For the common man
It is important to learn to work together in a country where there are many who actively oppose a socialist perspective
By Farooq Tariq
The political perspectives of the Labour Party Pakistan (LPP) have been put to the test several times in a rapidly-changing political situation. From day one, we opposed General Musharraf’s military dictatorship. We oppose both American imperialism and religious fanaticism while some feel they must support one side or the other.

Warning signs
It is still not too late that PML-N and PPP and the regional parties sit together and agree on the way forward
By Raza Rumi
Many decades ago, our Governor General Iskander Mirza had rather contemptuously stated that democracy does not suit the genius of Pakistani people. Immediately after these words of wisdom were uttered, direct military rule not only exiled Mirza but also became a norm rather than aberration. For the last six decades or so we have not been able to overcome this political reality. The unelected institutions of the state are not willing to give up the power they inherited from the might of the colonial state. At best, they are willing to share power to a degree that they deem fit.

The country is on the verge of drought. Winter has come and virtually gone but winter rains appear to have deserted us. Crops are suffering, the cities are covered in a layer of dust and experts are making dire predictions about the summer to come. The once preposterous notion that the world – Pakistan included – will eventually be ripped apart by wars over water doesn’t seem so far-fetched anymore.

Despite the impending water crisis (even if it is averted this year, it is a matter of time), most of us do not appear to be changing our habits. Those who have lawns continue to use water lavishly to maintain them; those who have cars use buckets of water everyday to clean them; the list could go on. There are two possible explanations for the apparent lack of concern: first, we simply do not understand the extent and nature of the problem, and second, we do not care. These two explanations are not mutually exclusive by any means and are captured together in the fairly typical reflection amongst the high elite about ordinary peoples’ lack of ‘civic sense’.

As a general rule, it is true that the concept of the ‘public commons’ simply does not resonate widely in post-colonial societies such as ours. In other words, resources that are supposed to be available to all citizens and maintained by the state are, in fact, almost completely captured by private interests. The scholarly consensus is that the absence of shared attitudes towards public goods is rooted in the history of the colonial state and the transfer of the colonial state apparatus to parasitic elite following the end of foreign rule.

The colonial state was an extremely contradictory beast. On the one hand, Europeans insisted that they were the harbingers of civilization to the uncultured hordes that they had conquered. They built formal legal institutions and apparently impersonal bureaucracies. But in practice, the state discriminated openly against the natives and established a system in which personal patronage was the operative principle. When the colonizers departed the local elite that they had created took over and in many cases dispensed with even the pretense of impartiality and fair play.

Over time, ordinary Ugandans, Haitians, Indonesians and Pakistanis alike have imbibed the cynicism of their paternalistic elites. Outside every big mansion in Defence are piles and piles of garbage; electricity theft is greatest in affluent neighbourhoods; and the biggest culprits when it comes to wasting water are the rich and famous who are fully aware of the impending crisis yet choose to do nothing about it (and in fact continue to fritter away water and other resources in virtually criminal fashion to sustain their ostentatious lifestyles).

The poor are not blameless because they are not unthinking idiots who simply ape the elite. It is important to acknowledge that those who generally need public resources the most are willing participants in their pillaging. And it must be a fundamental objective of a politics of the poor to forge a new kind of agency that is conscious and self-critical. But regardless of whether such a politics can be fashioned, there can be no doubt about who is primarily responsible for the lack of ‘civic sense’ that prevails in our societies.

All of this is important because the typical refrain that the government is responsible for the mess and should fix it is greatly misleading if taken out of context. So, for example, when one talks about the American Empire, one is not talking only about those who rule the United States but the entire behemoth that is American society and economy. The American government does what it does to sustain the lifestyles of Americans (there are serious inequalities within the US which means that imperialism primarily benefits the rich).

Similarly, while the mindless Punjab-bashing of some ethno-nationalists in Pakistan is unacceptable, it is impossible to deny that even Punjab’s workers and peasants are generally more affluent than their counterparts in the weak and oppressed provinces. All Punjabis are not oppressive but those within Punjab who are not exploiters are given a (small) share of the benefits garnered by the (predominantly Punjabi) establishment so as to keep status quo intact. It is thus crucial for workers and peasants in Punjab, just as it is for ordinary people in the United States, to distinguish themselves from ruling classes by not only expressing solidarity with oppressed nations but, especially in the case of Americans, willingly giving up some of their many material comforts.

The water crisis demands action from everyone, even though the onus must be on the elite to lead the way. If it does not – and frankly I do not harbour great hopes – then it should stop its hypocritical drawing-room hyperbole about the lack of ‘civic sense’ amongst the ‘common hordes’. Sadly it is more than likely that the elite continues to live unsustainably – aping its mentors in the industrialized countries – and then jumps ship when things reach boiling point.

