It is clear to Mustaqbil Pakistan that the current system of government has failed to deliver benefits to the people of Pakistan. In this light we are sketching here a broad and preliminary outline for a completely revised system both in terms of its structure and enabling legislative and constitutional framework.
These are the principal features of our proposed new democratic system which we will refer to henceforth for brevity as the ‘MP System”
Federal Structures
- The chief executive of the country will be a directly elected president who will serve a term of 5 years. There will be no prime minister.
- This will be a unicameral system. There will only be one assembly called the Aiwan an Nass (ایوان الناس)
- Constituencies for the Aiwan an Nass (AN) will be determined by population. There will be one Member of the AN per 500,000 people. This translates in current terms to 360 members in the AN
- Elections for the AN will be based on a proportional system of representation.
- The federal cabinet will be appointed directly by the President and will consist of professionals who in the opinion of the President have the merit, competence and necessary skills to oversee the ministries to which they are appointed.
- Each proposed member of the cabinet will be vetted by the Aiwan an Nass
Local Structures
- Existing provinces will be abolished and replaced by 30 ‘Khitas’. Each ‘Khita’ (خطہ)will be roughly along the lines of the existing ‘Divisions’.
- Each Khita will have a governing council based in the capital city of the Khita. Each council will consist of 30 directly elected members. The constituency for these elections will be the whole Khita.
- Elections will be by proportional representation.
- Each Khita Council (KC) will elect a Council Chairman who will be the Chief Executive of the Khita. The Khita Chief Executive (KCE) will appoint a non elected cabinet of ministers who will manage the Khita.
- Khita ministers will be vetted by the full council which will approve them with a simple majority vote.
- The basic unit of administration will be the Union Council. Elements of the old ‘local bodies’ system will be retained. The main difference will be that elections will now be held on the basis of proportional representation.
Benefits of the MP System
What we have outlined above is clearly a very basic picture of the system MP envisions. Many details need to be worked out. What we would like to do here is to review some of the benefits of the system that we intend to implement.
Benefits of MP’s proposed federal system
- Since the president will be directly elected by the people he will truly be someone who enjoys a majority of public support. This will give him the respect and authority to run the country in accordance with his mandate.
- Direct election by the people will avoid a situation in which corrupt, insincere people of limited or no capability make their way to the presidency and embarrass and disappoint the whole country.
- The unicameral system - only one house of peoples representatives - the Aiwan an nass will result in the following benefits:
- Streamline the passage of legislation since only one house will need to review and pass it
- Result in significant savings by eliminating the costs of supporting a second house, its representatives, their salaries and their perks.
- Eliminating the office of prime minister will lead to efficiency and clarity in decision making. In addition savings will result from closing offices, residences and other facilities associated with the prime minister.
- A directly appointed cabinet of professionals will have the following benefits:
- The most competent and qualified people in their respective fields will be appointed as ministers. This will mean that ministries are run in a professional and efficient manner.
- Since members of the Aiwan an Nass will no longer be eligible to be ministers the motive to gain position and power will be removed. Hence only those people who are genuinely interested in legislative matters will seek election to the AN.
- Elections on the basis of a proportional system of representation will result in the following benefits:
- The rule of ‘majority takes all’ will not apply. This is because it is in the nature of the proportional system of representation that people who would otherwise be in a minority also get to participate in the legislative process
- Proportional representation by its nature requires a higher level of cooperation between parties. This is will be especially useful for Pakistan where political parties become polarized and adversarial resulting in paralysis and ultimately in collapse of the democratic process.
Benefits of MP’s proposed local system:
Before mentioning the benefits of the proposed local system it is important to appreciate exactly what is being proposed in the elimination of existing provinces and creation instead of 30 Khitas.
The existing provinces represent a division based on historical, cultural and linguistic factors. Whereas the MP’s proposed division into 30 Khitas is based purely on administrative factors.
The driving idea behind MP’s proposed local system is to push power and responsibility as much as possible down to a local level.
- The new khitas will meet the popular demand in many regions for their own ‘provinces’. These demands are particularly vociferous in for example Hazara, Bahawalpur, and more generally in Southern Punjab.
- Elimination of divisions along historic and linguistic lines (i.e elimination of provinces) will eliminate simmering tensions between their respective peoples. This will in turn create a heightened sense of national unity.
- The khitas will, by pushing decision making closer to the people, create a feeling of ownership and better control over their own destiny.
- Significant cost savings will be realized by eliminating provincial ministers and governors and their staffs, perks and facilities.
- The UC system has already proven its success and popularity amongst the masses. MP will retain it with some modifications
Concomitants
It is clear that the sort of fundamental change proposed in the MP System must be accompanied by changes in the legislative framework. The existing constitution speaks of two houses, provinces, and a prime minister. All of these elements will cease to exist under the MP system. Hence it will be necessary to modify the constitution as necessary to provide the underlying legislative structure which which will enable the new system.
Implementation
Designing MP’s system and the enabling legislative structure is only one aspect of the task at hand. Equally critical, and more difficult, will be developing a mechanism to enact the new system. Clearly these changes must be made in a legal and constitutional manner.
This is a possible hypothetical scenario which could be envisioned:
A future government in which MP may have a role would move a resolution to change the present constitutional system and replace it with the proposed MP system. The sitting legislature would enact the new system and its enabling constitution and other legislative structures. The sitting assemblies would then oversee new elections for all the proposed MP system assemblies. Once the elections are completed a commencement date would be set for the new system. On the commencement date the existing assemblies will stand dissolved and the new system will take over responsibility for the country.
Concluding remarks
It should be clear that this document is a design brief or roadmap of the direction in which Pakistan has to move. The detailed design will clearly require much thought and effort. But the importance of this design brief cannot be understated. A vision for the future has been articulated and the compass set. The road is long but now we know where we have to go.
Mustaqbil Pakistan promises to lead the way in this journey towards prosperity and success. Inshallah.
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