Opposition members in parliament are unanimous in their support of one government initiative: the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) envisaging over 46 billion dollar Chinese project-specific loans procured at low rates of interest. And that's where the unanimity ends with opposition parties insisting that the CPEC routing has been changed to benefit Punjab and that it must revert to the original which had been designed with the objective of developing as well as integrating undeveloped areas.
Parties as ideologically opposed as the Awami National Party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf as well as the Pakistan People's Party continue to accuse the PML-N government of changing the CPEC route to benefit Punjab. The Sharif administration's alleged objective for the route change: to ensure that Punjab overwhelmingly votes PML-N which would guarantee victory in the 2018 general elections and all assurances by government ministers including Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal that there has been no change are being dismissed by members of the opposition.
The reason: a trust deficit as wide as the goal posts between the PML-N and opposition parties including those that are openly allied with the PML-N for example JUI (F) as well as those regarded as covert and only on occasion overt allies (defined as extending support at critical times or at times when the other's government is threatened for example the support extended by the PPP during Imran Khan's dharna). The reason can be attributed to the Sharif style of governance. The PML-N routinely violates constitutional clauses specifically designed to deal with a trust deficit on any issue between the federal government and its federating units (provinces); the most such important forum is the Council of Common Interests (CCI) that the constitution requires meet at least once every ninety days. It is baffling why the PML-N administration has not only flagrantly violated constitutional clause 154 pertaining to the CCI since it took over power in June 2013 but continues to violate it because the clause stipulates that the majority's opinion would prevail and the majority is rigged in favour of the centre with four out of 8 members from the federal government (prime minister and three federal ministers) requiring the support of just one chief minister to qualify as the majority.
The government has instead relied on an All-Party Conference (APC) to deal with contentious issues or issues which have become controversial. The stated objective is to ostensibly form an across-the-board political consensus prior to taking any major decision; however, this approach undermines the say of those parties that have greater representation in the federal and provincial governments relative to small regional parties. It can therefore be argued that the PML-N leadership's preference for the APC over and above the CCI is based on its ability to get smaller regional parties including JUI (F) to vote for what it supports in return for certain favours - a task considerably easier than in convincing provincial governments headed by national opposition parties to extend support on contentious issues. The CPEC was debated in an APC and not the CCI and it was the contention of parties other than PML-N that the routing change is not appropriate as backward areas must be integrated with the rest of the country through a road network - an integration that would go a long way in generating employment opportunities during project implementation and, at a later stage, promote economic activity along the route thereby not only bringing the people of these far flung areas into contact with the rest of the country but also choking the recruitment drive of fundamentalists.
Unfortunately, setting up a road network does not automatically either reduce terrorism or integrate far flung areas with the rest of the country or indeed promote economic activity. An example is the $1.2 billion ring road designated as the regional road (2205-km) in Afghanistan designed to increase connectivity between Central Asia, South Asia and Iran through Afghanistan thereby reducing the costs of trade which has been held hostage to frequent Taliban attacks in the South and have disabled the capacity of this road to meet its objectives.
Be that as it may, informed sources revealed to Business Recorder that the Chinese reportedly have expressed not only concerns with respect to security of their nationals in far-flung areas, which the military has agreed to strengthen, but argues that where the existing road network exists it may be financially feasible to use it as much as possible initially - and as such a network exists in the Punjab and not in other provinces hence the routing. If this is the motive behind the change in routing then this needs to be explained to the opposition members and a timeline agreed as to when far flung areas will be connected to the CPEC funded network.
What is noteworthy in this context is that all economic decisions are being taken unilaterally by the Sharif administration; and no APC has been called on what the Finance Minister has repeatedly though one would assume only rhetorically urged on all parties/politicians: agreement on a charter of the economy. This idea is of course absurd as in a democracy it is different economic policies that determine voters' preference and even where there is unanimity on a policy say privatisation the process of implementing the policy differs markedly between our three major national parties; the skeptics amongst us point out that perhaps the implementation of the privatisation policy by the three parties may reflect which influential would win the tender.
Be that as it may, it is ironic that the man who urges a consensus on economic policies is the one who has been unable to meet his constitutional requirement stipulated in Article 160 which states that "at intervals not exceeding five years the President shall constitute a National Finance Commission award consisting of the Minister of Finance for the Federal government, the Ministers of Finance of Provincial Governments." Clearly Shaukat Tarin, former Finance Minister, had the capability to form a consensus on NFC, which is not apparently a forte of Ishaq Dar. This may surprise many as he exhibits a dovish approach in his dealings with the political leadership of the PPP and the MQM while acting as a hawk in matters relating to his Ministry.
The Sharif administration also undermines the relevance of parliament in taking key decisions through not only bypassing parliament but also through routine non-attendance by cabinet members including the prime minister - key decisions that include the passage of mini-budgets and an LNG commercial deal for fifteen years.
It is particularly perplexing that given the numerous routine leaks within the PML-N (government) decisions, almost reminiscent of our porous borders, the LNG price deal continues to be the best kept state secret.
To conclude, the PML-N has been guilty of ignoring parliament to its own political detriment (notably during the PTI dharna); it has also been taking all economic decisions unilaterally, which is its right; however the use of ordinances, with respect to the recent mini-budget and the proposed PIA privatisation, challenges its democratic credentials.