As for the poor, it is important to bear in mind that a balance had existed between natural resources and ordinary people’s use of them for centuries before the onset of capitalism and a global commodity market. Locked into the system, poor people are party to an unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, including water. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) funded by western governments have been providing ‘training’ to the poor for years to try and undo the poverty-environment nexus. But dare I say these NGOs and the interests that they knowingly or unknowingly represent are themselves party to the problem.

Unfortunately, it may take a meltdown to forge a new social consensus (and probably an entirely new social contract) and with it a new development paradigm in which every social agent consciously protects the rights not only of people but also the environment which sustains us. I know who I will blame if this meltdown comes about but I also know that only playing the blame game will not get us anywhere. As is the case for virtually all the other problems we face today, we need a new politics to avert a war over water.

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(Above) Source of life; (top) Parched to the core.

The relief and reconstruction plan, which was unveiled during the recent visit of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to Peshawar, does not come up to the expectations of people of the area. Providing adequate relief to NWFP and FATA, which are affected by terrorism, seems to be beyond the capacity of the federal government.

The federal government seems oblivious to the woes of the two strategically and economically important areas. This is the feeling among the business and trading community as well as civil society of NWFP and FATA.

According to the relief plan, NWFP has been divided into three categories — the worst-affected, affected, and least-affected areas. Terrorism and the government’s response to it leave NWFP in the line of fire in recent years. The federal government has announced 100 and 50 percent exemption of central excise duty (CED) on industrial items produced in the extremely and moderately affected districts of NWFP respectively.

This exemption applies for a period of six months and is not a blanket one as it excludes cement, cigarette and sugar production, etc. The plan gives relief on electricity and natural gas bills of Swat for five months — from May to September 2009. This is strange. During these months almost 80 percent of the Swat population had migrated to other areas to evade fighting between security forces and militants. Therefore, these are no significant relief measures for NWFP and FATA.

The prime minister also mentioned the decision of the recently concluded NFC that gives one percent additional amount to the NWFP from the Federal Divisible Pool (FDP). Gilani said, "The federal government will bear all the expenses for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the affected areas." But it leaves everyone guessing how this will be achieved with one percent of the FDP, which amounts to Rs17 billion in the first year of the NFC in addition to Rs17.01 billion already provided by the federal government for the Malakand Division.

According to the United Nations estimates, rehabilitation and reconstruction of infrastructure in the war-ravaged Malakand requires $2.5 billion (around Rs 210 billion). Whereas, according to survey-based estimates, the war on terror-related economic and infrastructure losses amount to Rs500 billion. The losses in FATA are besides this amount.

The foremost demand of the people and businessmen of the NWFP has been to declare the province ‘war-affected’. Because only getting this status could provide the much-needed relief to the province in the shape of across the board exemption of taxes besides allowing it to receive certain other concessions and incentives. Only after getting the status, the world community will pay attention to provide relief. "Unless the province is declared war-affected, financial assistance will not be enough to meet the needs of the people," says Senator Haji Adeel, a senior leader of the ruling ANP and a member of NFC from NWFP.

While the local economy of NWFP has collapsed in the recent years, the whole Hazara belt was already damaged due to earthquake that struck the area in October 2005. If one travels from Swat to Lakki Marwat in the north and Dera Ismail Khan in the south, one finds devastation all around marked by a large number of guns and rocket-totting security forces. Even Peshawar is one of the affected areas. In this situation, the package is not a demand but a right of the people of NWFP.

Today, the people of NWFP ask where have billions of dollars gone which Pakistan received since 2001 being part of the US-led war on terror. The Musharraf regime received between $10 billion to $14 billion from the US. Out of the amount which the present government has so far received from the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) and under Kerry-Lugar Act from the US, the province has not received anything for its frontline role and the devastation it had to face.

The reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure and institutions, besides establishing certain disaster-management bodies in NWFP, is relatively more difficult in NWFP than in FATA. The reason is that although the entire FATA is ravaged by the Taliban and Al Qaeda militancy but due to lack of infrastructure there has been minimum loss of this nature in tribal areas.

A bigger part of economic and infrastructure losses which the war on terror has inflicted on Pakistan have been in NWFP. Most of the damage in FATA has come in the shape of human loss and there is no way to make amends for it. Compensation to the families of the deceased and maimed, besides rehabilitation of the injured, can help the people but to a certain extent. The population of FATA is almost entirely dependent on NWFP for its economy and other issues.

