Elections 2014: Will 'Modi wave' rout NC rule in J&K?

Sushmita Dutta

The political scenario in Jammu and Kashmir has been volatile for quite a long time - issues like civil rights, alleged excesses by the Army, the issue of Article 370, Kashmiri Pandits and the separatists movement have kept the state on tenterhooks since early 1990s.

Although the National Conference is in alliance with the Congress and remains firmly with the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) at the national level, Omar Abdullah has already made it clear that his party's support should be taken as granted.

Interestingly, Omar Abdullah’s uncle and General Secretary of the NC has hinted that if Modi becomes Prime Minister after next General Elections, NC would develop ‘harmonious’ relationship with him.

In other words, National Conference might be willing to support the BJP.

In 2009, the National Conference had won three seats (in Baramulla, Anantnag and Srinagar) whereas Congress had won two seats (in Udhampur and Jammu) and independent had won 1 seat in Ladakh.

The other important player is Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The party would be hoping to break into the NC-Congress vote bank in the valley.

The BJP on the other hand will hope for the Modi magic to work in the Jammu region.

The poll surveys are projecting 2 seats for BJP, 2 for PDP, 1 to National Conference and 1 to Congress. As many as 3.5 lakh first-time voters would exercise their right to franchise in the Lok Sabha polls in J&K which are scheduled to be held in five phases- April 10, 17, 24, 30 and May 07, 2014. The counting for the seats will be held on May 16, 2014.

Six parliamentary seats would go into polls in the five phases announced by the Election Commission. The six seats are Baramulla, Srinagar, Anantnag, Ladakh, Udhampur and Jammu.

Srinagar parliamentary seat is a matter of prestige for the National Conference. Omar Abdullah, the present CM of J&K, was Member of Parliament three times from Srinagar. After him this seat was won by his father Farooq Abdullah. National Conference is believed to have complete control over the Srinagar seat. Farooq Abdullah, who is a minister in the UPA government, has already said that he will continue to fight till he lives from this seat.

Jammu has been won by the Congress for eight times and currently holds the seat. Jammu is the largest among the six Lok Sabha constituencies with almost 1.8 lakh voters. The BJP has claimed the seat thrice and hopes to win this time riding on the NaMo wave.

Sitting MP Madan Lal Sharma of the Congress will be challenged by state BJP chief Jugal Kishore.

Congress heavyweight Ghulam Nabi Azad might take up the fight from the Udhampur seat.

PML-N govt outshines PPP rule by 59pc: survey

 

ISLAMABAD: Even before completing a year in power, the PML-N government has outshone the previous Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) regime with a majority of Pakistanis satisfied with its performance and policies, reveals a recent Gallup Pakistan report.
Despite inheriting a fragile economy, deteriorating law and order, strained ties with neighbouring countries, rampant corruption and uncontrollable inflation, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government managed to put things in order through independent and prudent policies since coming to power in June last year.

Gallup’s Annual Public Pulse Report 2014 reveals that the PML-N government’s overall performance ratings showed a huge improvement over that of the PPP government by 59pc points. It got a Green Card (favourable views exceed unfavourable views) in the overall running of the government. As many as 55% give it a favourable rating.

The Gallup’s study is based on findings from a nationally representative poll in the rural and urban areas of all the four provinces. The sample size was 2,596 adult men and women, face to face interviews, selected through the probability sampling method; the error margin was kept at 3-5% at 95% confidence level. Fieldwork was carried out from January 6 to 13, 2014.

For the six key indicators including the economy, Pak-India relations, overall foreign policy, terrorism control, corruption control and inflation control, the present government received positive comparative net performance ratings.

“The economy recorded a positive 48pc comparative net performance, Pak-India relations 22pc, foreign policy 33pc, terrorism control 31pc, corruption control 36pc and inflation control 20pc net change,” says the report.

The Net Performance Ratings for political leaders rated Nawaz Sharif on top with 18pc favourable. Imran Khan was rated as minus 5pc unfavourable, Asif Ali Zardari at minus 28pc unfavourable, Altaf Hussain minus 39pc unfavourable, Maulana Fazlur Rehman at minus 21pc unfavourable and Asfandyar Wali Khan at minus 34pc unfavourable. The rating of former JI chief Syed Munawar Hassan remained unchanged.

