Article 63 A (1) (b) of 18th Amendment challenged in PHC

                                          

The News
June 1, 2011

Wednesday, June 01, 2011
PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday admitted a writ petition filed by MNA Marvi Memon challenging Article 63 A (1) (b) of the 18th Amendment and issued notice to the federal government to explain its position regarding the said amendment.

The PHC division bench comprising Chief Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Justice Yahya Afridi put on notice the federal government through the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, directing them to explain the question before the court whether the amendment violated fundamental rights, freedom of expression of the members of the parliaments and is against the Constitution.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) legislator, Marvi Memon, had challenged Article 63 A (1) (b) of the 18th Amendment in the Peshawar High Court. The article in question defines disqualification of parliamentarians when they vote or abstain from voting in the house contrary to any direction issued by the parliamentary party on election of the prime minister or chief minister, on a vote of confidence, money bill or a constitutional bill.

Omer Farouk Adam, counsel for the petitioner, contended through this amendment, parliamentarians were restricted to follow directives of their party heads. He submitted the article in question in effect breaches the guaranteed fundamental rights, violates representative government and is violation of Articles 4, 14, 17, 19, 25, 55, 63 (2), 66, 95 and 127 of the Constitution.

“Functional democracy is a dream we have yet to achieve in Pakistan. There is some legislation, which makes us farther from our dream and this article is one such anti-democracy laws,” the counsel for the petitioner said.

The lawyer submitted that there was a background for the distortion of the article through the various constitutional amendments. He said the 14th Amendment in 1997 inserted Article 63A, which accepted disqualification when there was violation of the party constitution, code of conduct and declared policies.

The petitioner’s lawyer submitted that through Article 62 A (2), it gave powers to the disciplinary committee of the party to decide the matter. This provision was deleted via Legal Framework Order (LFO) 2002 giving dictatorial powers to the party heads.

Daily Times
June 3, 2011
Karo Kari victim announces hunger strike unto death
By Mahtab Bashir
ISLAMABAD: Dejected after a seven-month-long yearning for justice on the pavements of the National Press Club (NPC), Haleema Bhutto, an alleged victim of ‘Karo Kari’ has now moved infront of the Parliament House on a hunger strike unto death.
The desperate Haleema Bhutto, a ‘karo kari’ victim from Ghotki, who is battling to stay alive has, along with his family, announced a hunger strike unto death in-front of the Parliament House to convey their plea to the high-ups of civilians rulers whom they dubbed “helpless to stand against feudal elites of Sindh”.
The government would be responsible for our deaths, Haleema said. Haleema Bhutto has been camping on the pavement in front of the National Press Club (NPC) in Islamabad for the last seven months soon after her husband declared her kari, and the village panchayat (council) declared her punishable by death in March 2010. Bhutto escaped to Islamabad seeking justice from the government and the chief justice.
She has been labeled as a dishonorable woman and says if she returns back to her home in Ghotki district of Sindh, she would be killed. As their case remains unresolved, the family decided to go on hunger strike till death as long as they feel safe to head back or the culprits are nabbed.
Now the protesting Haleema and her five family members including two men and a two-year-old child will have to face sizzling heat of hot weather in-front of the Parliament House. Talking to Daily Times, 29-year-old Haleema told that she was married to Shakil Ahmad 18 years ago and her husband transferred eight acres of his land in her name. He pressurized her to transfer even her share of property to his name. On her refusal, Shakil declared her and her brother-in-law karo-kari. Haleema fled to Islamabad with her brother and mother. Her brother-in-law was injured in an attack and he lodged an FIR against Shakil and his accomplices.
She said she knocked the door of the Supreme Court, every minister, MNA, human rights activist, government officials but ironically no one was ready to speak against tribal system of Sindh. She said MNA Marvi Memon of PML-Q tried to help her but unfortunately she could not solve her problem because she was not in the ruling party.
However, she thanked to Marvi for her efforts in this regard. According to Haleema Bibi her husband, Shakil has the backing of an MNA from the governing party and some other influential people. They said that Shakil ensured favoured decisions from the tribe elders the police refused to register a case against him.
Haleema lashed out at the so-called women rights organizations and activists saying that they just exploit oppressed women to extract funds. She accused Aurat Foundation’s Naeem Mirza for depriving her of her right of official stipend from the government and NGOs. ANP parliamentarian Bushra Gohar, and Speaker National Assembly Fehmida Mirza also pledged support for Haleema but “did nothing”.
Haleema Bhutto’s life is in danger. Her husband is a criminal on the lam. To rob her of 40-acres of land, he accused her of having illicit relations with her brother-in-law and with the connivance of local clerics got an edict to murder her in the name of honor. The practice is popularly known as ‘karo-kari’ in Pakistan. Daily Times when repeatedly contacted Naeem Mirza, CEO Aurat Foundation (AF) for his version; he did not receive the call till filing of this story
Dawn

PML-N on the warpath, but aloneBy Raja Asghar | From the Newspaper
June 4, 2011
ISLAMABAD: They first tried to grab the floor before Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, which could not be done on the budget day, and then shouted for 40 minutes to drown out his budget speech in the National Assembly on Friday.