This can be gauged from the fact that FATA does not have even a single university; the number of degree colleges is few and far between with not even a single girls’ degree college. There is no decent health facility in the whole of the tribal belt. Therefore, if the infrastructure in NWFP is not rebuilt on a war-footing both the province and FATA would continue to reel and it is going to have large-scale effects on Punjab. Traders, students, patients, finding no facilities and environment in the province, will keep going to the nearest avenue that is Punjab. Already, a large number of traders and businessmen have shifted from NWFP to Punjab.

Nonetheless, prime minister simultaneously announced to soon initiate the work on the important project of Chashma Canal in Southern NWFP. Though the prime minister clubbed the project with the relief and reconstruction plan, the project itself is quite old. This project, if implemented, could result in lessening the problems of the inhabitants of the two regions. But in order to make a real turnaround in the devastated NWFP economy multiple projects need to be initiated.

The first step of this project could be to make Peshawar a symbol of rehabilitation and prosperity for the entire NWFP and FATA. The federal government and international community should be sensitive to the agonies of people of NWFP and FATA.

The writer is a political analyst and doctoral candidate writing a thesis on Extremism and terrorism in Pakistan: Causes and counter strategy

Attack on drones

President Asif Ali Zardari, during a meeting with American pointman on Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke on January 15, said drone attacks should be stopped. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, talking to a delegation of US senators headed by John McCain, said drone attacks should stop immediately. Parliament's Special Committee on National Security demanded on January 14 the United States should immediately stop drone attacks inside Pakistan. Defense Minister Ahmad Mukhtar said the ongoing drone attacks inside Pakistan should stop because these attacks are denting the war on terror. Pakistan Foreign Office has repeatedly protested these attacks as "they are an infringement of its sovereignty and caused hundreds of civilian deaths, including women and children, which has further angered the Pakistani people". Pakistani politicians - both on treasury and opposition benches - are united in their stand that drones must stop killing innocent Pakistanis.

Even American anti-war activists, who rallied near CIA Headquarters in Virginia on January 17, protested against US drone attacks inside Pakistan.

Despite all this hullaballoo, these strikes have picked up momentum instead of coming to a halt. The US should take the Pakistani concerns and protests seriously, otherwise the snowballing anti-Americanism may win more recruits for al-Qaeda and its narrative. A fact reported by Western media and acknowledged by many Pakistani analysts is that US military and Pakistani authorities are in agreement over these strikes. Pakistani officials and politicians are just trying to appease the angry masses by publicly condemning and secretly supporting these strikes.

Defence experts say it is hard to believe that drones keep killing people without the consent of Pakistani government keeping in view the fact that Pakistani forces have the capability to shoot down drones. Can the rulers allow Indian drones to hit targets inside Pakistan? a question arises. Definitely not because they have no such understanding with India. The government should stop fooling the people and come up with a clear policy of either publicly supporting or effectively stopping these strikes.

British newspaper The Time stated on February 18, 2009 that the CIA was using Shamsi Airfield, 190 miles southwest of Quetta and 30 miles from the Afghan border, as its base for drone operations. The paper said "the planes can be seen flying from the base. The area around the base is a high-security zone and no one is allowed there".

According to The Daily Telegraph, Pakistani authorities have agreed to secretly provide information to the United States on Mehsud's and his militants' whereabouts while publicly the Pakistani government will continue to condemn the attacks. According to Pakistani authorities, from January 14, 2006 to April 8, 2009, 60 US strikes had killed 701 people, of which 14 were Al-Qaeda militants and 687 innocent civilians.

Defense analysts think that Americans would try to provide some relief to Pakistan but they would not change their policy about the drone attacks. The US must stop the drone attacks, but it is not clear if the Pakistani government is really interested in pursuing an end to drone attacks, they added.

Once in the White House, Barack Obama has authorised the continuation of these strikes. Top US officials consider these strikes very successful and believe that the senior al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership has been decimated by these strikes. A list of the high-ranking victims of the drones was provided to Pakistan in 2009. Obama was reported in March 2009 as considering expanding these strikes to Balochistan.

US officials stated in March 2009 that the Predator strikes had killed nine of al-Qaeda's 20 top commanders. The officials added that many top Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders, as a result of the strikes, had fled to Quetta or even further to Karachi.

Some US politicians have condemned the drone strikes. US Congressman Dennis Kucinichi asserted that the United States was violating international law by carrying out strikes against a country that never attacked the United States.

US military claims al-Qaeda is being slowly and systematically routed because of these drone attacks. The US thinks these drone attacks have frightened and confused the militants groups and have pitched them against each other.

Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad on January 7, 2010, Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberaman stated the drone attacks were effective and would continue. The US senators admitted that though there existed no agreement between Pakistan and the US regarding drone attacks inside Pakistan's territory, yet drones would continue to operate.