On the issues of controlling inflation, terrorism and corruption, the present government showed an improvement over the previous government by 20pc, 31pc and 36pc, respectively. The Gallup Pakistan survey shows that the government performance still needed improvement but it was far better than that of the PPP government. However, despite some issues needing attention, the PML-N government got a Green Card (favourable views exceed unfavourable views) in overall running of the government, with 55pc favourable and 40pc unfavourable with a positive balance of 15pc points.

A year ago only 27pc had given favourable and 71pc negative ratings to the then PPP government, with a negative balance of 44pc points. Another aspect covered by the Gallup Pakistan survey is the performance of provincial chief ministers (CMs). The performance of the Punjab chief minister was rated as very good by 21pc people and good by 28pc. The Sindh CM obtained 6pc very good ratings while the KP CM and Balochistan CM each got a mere 4pc rating as very good.

The Punjab CM topped the list by obtaining 26pc overall net performance rating. But other chief ministers remained on the negative list with Sindh CM obtaining minus 9pc, the KP CM minus 11pc and Balochistan CM minus 14pc.

Compared to the previous government, the Punjab CM improved his performance by 6pc as compared to 2013 and the Sindh CM improved by 18pc. The new CMs in KP and Balochistan improved the performance ratings significantly from their predecessors as the Balochistan CM got 20pc performance rating and KP CM was rated 16pc better as compared to previous CMs for the same period.

Regarding state institutions, the survey reveals that net performance ratings of the armed forces improved up to 49pc, Supreme Court 27pc and parliament 8pc. However, the performance of other institutions including police, lower courts and political parties got negative ratings. Comparative net performance ratings for state institutions as compared to 2013, however, improved. Armed forces recorded a net change of 4pc, police 8pc, lower courts 2pc, Parliament 30pc and political parties 20pc.

Comparative net performance ratings from January 2014 compared with January 2013, for civil society institutions were also recorded. NGOs recorded a positive 15pc change, media 3pc, educational institutions (schools and colleges) 3pc and religious leaders recorded 7pc.