Lawmakers of the opposition PML-N seemed to be on the warpath, in a warning of an upcoming stormy debate on the budget for fiscal 2011-12 beginning on Monday and possibly heightened tensions afterwards with the PPP-led coalition government.

But the PML-N, the country’s largest opposition party that has 92 members in the 342-seat lower house and rules the Punjab province, was left alone in its Friday’s job, with smaller opposition groups staying away from what turned out to be the longest and noisiest post-Musharraf parliamentary protest.

The PML-N benches, squeezed between those of the PPP on their left and some coalition allies on their right, burst into an uproar of protest after Speaker Fehmida Mirza turned down a request from a PML-N front-bencher, Khwaja Mohammad Asif, to take the floor before the finance minister’s speech, on the ground that house rules disallowed any business other than the budget speech on the day budget is presented.

Then the party members left their seats to assemble before the dais near the finance minister, chanting slogans against alleged government corruption and what they called subservience to the United States and the International Monetary Fund.

“Corrupt government unacceptable”, “Stop American dictation”, “IMF budget unacceptable” and “Stop (US) drone attacks” were some of slogans they chanted, though some cat calls and howls at times gave the show the appearance of a street protest, which was also marked by some theatrics by a couple of prominent PML-N members and a rebel member of the government-allied PML-Q.

Members of the treasury benches repeatedly cheered the finance minister’s Urdu speech by desk-thumping, often led by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani himself.

Mr Ahsan Iqbal, who was education minister in the short-lived PPP-PML-N coalition in 2008, tried to interrupt the finance minister’s speech by presenting him a ‘nan’, apparently to highlight the high price of the local bread. But the item was grabbed by Information and Broadcasting Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan, who had already taken a seat next to the finance minister apparently on the prime minister’s instructions to counter any insult from female PML-N members who formed the vanguard of the protesters and had to be kept back by their organising colleagues whenever they tried to come too close to Mr Sheikh’s mikes.

A senior PML-N female member, Tehmina Daultana, used the typical sub-continental gesture of shaming a man by hurling what looked like some glass bangles at the finance minister. The information minister again came to Mr Sheikh’s help by intercepting the bangles with her hand before they fell on the carpeted floor.

PML-Q backbencher Marvi Memon’s declared ire against her party’s coalition with the PPP woke up late on Friday when, after listening to most of the budget speech at her seat, she suddenly rushed to the prime minister’s desk and tore up pages of a pink volume of budget documents before joining the PML-N protesters in non-stop shouting.

She was soon penalised by another PML-Q female member, Ms Shahnaz Sheikh, who walked up to the protesting crowd and snatched the remainder of the budget volume from Ms Memon’s hands and threw it on the floor.

Some PML-N members kept silent while most of their party colleagues were engaged in shouting and howling, and few of them even kept a physical distance from the shouting core.

The soft-spoken finance minister continued his speech undeterred, though it was hardly audible without ear-phones fixed with the members’ desk, and ended it defiantly with a couplet of national poet Iqbal: “Tundiay bad-e-mukhalif sey na ghabrah aih uqab, ye to chalti hai tujhay ooncha urhaney key liaey” (don’t be scared of the severity of the wind from opposite direction, oh eagle! This blows only to help you fly higher).
The Nation
PML-Q to grill Marvi over budget protest
Published: June 06, 2011
ISLAMABAD (Agencies) – A show cause notice is ready to be issued to PML-Q rebellious member Marvi Memon for “violating” the party discipline during budget session which would be sent to her any time.
This was revealed Sunday by PML-Q central secretary information Senator Kamil Ali Agha, who said Marvi Memon violated the party discipline by siding with the PML-N during Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh’s budget speech. He said discussions have been held within the party for taking action against Marvi.
Kamil said the PML-Q parliamentary party had decided that no protest would be held during the budget speech, but Marvi Memon violated the party discipline by going against the party decision. To a question about Marvi’s participation in Imran Khan’s sit-in against drone attacks, Kamil said the PML-Q did not issue any instructions about the event.