Washington is also pushing Islamabad to start military action against the Haqqani network and their tribal allies in North Waziristan - a demand unlikely to be met as the Pakistani forces have been stretched thin on Western borders fighting terrorists and on eastern border warding off Indian forces. It is time the US stopped directing Pakistan and started listening to it if it really wants to wriggle out of the mess it has created in Afghanistan and tribal areas of Pakistan.

Man to machine

Tax collecting government departments are missing targets, compelling the government to get loans on terms that have never been seen as favourable by our businessmen. While it is often said that ‘holy cows’ must be taxed to get the country out of this situation, the commitment to bring the influential into the tax net has so far been confined to political statements. No government seems ready to pocket the cost. There is a need to streamline the existing taxpayers’ base.

Improving the working of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), to broaden the tax net, is considered an important task. However, those who are close to developments say that it only requires the political will to bring in the technology that minimises the role of clerks, tax inspectors, and evaluators known as appraisers. Machines can make a difference in this regard by making the tasks performed by human beings transparent and easy.

The term "automation" was coined in 1946 in the US but it is unfortunate that we have yet to fully understand the benefits of automation. Some government officials do understand the benefits of reducing human involvement in tax collection. Chairman FBR, Sohail Ahmed, recently said in an interview that automation is the key to success.

Nevertheless, the problem is that change is always resisted; people working in an environment since years do not accept it. We must remember that before the advent of automobiles, cart-making was a leading industry. Those who resisted new development at that time were doing a great disservice to society. Similarly, the mighty Ottomans resisted many new inventions. They described printing press as a satanic machine. What followed is history.

We need to understand that the future of our generations cannot be compromised because some elements resist positive changes. Information technology has replaced manual procedures and has boosted efficiency, transparency and save time of government departments as well as those who approach them.

Information technology has brought a revolution in many state-run departments and private businesses but many departments are still not ready to fully automate their working. That is a hurdle in the way of development. Transforming old and rigid manual systems needs great changes in managements’ mindset too.

Over the years, labour leaders, business executives, government officials, etc, have explained merits of automation. The biggest question focuses on how automation affects employment. There are other important aspects of automation, including its effect on productivity, economic competition, education, and quality of life.

In Pakistan, Customs Computerised System (PaCCS) was introduced in 2005 as part of the FBR’s modernisation programme. The system was designed under CARe while a consortium of three software companies Microsoft, Agility and AOS, developed the software. World Bank’s tendering process was duly involved.

After experimental implementation, PaCCS assisted government in enhancing trade revenues while maintaining controls and facilitating trade. It provided benefits to the customs in terms of efficiency and customer service. Significant reduction in clearance time was noticed and appreciated. This marvelous system also negated the role of intermediaries, eradicated corruption, and saved time.

In spite of proven success, the software was not allowed to be installed across the country, as those responsible for the task have remained undecided about it, which is not only reducing revenues but is also sending wrong signals to foreign investors.

The FBR staff has recommended hundreds of modifications in the state-of-the-art software. It must be noted that this software is being experienced successfully in dozens of countries without any modification. An official of the FBR says on the condition of anonymity, "It is difficult to bring in new concepts because of resistance by some staff members." The official is all praise for PaCCS that provides a paperless web enabled environment for submitting goods declaration and self-assessment of the Customs dues. This integrated customs risk management system which operates 24 hours a day is online with all domestic regulatory authorities and stakeholders.

During a recent seminar, President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Zahid Maqbool, said that modernising the customs department would help attract foreign direct investment. He said inefficiency has imposed a hidden tax on traders. In addition, he stresses the need to create awareness among businessmen because currently PaCCS has only 30,000 users. "PaCCS has enabled importers and exporters to file declarations to customs over the web from their offices, pay their duties on taxes at their nearest local national bank and clear cargo without ever having to visit any customs office or coming in contact with any officer," he added.

Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President of Pakistan Economy Watch, a non-government watchdog, is of the view that automated operations are resisted under the pretext that it will have a negative effect on the present system.

Giving his expert opinion, Ashir Azeem, team leader of PaCCS says, "There is a need for creating a dynamic system." He believes conceptualisation as well as implementation of the software is the need of the hour in this age of cut-throat competition. "Pakistan cannot afford to further fall down on the graph of global trade," he says. Explaining the various benefits that government, economy, and traders receive from this system, he says that it is imperative to install it across the country.

"The main reason for delay in recognising new technologies is the element of corruption. We are living in an environment where some government officials expect ‘gifts’ from others. This practice must be brought to an end to provide an enabling environment," says a government official who does not want to be identified.