Speedy, inexpensive justice, imperative for rule of law: CJP

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jaillani on Saturday said constitutionally, provision of inexpensive and expeditious justice was foremost responsibility of State but Judiciary was also equally responsible to deliver speedy justice which is essential for rule of law in the society.
Justice Tassaduq Jaillani, also Chairman NJPMC said this while chairing a meeting of National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee held in the Supreme Court Branch Registry, Lahore.
He said that the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee provided a permanent forum for interaction and coordination among the Chief Justices of the Superior Judiciary to harmonize Judicial Policy within the court system for improving the capacity and performance of the justice system in the country.
In line with its objective, the Committee embarked on the path of reforming the administration of justice and took important decisions including formulation of National Judicial Policy.
The results of these initiatives are encouraging and have improved the capacity and performance of the justice sector institutions.
Disposal of all old cases by the District Judiciary and ever increasing rate of fresh institution, speak about the success of these initiatives.
The meeting was attended by Justice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan, Chief Justice Federal Shariat Court, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Chief Justice High Court of Balochistan, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Chief Justice, Lahore High Court, Justice Maqbool Baqar, Chief Justice, High Court of Sindh, Justice Mian Fasih-ul-Mulk, Chief Justice, Peshawar High Court, Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi, Chief Justice, Islamabad High Court and Secretary Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan.
Justice Mohammad Azam Khan, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Justice Raja Saeed Akram Khan, Judge Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Justice Rana Muhammad Arshid Khan, Chief Judge, Supreme Appellate Court Gilgit-Baltistan, Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal, Chief Justice, High Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Justice Sahib Khan, Chief Judge, Chief Court of Gilgit-Baltistan also attended the meeting on special invitation.
The Committee reviewed the performance of district judiciary with reference to old cases and noted that the district judiciary has decided good number of cases.
The Chairman appreciated the judicial officers and observed that it all happened due to their whole-hearted efforts.
The Committee also reviewed the implementation status of its recommendations regarding allocation of additional funds to strengthen district judiciary in terms of human resource and infrastructure.
The Committee condemned the incident which took place in the Islamabad District Courts where precious lives were lost and courts are dysfunctional since then.
The Committee recommended for immediate shifting of courts and asked the Government to house the courts in a secure and gated premises so that courts could perform their functions in a peaceful environment.
The Chief Justice of AJK informed the meeting that the buildings of Supreme Court and High Court of Azad Jammu & Kashmir at Muzaffarabad were badly damaged in the earthquake of 2005 but due to lukewarm response of government, the courts are functioning in the dilapidated buildings despite of the fact that the Building Department of AJK in its three reports has declared both the buildings unfit for use.
The Chairman took serious note of the situation and asked the relevant Government for reconstruction o buildings.
The Committee also considered different suggestions regarding expeditious disposal of cases of Overseas Pakistanis.
The Chief Justice of Pakistan observed that the overseas Pakistanis are contributing in the socio-political and economic development of the country through remittances and are our ambassadors but unfortunately due to weak law and order situation and tedious procedures, they have to face difficulties in pursuing their cases in the homeland.
Realizing the difficulties of expatriate Pakistanis, a Wing in the Human Right Cell of Supreme Court Pakistan has been established to entertain their complaints for quick relief.
The D.G Human Rights Cell, Supreme Court of Pakistan briefed the meeting about the working of Cell.
The Committee was informed that the courts have been directed to decide all such civil cases within a period of six months in which an expatriate Pakistani is a party.
After deliberations, the Committee recommended the Government to consider desirability of establishment of separate Police Stations preferably at divisional levels to entertain complaints of the expatriate Pakistanis.
The Committee also recommended that help lines may be established in each High Court to provide legal assistance to overseas Pakistanis and awareness about remedies available under laws.
The meeting was briefed about the working of Mobile Courts established in the Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for expeditious justice by resolving disputes at local level through Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism.
The Committee appreciated the innovated approach and termed it a unique experience in Pakistan.
The Secretary, Law and Justice Commission informed the meeting that pursuant to decision of Full Court of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, an International Judicial Conference is being organized on 18-19 April.
The meeting was informed that to make the event meaningful and result-oriented, Chief Justices, Judges and jurists from other jurisdictions have been invited.
In addition, renowned jurists/scholars have been requested for presenting papers on the selected topics in the Conference.
The Committee appreciated the idea and observed that previously such events proved fruitful and provided opportunity to evolve strategies for improving the performance of administration of justice.
The Committee also considered the complaints of District Attorneys regarding their deficient service structure and non-availability of promotion venues beyond BPS-19.
After deliberations, the Committee referred the matter to Provincial Governments for improving the service structure of District Attorneys.

No compromise on rule of law: Justice Tassaduq

KARACHI: The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani has said that there will be no compromise on the enforcement of the rule of law and the Constitution.

Speaking at a dinner reception hosted in his honour by the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) here on Wednesday, he said that rule of law is essential for transforming the society to a civilised one.

The Chief Justice said that every individual and institution would need to play its role in confronting the challenges faced by the country. The judiciary will continue to uphold and implement the Constitution and the laws of the country, he added.

Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani said that legal fraternity has a role to play both in dispensation of justice in court and also in defending and preserving the seminal values of the Constitution and thereby ushering in a social transformation.

The Chief Justice said that lines have already been drawn between those who want to break these values in the name of faith or their narrow world view and those who would defend these values.

He said that the Constitution of Pakistan does not create any distinction among citizens on fundamental rights as it guarantees right to life and right to worship to all including minorities and it promises access to inexpensive justice to all.

The Chief Justice said that these seminal values of substantive democracy and the rule of law are under serious threat on account of the growing intolerance and violence. We are in the grip of an existential crisis.

Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani said that the court by and large refrains from interfering in matters of public policy. We believe that it is not the function of the court to get embroiled in politics or passions of the day, he added.

Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court Justice Maqbool Baqar and SHCBA President Z.K. Jatoi also spoke. Judges of the Supreme Court and the Sindh High Court as well as members of the SHCBA were in attendance. (APP)