The News
Floods 2010: irrigation depts’ corruption caused havoc
Sohail Khan
Tuesday, June 07, 2011

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday ordered making public the findings of the Flood Inquiry Commission that has revealed a colossal loss of Rs855 billion to the national economy at the hands of the Irrigation departments of Sindh and Balochistan during the devastating floods of July 2010.

The court has also announced that the orders for implementation of the recommendations made by the commission in its report would be announced today (Tuesday). The order was passed by a three-member bench of the apex court, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Amir Hani Muslim. The bench was hearing a case pertaining to the alleged unauthorised diversion of floodwater and willful breaches in the embankments of barrages and canals by influential people to save their lands during the devastating 2010 floods.

The Flood Inquiry Commission submitted its 200-page final report in the Supreme Court, revealing that the negligence of the Irrigation departments of Sindh and Balochistan had caused a colossal loss of Rs855 billion to the national economy during the devastating floods of 2010.

After taking the report, the court ordered that the report be translated into Urdu and made public. The court held that orders for implementation of the commission’s recommendations would be announced on Tuesday.

According to the report, 1,600 people lost their lives and thousands were injured. Almost 4.5 million people lost their jobs, mostly in the farming sector. The Rabi crops for 2010-11 were badly affected and 20 million people became internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 7.0 million students were deprived of their academic session. The report said the encroachments contributed to obstructions in the flow of water resulting in flooding of many areas.

On December 15, 2010, the apex court had constituted the Flood Inquiry Commission, headed by Muhammad Azam Khan and comprising Fateh Khan Khajjak, A.W Kazi and Kh Zaheer Ahmed, to investigate the damages caused by the 2010 flood that engulfed Pakistan and caused unprecedented damage to life and property.

The Supreme Court had taken suo motu notice of the matter on the letters of renowned lawyer Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, Deputy Chairman Senate Jan Muhammad Khan Jamali, Dr Asad Leghari, Muhammad Rahim Baloch and advocate Zahida Thebo, requesting the chief justice to probe the matter of breaches in dykes and unauthorised diversion of floodwaters by influential people to save their lands.

Later, Marvi Memon, a PML-Q MNA, had also filed a petition on the matter. Memon requested that the court order the government to explain the reasons behind breaches in the dykes, canals and other irrigation infrastructure in Sindh and Balochistan during the floods.

“Thousands of acres of ‘katcha’ lands have been illegally encroached upon by local influentials or have been leased out at nominal charges, resulting in erection of private bunds. Construction of houses and other built-up properties has been allowed along riverbanks and canals. The local and provincial governments have themselves indulged in encouraging illegal acts promoting encroachments,” the report said.

The Commission recommended that it should be ensured that all the illegally-constructed structures on government lands, which had been destroyed by the recent floods, should not be allowed to be re-erected. It noted that some governments sold out their acquired lands in pond areas to raise revenue, while under the law, no construction of any infrastructure was allowed to be erected within a distance of 200 feet from banks of the river/streams.

The report noted had the Munda Dam been constructed, there would have been minimal damage downstream in Charsadda, Peshawar and Nowshera districts and Munda Headworks. The report further observed that the Tori Bund had not been repaired for the last many years.

According to the report, the flood loss is estimated at 5.8 percent of the total GDP and about 20 million people faced an acute shortage of food, while 3.5 million children’s education and 4.5 million persons’ livelihood were hit by the floods.

The report said the embankments were breached due to the negligence and corruption of the Irrigation departments. Local influential persons had encroached thousands of acres of land in katcha areas. Among those directly responsible for the deluge of Guddu are the chief engineer, in-charge XEN and their staff, the report said.

The report said major damage was caused due to lack of maintenance and repair of river embankments, canals and obstruction by major highways/motorways constructed by the Irrigation department and the National Highway Authority (NHA) and others across the country.

The report said that flood victims were not given help in time and because current early warning facilities in the country were of a limited nature. “There are only seven radars in the whole country. There is no coverage in the northwest of the country and Balochistan, including the coastal belt of 960 km,” the report pointed out.

The report said the chief and irrigation secretaries of Sindh had tried to conceal the facts while irregularities were found in the Sindh Irrigation Department. The commission recommended a 10-year audit of the department. The major reason for inundation of agricultural lands and abadis on the northern side of Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway (M-1) was the inadequate capacity of crossing bridges meant for the drainage of floodwater in rivers located between Peshawar and Mardan. The motorway virtually acted like a ‘bund’, obstructing the natural course of water flows into the area. The bed of River Kabul, upstream and downstream of the main Kabul River bridge, had silted up to an alarming level, which has decreased the waterway, the report said.