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Missing the target: Manual system has to give way to modern technology.

In a year-end review of 18-31 December issue, the weekly Guardian, surveying the state of tobacco industry’s profitability, revealed that while profit of big tobacco giants has fallen in Europe and countries where tobacco control law are strict, the tobacco industry has more than made up for these losses by making record profits from countries like Pakistan and Nigeria during the last decade.

This has come as a shocking revelation for public health officials and tobacco control advocates in Pakistan despite the common knowledge that cigarette smoking has been on the rise. The conclusion that Pakistan has become a fertile ground for tobacco industry’s operation is apparent from the report.

What makes this news more disturbing is the fact that this has come against the backdrop of a major international treaty aimed at curbing tobacco use being enforced worldwide. This treaty called Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) drafted under the aegis of World Health Organisation (WHO) was adopted by world health assembly in 2003. So far, 168 countries have signed up to this landmark treaty which places mandatory obligation upon all the parties to the treaty to incorporate the FCTC into domestic legislation to give teeth and international law force to domestic legislation on tobacco control. Also to present a unified stand against the powerful tobacco industry — which has sought to undermine all efforts at tobacco control over the years.

Like other countries, Pakistan ratified the FCTC on Novembers 3, 2004, binding herself into legal obligations enshrined in the framework convention. FCTC is a comprehensive convention which embraces full panoply of tobacco control measures which, if fully adhered to, can make a big dent in tobacco consumption worldwide. The act of ratification represented a major advance for tobacco control efforts for which the government of Pakistan deserves applause. Until now some significant advances have been made on advertising of tobacco which has gone some way in curbing the activities of tobacco industry. Yet one of the major provisions of FCTC regarding pictorial warnings on cigarette packs remains unimplemented due to the zig-zag game with deadlines.

Article 11 of FCTC requires the signatories to introduce pictorial health warnings on cigarette pack as a measure to reduce tobacco consumption. This single measure has been known to be highly effective in reducing consumption of tobacco in countries where it was introduced. One international study conducted by International Tobacco control project on the effectiveness of pictorial warnings in 19 countries in 2008 concluded that pictorial warning on cigarette packs were more effective than text-based warning in raising awareness of harmful effects of smoking and motivating smokers to quit.

These findings also lend support to additional guidelines on Article 11 which stipulates that at least 50 percent area of a cigarette pack should contain pictorial warning. In Pakistan, where literacy rate is abysmally low, pictorial warnings are the most effective weapon in the armoury of government’s tobacco control policy.

Pakistan made a significant leap forward on pictorial warning legislation when, on May 31, 2009 on World Health Day, the then Federal Minister for Health, Mir Aijaz Jakharani, announced the introduction of pictorial warnings on cigarette packs by January 1, 2010. This put Pakistan among the 30 countries which have undertaken to implement Article 11 of FCTC.

Some sections of the press headlined pictorial warning announcement as the landmark decision which earned Pakistan international kudos. Like all other announcements made amid much fanfare, this landmark announcement has yet to land six months down the road. Like elsewhere in the world, Pakistan tobacco industry, using its vast financial muscle, swung into action to torpedo the initiative ever since the announcement was made. This has resulted in the implementation of pictorial warning being serially delayed to newer deadlines.

Tobacco industry has also sought to reduce the size of pictorial warnings, a re-run of tactics employed in other countries in an effort to reduce the effect of pictorial warnings.

In October 2009, the ministry of health moved the January 1 deadline to February 2010. Now the press inquiry has established that the deadline has been extended to May 31, 2010. There is no official notification to this effect, nor any clues as to how this decision has been dropped. This has happened despite the issuance of statutory regulation order (SRO) for February 1, 2010. If the press reports are to be believed then tobacco industry has been given a whole year to comply with pictorial warning legislation. Countries like Chile and Venezuela managed to enforce pictorial warnings. The unwarranted delay in the implementation of pictorial warning legislation will further contribute to tobacco deaths, which is mounting by roughly about 300 annual deaths in Pakistan.

Article 5.3 of FCTC also binds signatory state to protect their health policies from commercial interest of tobacco industry. This places an added obligation on the government of Pakistan to stick to its February 1 deadline for the full implementation of pictorial warnings so that mounting pile of tobacco deaths could be reduced. It would be a great service to the people of Pakistan and a massive boost to public health policy goal. Parliamentarians and political parties have a major role to play in giving teeth to tobacco control policy by moving the government to stick to its February 2010 deadline for pictorial warning legislation.

