If true, how ironic that today it is perceived to be targeting the very party that drafted this piece of legislation.
And even though Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani “dropped” the bill after all the hue and cry, a section of the press reported that the bill would still be taken up in the next session on Wednesday. And as the government prepares to roll the dice again, it must understand that it has a lot of explaining to do before this matter can proceed; not the least within PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement).
JUI-F (Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl) senators didn’t have any qualms about exposing widening cleavages during the senate debate, complaining that the government had made a habit of cutting coalition partners out of crucial legislative discussions, and fearing that this bill would become a problem for everybody in the future.
It must also explain its haste in pushing this bill through. Why bypass the lower house and standing committee and start the debate in the senate itself? The present administration wasn’t directly elected for this cycle, no doubt, but it is still supposed to follow the democratic process and answer to the people. And the first thing everybody is wondering right now – especially given the tense political environment – is what gives the government the authority and the sense of entitlement to create and exploit loopholes in the system, that too to force a bill that almost everybody disagrees with.
There’s no doubt that violence and extremism need to be dealt with very firmly; especially now, when rising incidents of terrorism are beginning to bring back very bad memories. It’s also true, regrettably, that Pakistan’s political parties have been known to go overboard in their aggression towards each other and, lately, also against the so-called establishment, making things much worse for everybody, including themselves.
These are very serious problems, of course, and the responsible and democratic way of solving them is through consensus. And for one or a few political parties to exploit, or even appear to exploit, them for political gain in the fight for power, creating deeper divisions and more animosity along the way, can create even bigger and more serious long-term problems.
It would appear that the setback in the senate has put enough pressure on the government to make it either put its cards on the table or go back to the drawing board. Yet its actions are betraying a sense of urgency, to get this business over with before it is supposed to leave office, which means it could still try to muscle it through.
That would be unfortunate. It would also confirm the fear, expressed repeatedly in this space, that the political elite is guilty of turning the country’s politics into an ugly fight for personal spoils, far removed from the interests of the people.
Ordinary Pakistanis need legislation that enables the security apparatus to crush violence and extremism forever, and political parties that remain within their mandates and protect their interests. They don’t need parliament reduced to an arena for political heavyweights to collect scalps. How the ruling party follows up on this matter will tell a lot.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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