It is imperative for the NHA and Federal Flood Commission (FFC) to carry out a joint survey and study the roads network in the country to identify areas of possible flooding as a result of obstruction caused by these roads and take remedial measures to ease the pressure of flood at various potential locations, the report said.

Dawn
June 8, 2011
SC orders implementation of flood inquiry reportBy Nasir Iqbal | From the Newspaper
June 8, 2011 (4 days ago)ISLAMABAD, June 7: The Supreme Court ordered the federal and provincial governments on Tuesday to implement in letter and spirit the findings of the report issued by the flood inquiry commission and submit fortnightly compliance reports.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Amir Hani Muslim had taken notice of breaches in canal embankments on letters written by renowned lawyer Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim and Deputy Chairman of the Senate Jan Mohammad Khan Jamali and a petition moved by PML-Q MNA Marvi Memon, Dr Asad Laghari, Mohammad Rahim Baloch and Advocate Zahida Thebo.

The four-man flood inquiry commission headed by Mohammad Azam Khan, former chief secretary of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, was constituted on the orders of the Supreme Court to look into the allegation of breach made in Tori dyke to divert floodwaters to Balochistan to save the Shahbaz Airbase at Jacobabad and other breaches in embankments of barrages and canals during floods last year.

On Monday, the inquiry commission submitted a comprehensive report which stated that Tori bund had suffered years of neglect in maintenance that eroded its height to a dangerous level long before the flood season last year.

The report said the nation suffered a loss of Rs855 billion, besides complete loss of one additional Rabi crop in Jaffarabad district of Balochistan, because of inefficiency and corruption in the irrigation departments of Sindh and Balochistan. The gross loss to the nation was almost 5.8 per cent of the GDP.

The report recommended legal proceedings against officials in charge of irrigation structures for inefficiency, negligence or corrupt practices identified in departmental inquiries and said that the then Sindh irrigation secretary and the chief engineer at Guddu were well aware of the poor state of Tori bund long before the flood and they had adequate time, but failed to take corrective actions.

The report said the chief engineer and irrigation secretary consciously and deliberately tried to attribute disaster to inadequate maintenance and funding constraints. Likewise, the superintending engineer and executive engineer in charge of the breached bunds in Guddu and Kotri command areas were also responsible for the catastrophe, it added.

The report did not rule out the possibility that certain elements within the irrigation hierarchies misled the political leadership about benefits of creation of additional water storages.

The report called for a comprehensive disaster risk management plan to be developed by the National Disaster Management Authority and said a reliable system must contemplate reducing exposure, issuing early warning and strengthening resilience of the affected people before the onset of the calamity and later in restoration stages.

The Express Tribune
June 8, 2011
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court (SC) directed that action be taken against officials responsible for failing to reinforce embankments of canals and ordered the federal and provincial governments to implement the recommendations of the flood inquiry commission in letter and spirit.

The order was passed by a three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, comprising Justice Tariq Parvez and Justice Amir Hani Muslim. The court observed that the government is responsible for failing to protect the fundamental right of life and liberty of the people, therefore it is directed to ensure payment of the remaining amount pledged to flood survivors which amounts to Rs80,000 per family as soon as possible. The floods inflicted a loss of Rs855 billion to the national economy.

The flood commission fixed responsibility for the dykes’ breaches and declared that negligent and corrupt officials contributed to the loss of life and devastation caused by the floods. Irrigation departments of Sindh and Balochistan were held responsible for breaching embankments which caused an unprecedented loss of life and property in the floods which engulfed Pakistan in a 200-page report presented to the apex court on Monday. In the Punjab, officials failed to ensure pre-flood preparations, including mandatory stocking of loose stones to plug potential breaches and to carry out repair and maintenance in accordance with the flood protection plan for 2010.The SC had constituted the commission to investigate allegations regarding the unauthorised diversion of floodwater and deliberate breaches in the embankments of barrages and canals by influential people to save their lands during last year’s floods.

Well-connected locals encroached thousands of acres of land in katcha areas. Local and provincial governments also built encroachments and in some cases sold the land at nominal price. Among those directly responsible for failing to reinforce Tori bund and consequently inundating three districts of Sindh as well as the Jaffarabad district of Balochistan are the irrigation secretary Sindh, Guddu’s chief engineer, the XEN in charge and their staff, according to the report. The commission recommended that illegally constructed structures on government land, which had been destroyed by the recent floods, should not be allowed to be rebuilt. Provincial chief secretaries will be responsible for implementing court orders and a compliance report will be submitted every fortnight. The chief justice ordered that the commission’s recommendations be made public.