For any tobacco control policy to be effective, FCTC would have to be implemented in letter and spirit. The new Federal Minister for Health, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, would be doing a great service to the nation by announcing the implementation of pictorial warnings and other provisions of FCTC within the timeline announced. This singular act would go a long way in reducing the mortality rate due to tobacco use and give a definite shape and direction to the tobacco control policy.

The writer is Executive Coordinator of the Network for Consumer Protection

For the common man

The political perspectives of the Labour Party Pakistan (LPP) have been put to the test several times in a rapidly-changing political situation. From day one, we opposed General Musharraf’s military dictatorship. We oppose both American imperialism and religious fanaticism while some feel they must support one side or the other.

Almost all of the present LPP leadership, including women leaders, were jailed under the Musharraf regime for demanding democratic rights or in the struggle for workers’ and peasants’ rights. The LPP has worked to maintain its political space and refused to be driven underground.

Unlike the traditional Left parties, who set up organisations controlled by the party, since its inception the Labour Party Pakistan has put special emphasis on helping to develop independent social, labour and peasant organisations and other social movements. For example, there is no trade union wing of the LPP. Instead we supported the development of the National Trade Union Federation, formed in 1998, and also aided the Pakistan Workers Confederation from its beginning in 1994.

Likewise, the LPP has no peasant party wing. It helped a peasant movement, Anjuman Mozareen Punjab at Military Farms, and in 2003 facilitated bringing together more than 22 peasant organizations. This Pakistan Peasant Coordination Committee united under a common platform. In 2000, the LPP helped to develop the Women Workers Help Line. As an independent women’s organisation, the WWHL has become the first organization many working-class women join.

LPP also helped to develop a youth organization, the Progressive Youth Front, in 2003. It is making steady inroads among the youth. The LPP devoted energy to help the National Student Federation form in 2000. We continue to help this traditional Left-wing group develop into a major student organization.

The LPP strategy of working with the social movements has been one of its distinctive characteristics. During a discussion in 1992 among the Struggle Group, a predecessor of LPP, the decision was made to help social movements develop, even to the point of starting and nurturing social organizations. We opened schools for working children and with the help of the Swedish Teacher Union, we expanded this network. Other Swedish trade unions and progressive organizations helped us start several projects. These ranged from organizing new trade unions to establishing a trade unions’ resource center, making a video documentary on trade unions, as well as campaigns for peace and democracy. This work was coordinated by the Education Foundation, which today has become the Labour Education Foundation. Since 2000 the LEF has established itself as an independent social organization and played a vital role in developing the trade union movement in Pakistan.

Back in 1992 The Struggle group joined Joint Action Committee for Peoples Rights Lahore (JAC) at its founding and that relationship has continued when the LPP was formed. Although the LLP was criticised by many on the Left in the mid-1990s as an "NGO party", the LLP chose not to respond directly to this attack with the expectation that our work in practice would be the best answer.

The party strategy of building networks and alliances includes Left unity in Pakistan. We were part of the Awami Itehad in 1997 and later of Awami Jamhori Tehreek (2006). Today we are part of a coordination committee for progressive parties.

LPP supporters have worked to develop several other networks with other left groups and social movements. These have included the Anti-War Committee Pakistan (1991) and the Anti-Privatization Alliance (2005). Since 1996 we have held the Faiz Ahmad Faiz Amn Mela annually. Faiz Ahmad Faiz, the revolutionary poet had inspired millions in the Indian subcontinent and worldwide, one of the most respected poet of Urdu. He devoted his life to strengthen Left and the peace movement.

We believe it is important to learn to work together in a country where there are many who actively oppose a socialist perspective and some who refuse to even listen. It is important to be, at the same time, very firm in one’s ideology and very flexible tactically. This means we express our opinion, even when disagreeing with others, but work to maintain cordial relationships.Within 24 hours of launching the Labour Party Pakistan on Facebook, we received responses from over 200 friends. Just launched on 19 January 2010, our LPP Facebook page has more friends joining the group every day. LPP has also build a Yahoo email group called Socialist Pakistan News, mostly known as SPN. With over 5400 members, it is the largest of any Pakistani political email group. Launched in 2004, it has become a source of information, views and debates among the progressive forces not only in Pakistan but internationally.

While in 2002 the LPP website was the most read political website in Pakistan, it could not maintain the momentum. However it still has a solid readership and is a good source of information about trade unions, the peasant movement and progressive views. Since 1997 LPP supporters have regularly printed a weekly magazine Mazdoor Jeddojuhd. For the prior 17 years appeared as a monthly. The weekly has a small subscription-based print edition within Pakistan and is widely read in an on-line edition within Pakistan and across the globe.