The flood inquiry commission, headed by Muhammad Azam Khan, comprising Fateh Khan Khajjak, AW Kazi and Zaheer Ahmed was tasked with finding answers to a set of questions related to the maintenance of the embankments and dyke breaches to protect the estates of politically prominent landowners. The chief justice had taken suo motu notice on letters from Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, Deputy Chairman Senate Jan Muhammad Khan Jamali amongst others. Marvi Memon had also petitioned the SC to investigate the issue and expedite the repair of embankments.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2011.
The News
22 June 2011

Marvi Memon resigns from NA, PML-Q

ISLAMABAD: Marvi Memon has resigned from her seat in the National Assembly and from the PML-Q, Geo News reported.
Speaking to the media, Memon said that she took the decision in protest of the PML-Q joining the government and in opposition of the budget which was against the aspirations of the people.

She added that current government was working against the people of Pakistan and the PML-Q leaders did not live up to the voters by leaving the opposition and joining the government.

“The PML-Q did not correct the disastrous course of the government” she said. The statement read out by Marvi Memon listed the government as being inadequate, not serving the people, not responding to natural disasters, not protecting the country’s sovereignty and depriving people of basic human rights.
Memon added that under these circumstances she could no longer be a member of the National Assembly and that she would not take back her resignations under any circumstance. She however did say that her struggle for justice would continue on the streets and in courts

The Nation

Marvi Memon resigns from NA, PML-Q
June 22, 2011
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Marvi Memon has resigned from her seat in the National Assembly and from the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).
Speaking to the media, Marvi Memon said that she took the decision in protest of the PML-Q joining the government and in opposition of the budget which was against the aspirations of the people of Pakistan.
She added that current government was working against the people of Pakistan and the PML-Q leaders did not live up to the voters by leaving the opposition and joining the government.
“The PML-Q did not correct the disastrous course of the government,” she said.
The statement read out by Marvi Memon listed the government as being inadequate, not serving the people, not responding to natural disasters, not protecting the country’s sovereignty and depriving people of basic human rights.
Marvi Memon added that under these circumstances she could no longer be a member of the National Assembly and that she would not take back her resignations under any circumstance. She however did say that her struggle for justice would continue on the streets and in courts.
Marvi said she tried to prevail upon the party leaders to change their decision, but in vain. She said under the circumstances there was no other option left with her except resignation on the occasion of voting for budget, as she said abstaining from the budget vote will be equivalent to approving it. She said she has no intentions for joining any other party.

Marvi resigns her assembly seat
our correspondent
Thursday, June 23, 2011
ISLAMABAD: In a dramatic and rare move, a disgruntled legislator of the PML-Q, Marvi Memon, set a new moral precedent by resigning from the National Assembly on Wednesday after voting against the Finance Bill and presenting a long charge-sheet against the government and her party.

As soon as the final counting on the Finance Bill 2011 was made, Marvi Memon, who remained absent throughout the session except on the day when the budget was presented in the National Assembly, said “No” in a loud voice. After this, she, on a point of order, announced resigning from her party and the National Assembly.

“I tried to prevail upon the party leadership to change their decision, but in vain. Now the only honourable course open for me is to resign from the PML membership and also as a member of the National Assembly on the occasion of vote on the budget,” she said amid a loud desk thumping from the PML-N.

The PML-N legislators offered her full support by thumping their desks when she handed over her resignation to Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza. However, Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khursheed Shah asked her as to why she did not resign when a dictator killed Nawab Akbar Bugti. “She did not have the courage while working with the dictator as his crony,” he remarked.

PML-Q parliamentary leader and Minister for Housing and Works Faisal Salah Hayat questioned as to on which moral ground she stood when she got a party ticket from the Punjab while keeping the domicile of Sindh. “She was elected from the Punjab but spent all her development fund in NA-237, Sindh,” he remarked.

In her charge-sheet that she read out in the National Assembly prior to handing over her resignation to the speaker, Marvi Memon said it had been a honour for her to serve as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since March 2008. “As a first-time parliamentarian, I have honoured the oath I took to perform my functions always in the interest of sovereignty, integrity, solidarity, well being and prosperity of Pakistan,” she said.

She, however, said ever since her party leadership’s decision to join the federal government, it had become difficult for her to be true to her oath. “I believe that PML-Q leaders by leaving their role as an opposition party have not lived up to the expectations of millions of voters who reposed trust in them in the February 2008 elections,” she said.

Marvi said she tried to prevail upon the party leadership to change their decision, but in vain. “Now the only honourable course open for me is to resign from PML membership and also as a member of the National Assembly on the occasion of vote on the budget,” she added.

She said abstaining from voting on the budget would practically mean approving it, and with it, tacitly endorsing all government policies and future plans.

She said since she believes that this coalition government is working against the interests of the people of Pakistan, her support for the budget would compromise all her struggle for the people. “I cannot vote against my conscience. I have thus voted against the budget. Just like Marui in Latif Sain’s Shah Jo Risalo, this Marui too cannot compromise the struggle for her marooara (people),” she said.

Marvi Memon said as she had predicted, the PML-Q had not been able to correct the disastrous course of this government. “And they will not be able to do so in future as well. It is my firm belief that the only thing that would continue in the coming months is crass, corrupt politicking to steal the next elections,” she added.

She said the real concerns of the people would continue to be neglected. Therefore, she believes that to be associated with a government which has not followed parliament’s joint resolution mandating action against the Nato forces in case of continued drone attacks, bartering Pakistan’s sovereignty, not protecting its sensitive locations, not keeping its territory protected from foreign forces, would be a travesty.

She said to be associated with a government which has allowed human rights of thousands to be grossly violated by not giving them justice, salaries, minimum wages, regularisations, jobs (Haleema, NPIW, lady health workers, APP, NCHD, NEF, lower education staff, etc), would be subversive.

She said to be associated with a government, which has taken away food and shelter from the poor, fuel from the vehicles, electricity and gas from industry and homes, which has forced people to commit suicides due to its corruption, faulty economic policies, which has forgiven the loan defaulters, which has not been austere, which has not taxed the rich appropriately, including inequitable taxation for agriculture and industry, would be criminal.

Marvi Memon, in her charge-sheet against the government, further said to be associated with a government, which has been completely negligent in its primary responsibilities during natural and national disasters like the Attabad Lake, the recent floods, the Abbottabad crisis, complete breakdown of law and order in all of Pakistan, would be perfidious.

She said the government had abysmally failed to protect its own constitutional office holders, security forces, religious sects, minorities, media and most importantly innocent people from kidnappings, targeted killings and terrorist attacks, and was fighting a directionless war and was compromising with criminals.

She said continuing with the government which has allowed Pakistan’s image to be tarnished internationally, has practically abandoned the valiant people of occupied Kashmir, has let national sovereignty to be chipped away, has not managed its relations with friendly countries like China at its optimal, has not handled the Indian threat with firmness and dignity and has done nothing to counter growing campaign against Pakistan’s nuclear assets, would be treacherous.

Marvi Memon said to be associated with a government which has used provincialism as a political tool, which has not resolved border commission dispute on Diamer Dam, has not fulfilled its promises in Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan or KPK financial revival package or Fata reforms, has not fulfilled its rehabilitation commitments for earthquake 2005 victims, has not fulfilled provincial quota obligations, has discriminated between rural-urban and head-tail for water, has not held anyone accountable in incidents like the AirBlue crash, has not resolved inter-provincial water disputes in line with the 1991 Water Accord, has not passed the National Language Bill accepting the rights of provinces, would be disloyalty.

She said to be associated with a government whose corruption, lack of meritocracy, incompetence have brought the national economy down on its knees, which has mortgaged the coming generations’ future by mindless borrowing, shattered public sector corporations, retarded industrial production, hammered the small farmer and has pushed half of the population in the depths of wretched poverty, would be a perversion.

Marvi said to be associated with a government which has wilfully clashed with the judiciary, has dragged its feet on the Accountability Bill and the bill to prosecute terrorists, and has rendered parliament irrelevant, forcing thousands like herself to get justice from judiciary versus aprliament would be treasonous.

She said to be associated with a government that is run by thugs and commission-mafia, who have lined up their pockets with development funds, deprived people of their fundamental rights such as clean water, schools, health centres, roads, electricity, gas, would be shameful.

Marvi said it was time that the people of Pakistan were freed from this government. She said it was time that sincere, tax-paying Pakistanis unite for Pakistan’s sake. She said it was time they rejected the old politics and espoused new politics, where the definition of politics is serving ones people rather than ruling them. “For the above reasons, I hereby tender my resignation for the sake of the people of AJK, Balochistan, GB, KPK, Punjab, Sindh — my Pakistan,” she said and added that she intends to honour her oath by educating her people on the dangers of supporting a corrupt, inefficient and self-serving government that is happily allowing our homeland to descend into chaos. “I want to impress upon my people through my Karavan-e-Haq that they don’t have to accept a government that robs them daily. That they have a right to clean governance, and that their destiny is in their own hands,” she added.
The News
Just a few MNAs resigned on pure moral grounds
Sabir Shah
Thursday, June 23, 2011
LAHORE: Although around 25 National Assembly members are known to have resigned from Pakistan’s Lower House of Parliament owing to multiple reasons during the last seven years or so, just half a dozen of these legislators have gone on to vacate their seats on principles.