LPP is very keen to participate in international and regional movements and alliances. It has been part of the anti-globalization movement and has helped to organize some of the largest anti-imperialist demonstrations and rallies from a progressive point of view in Pakistan. Our supporters have participated in all the World Social Forums since 2004 when WSF Mumbai was held. This work included the Pakistan Social Forum, and led the way, in 2006, for the World Social Forum Karachi.

During its initial year of existence, the LPP was part of an International called the Committee for Workers International (CWI), but left within the year. Since then it has established close links with several international trends, groups and movements including the Democratic Socialist Party Australia, the Scottish Socialist Party, the Fourth International (FI), as well as both the LIT and UIT in Latin America. With others who left the CWI, the LLP formed a Socialist discussion group.

We have also established close links with Swedish trade unions and lately with the Social Democratic Party Sweden Goteburg and Kalmar districts. The LPP became a permanent observer of the FI in 2004.

The LPP has a proud record of its democratic internal life. We have held all our congress in a timely manner. The 5th Congress will take place 27-29 January 2010. For the first time the LPP will conclude the congress with a mass rally. Two labour and peasant movements have joined together to organize this event; we anticipate an attendance of 30,000. If that happens, it will be the largest gathering of Left forces in Punjab within recent times.

On 29th January an international workers peasant’s conference is planned at famous Dhobi Ghat Ground Faisalabad. These events are taking place at a time when the parties of the rich have abandoned the working people of Pakistan. They have been left on the mercy of the sheer exploitation of so called free market and the imperialist aggression. Prices are going up and there is no wage increase.

The religious and right wing parties are giving full political support to all the violent actions of the religious fanatics on the name of fighting "imperialism". The daily drone attacks by Americans are giving some political justifications to the fanatics to carry on. The space for progressive politics has been saturated by the conflict of right wing parties of the rich and the religious fundamentalism. The LPP congress and the convening of the mass conference of workers and peasants is an effort to snatch the lost space.

The conference on 29th January is been organized jointly by Labour Qaumi Movement and Anjuman Mozareen Punjab, the two most militant and mass organizations of the workers and peasants. There is no parallel to the struggle of these two movements in different districts of Punjab. The main leaders of different Left and social organizations and movements are speaking at the conference. One of the main highlight of the conference will be mass participation of working class women. Workers and peasants are bringing their families to the event.

The main aim of the three days event is to build a progressive space in Pakistani politics. It is new beginning. This is our answer to the rise of religious fundamentalism; Mass mobilisations of the working class will strengthen their voice and empower them to challenge for their rights. We all are making financial contribution to these events by all mean. Day and night is been spent by many to build the event. However, we are in desperate need of raising at least 500,000 Rupees ($6000) during the next one week.

We have no rich backers. We need your support now. We could have raised this amount earlier. However, the children and the families of the four comrades who died on 13 December 2009 in a road accident became a priority of ours.

The writer is spokesperson Labour Party Pakistan.

Warning signs

Many decades ago, our Governor General Iskander Mirza had rather contemptuously stated that democracy does not suit the genius of Pakistani people. Immediately after these words of wisdom were uttered, direct military rule not only exiled Mirza but also became a norm rather than aberration. For the last six decades or so we have not been able to overcome this political reality. The unelected institutions of the state are not willing to give up the power they inherited from the might of the colonial state. At best, they are willing to share power to a degree that they deem fit.

It is now clear that within a few months Pakistan is due for another political upheaval. Barely two years after an election took place, the political elites are back in business: bickering, wrangling and oblivious to their historical role in strengthening the fragile democratic process. The unelected institutions have traditionally been contemptuous of democracy and their conduct in the last two years has not been surprising. The losers at the hand of the military rule – the PML-N and the PPP ought to have learnt their lesson: no matter how adverse the political climate was, the political forces had to stay united for a common cause.

However, the brief interlude of political cooperation led to mistrust and misgivings among the political players. First the restoration of judges and a partisan interpretation to the issue of independence of the judiciary created a rift between the two parties. Second, the imposition of ill-advised Governor’s rule led to widening of the gulf. This was followed by the long march that led to the restoration of the deposed judges. In the process, the co-chairperson of the PPP was termed as a leader who did not keep his promises and time and again betrayed the trust of Mian Nawaz Sharif painted by a prejudiced media as an innocent victim.

These differences had become so intractable that the Kerry Lugar bill controversy led by sections of the media brought the two parties against each other. The secret meetings of top leaders of PML-N and the Army were reported in the press leading to a mild condemnation by Mian Nawaz Sharif who obviously knew that this was a replay of the 1990s. And now when the Supreme Court has struck down the National Reconciliation Ordinance and the fall of Mr Zardari seems imminent, the antagonism between the parties is at an all-time high thus giving credence to the fact that non-political players are adept at dividing the political class.

The situation today is quite peculiar. The three provincial assemblies have passed unanimous resolutions in favour of the President while the Punjab Assembly with a PML-N majority has ostensibly refused to do so. It is a dangerous signal many counts. Once again, Punjab versus the smaller provinces perception has gained currency and through these fissures the future of the democratic system seems unclear. The country is abuzz with rumours that a ‘wrapping up’ of the system is on the cards or the real power wielders in Rawalpindi are contemplating the ‘Bangladesh model’. President Zardari is crying hoarse that enemies of democracy are out to get him. The media’s hostility to the elected governments and overplay of the cliché of lack of governance in the country is further deepening the crisis.

Such systemic shocks to a nascent democratic process are harmful for the society and endanger our cohesion as a fractured and factionalised society. We have already witnessed the long-term consequences of non-democratic governance. The first and second martial laws broke the country into two halves. The Zia regime destroyed Pakistan as a society and created the drugs-Kalashnikov culture and nurtured militancy as a state policy that we are trying to undo with much bloodletting. Everyone knows how Musharraf’s regime ended and the way it led to the alienation of Balochsitan, the insurgencies in the northwest and the tribal areas and the colossal economic meltdown due to unrepresentative policies.

In spite of these clear lessons, the wizards of our political scene are quite content with the prospect of another intervention by the khakis. The irony is that Abdul Hafeez Pirzada who boasts himself as the architect of the 1973 Constitution is not shy of stating that the Supreme Court shall invite the Army to implement its judgments. One wonders how Mian Nawaz Sharif is silent in view of this considering that he and his party suffered at the hands of General Musharraf. There are eminent writers in the press who quote or refer to what the military establishment is thinking or has decided to do. They write with authority but their views are never contradicted by the ISPR. How can journalists and lawyers have access to what the military is thinking and if someone is speculating or tarnishing the image of the armed forces then this becomes a serious matter. At least on the record, the current Army leadership has supported the transition to military rule.

It is still not too late that PML-N and PPP and the regional parties sit together and decide on the way forward. The issue is not about saving an individual in office. But if a President has been elected by the electoral college with a majority through a constitutional process then this becomes an issue of the legitimacy of the institutions. Political parties have to become the guardians of representative institutions and not work towards undermining them.

The naïve argument being advanced these days holds that if the President is declared ineligible by the Court or is pressurised to resign, there is no threat to the system. Well, the simple truth is that technical knock-outs have been all too common in our history. Military rulers since 1950s have held purges of politicians and corruption has been the most common of pretexts to oust elected representatives. Tomorrow if another elected ruler is thrown out of the office on technical grounds, this would belittle the essence of democracy and the spirit of our Constitution whereby sovereignty has been delegated to elected representatives.

It should, therefore, be understood that if Constitutional means are not used to oust the President then the system will soon head towards a collapse. It may not happen immediately but the instability arising out of the current mess will lead to another crash where a direct or indirect military rule will become a reality, once again. One is sure that our political parties do not want that. But they will have to make an effort to recue the system and not be bystanders to the current scenario.

There is no other way Pakistan can be governed. We have had Chief Martial Law Administrators, Field Marshals, and Chief Executives and they all have not delivered on their trumpeted promises of eliminating corruption or strengthening national interest. Instead, we have become a weaker and vulnerable society. Pakistan is a federation and it has to be ruled through a political system that provides space for all — the excluded, marginalised and its myriad ethnic nationalities.

Why is it the case that the Presidency is always reserved for Iskander Mirzas, Ghulam Ishaq Khans, and the khakis? This will have to change and the biggest problem with the incumbent is that he is not a politico nurtured by the establishment. All the arguments against democracy that its prerequisites are missing in Pakistan become illogical when one looks at our bigger neighbour where the gradualism of democracy has led to social and political transformations. India’s marginalised sections such as the Dalits are now in the mainstream politics and the democratic system gives a voice to the diverse communities within the country.

If the political elites want to save the system and their present and future role in governance they will have to become active participants of the game. Three things would need to be done immediately. First, an agreement on the constitutional amendments that have been delayed; second, recourse to the charter of democracy whereby they will agree that unelected institutions will not be allowed to derail the democratic system and finally a clear cut strategy to save the current democratic system at all costs above the party lines. It is a tall order given the shortsightedness and feudal character of our political class but they will have to make a beginning somewhere. Otherwise, we should bid farewell to democracy and accept that Iskander Mirza was right: we are not fit for a democracy.

The writer is a development professional based in Lahore. He blogs at www.razarumi.com and edits Pak Tea House and Lahorenama e-zines