With her resignation on Wednesday, Marvi Memon of PML-Q now finds a place among the handful of Pakistani politicians in country’s recent parliamentary history, who promptly responded to the small subtle voices of conscience by giving up their House seats. On March 9, 2004, Zafar Iqbal Warraich of the Pakistan People’s Party had set up a new tradition in the country’s parliamentary history, when he had decided to resign from his NA-196 Rahimyar Khan seat and contest again on a PML-Q ticket.

Zafar Iqbal, who had been associated with the People’s Party for nearly two decades, had decided to part ways with his parent political entity in strong protest to what he called “the hijacking of party by “Qabza mafia.”

Addressing a press conference at the Parliament House after his move, Zafar Iqbal had vehemently accused the PPP of backing out of its very objectives and principles. With Warraich’s resignation, cracks within the PPP had then become evident to all. Though a good number of political analysts had termed Zafar Iqbal’s decision a tactical defection, there were a few vocal voices that had dubbed it a purely principled stance. Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri, Chairman Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), had tendered his resignation on October 15, 2004 as a mark of remonstration against the passage of the dual-office bill that had given legitimacy to the then President General Musharraf to continue as country’s Army Chief beyond December 31, 2004.

Soon after giving up his National Assembly membership, Dr Qadri had viewed, “When Musharraf took over, we supported his seven-point agenda, but the president failed to carry out across-the-board accountability and transfer power to the elected representatives after elections. Musharraf is controlling everything while parliament is a rubber stamp. I don’t feel that I should sit in such a powerless parliament which can be suspended with a single stroke of a general’s pen.”

Dr Qadri was also quoted as saying; “I hereby resign from my National Assembly seat, NA-127, under the illegal rule of the uniform. I feel insulted to sit in a house which passed a bill to perpetuate the rule of a dictator.”

On September 6, 2006, Abdul Rauf Mengal, a member of the Balochistan National Party (Mengal Group) gave up his Khuzdar seat (NA-269) to protest the killing of Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) chief Nawab Akbar Bugti in the Kohlu military operation. In his resignation, which Mengal had handed over to the Assembly secretary after an angry speech on the floor of the house, the MNA had protested against the August 26, 2006 killing of Akbar Bugti and his disgraceful burial.

Yet another MNA, Sahibzada Haroon-ur-Rashid Abbasi, resigned from his National Assembly (NA-44 Tribal Area IX) seat on November 14, 2006. By doing so, the MMA leader had basically registered his protest against the October 30, 2006 air strike on a Bajaur Madrasah in which over 80 students and teachers were killed.

On July 23, 2007, the then Jamaat-e-Islami Chief and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) President, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, became the first parliamentary party leader to resign from the 2002-2007 ‘graduate’ National Assembly.

Meanwhile, as many as five MQM National Assembly members (including a minister) had to resign from their seats on the directives of their party chief Altaf Hussain. The then Minister of State for Religious Affairs, Dr Aamir Liaquat Hussain, had to go home on July 4, 2007 on the directive of his party leadership.

Earlier, the MQM’s Coordination Committee had sent four of its MNAs packing, as they were unable to give sufficient time to their constituencies. These MQM lawmakers were Messrs Sarkar-ud-Din (NA-240), Sultan Ahmed Khan (NA-243) and Azizullah Brohi (NA-246), who had submitted their resignations on March 15, 2004 and Ms Shamim Akhtar (NA-317 Women Sindh), who was asked to call it a day on February 22, 2007.

Within its rank and file, the then ruling PML-Q too had a few obedient lawmakers, who had immediately responded to the call of their leadership and promptly did what was required of them.

Ms Eman Wasim, the daughter of the then Attock District Nazim Tahir Sadiq and niece of PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, had to vacate her seat (NA-59 Attock) for the election of former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

Similarly, Arbab Zakaullah was the other MNA who had to quit his NA-229 Tharparkar seat for the election of Shaukat Aziz. After Shaukat Aziz had decided to retain his Attock seat, the extremely compliant Arbab Zakaullah had again found a place in the National Assembly by winning the by-election. However, over a dozen MNAs from various political parties had surrendered their National Assembly memberships during these last seven years to become District Nazims. Just to cite a few examples, Abdul Qayyum Jatoi of the PPP had resigned from his NA-180 seat to become the district Nazim of Muzaffargarh,

Sardar Salim Jan Mazari of the PML-Q also quit his NA-210 seat to become district Nazim of Jacobabad.The then PPP President of Bahawalpur Division and MNA Mumtaz Ahmad Matiana, had resigned from his seat and joined the ruling PML-Q to become the district Nazim of his area. Messrs Jalil Sharaqpuri and Inamul Haq Piracha were among the other MNAs in the 2002-07 National Assembly, who had preferred to become District Nazims of their respective hometowns over their House memberships. The above-mentioned list does not, of course, include the names of those disgraceful MNAs who were ordered to resign (mostly by court) on charges of holding fake educational degrees and their involvement in other shameful corruption scandals.

Express Tribune

Gutsy Marvi steps down…goes solo?
Sadaf Khan June 23, 2011
Here’s to Marvi Memon, whose exit from the parliament is true to her own style of politics. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD JAVED
I won’t lie – I’ve often made fun of Marvi Memon’s overzealous emotional style, her long winded breathless sentences without full stops and the almost audible exclamation mark at the end of her sound bytes.

At times, I have used her high pitched quotes to add a bit of life to an otherwise dull TV report. More often than not, when I have seen her protesting on the streets I have wondered why a parliamentarian who claims to care so much for the masses, would associate herself with a party whose manifesto seems to focus on regaining power.

On Wednesday, as the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), a fresh part of the coalition government, voted in favour of the budget, Memon broke free of the party whose politics seemed to constantly collide with her principles.

Rendering her resignation from PML-Q and subsequently the National Assembly, Memon said that she wants to impress upon the people that they do not have to accept a government that robs them daily. A great sentiment, but we have yet to see what alternates she presents before the masses.

There have always been doubts about Memon’s politics, but I for one, have never denied that this young former parliamentarian is a go-getter.

Her statements might have been more emotional than logical (her support for former president General Pervez Musharraf has at times bordered on disturbing) and her protests will always have a political point scoring tag, but at least, Memon has never stopped at delivering criticism.

Be it floods, extremism or the country’s failing economy, this London School of Economics (LSE) graduate has always come forth with a plan – a good or bad, it has been a plan nonetheless and that solution oriented approach is something that sets her apart.

Her charisma as a leader was apparent in PML-Q’s Gilgit-Batistan (GB) campaign. Her connection with the people can be seen in any of the sit-ins and protests she has ever been a part of. For someone who resigned before completing her first term as a parliamentarian, Memon sure has a following.

Considering her track record, it isn’t likely that she would take a step this big without a proper plan. So while she denies plans to join any other political party and vows to continue her struggle for the people via the judiciary, on the roads and through other means, one can’t help but wonder if there is any truth in the rumours about her possible attachment to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

Afterall, her slogan for ‘haq’ seems to be in line with PTI’s call for justice.

Whether she joins Imran Khan or decides to play it solo, I’m looking forward to Marvi’s new beginning.

So here’s to Memon, whose exit from the parliament is true to her own style of politics – gutsy and good willed, a little impractical maybe but in the dirty arena of Pakistan’s politics I would gladly take the bold, sincere gesture as a great precedent and hope that more parliamentarians would opt out of voting in favour of policies that serve the rulers instead of the people.

The Express Tribune
Marvi achieves a historic first
By Nusrat Javeed
Published: June 23, 2011

Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Marvi Memon was arrested by Ghotki Police for staging a sit-in on the National Highway on Wednesday. PHOTO: FILE
Most journalists are seldom seen in the press gallery during early hours of the National Assembly proceedings. Things appeared strikingly different on Wednesday. An unusual crowd of reporters took their seats at the outset. None of them, it seemed, wanted to miss ‘the noisy scene,’ the PML-N legislators were expected to make while abusing the privilege of speaking on a point of order.
The surge of ‘retaliatory speeches’ from the PMLN stalwarts was almost taken for granted in view of a lethal speech that President Zardari had delivered late Tuesday night. But to the utter disappointment of most of us the PML-N benches remained palpably restrained all through. But I have it from reliable sources that early Wednesday morning, Nawaz Sharif, made lengthy calls to friends. The sane-majority advised him not to react in haste.
These saner elements persuaded the PML-N leader to personally instruct his star legislators not to react to Zardari’s speech during the assembly proceedings. Still, the PML-N unease was conveyed to the right quarters at the right time as Syed Khurshid Shah was politely informed that the PML-N MNAs would not be attending the dinner he was to host at his residence after the passage of the Finance Bill on Wednesday.
Fairly late in the afternoon, a written statement was finally issued by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to bring the PML-N reaction on record. And Khawaja Saad Rafique also reacted to Zardari’s speech during concluding hours of proceedings while speaking on Marvi Memon‘s resignation from the PML-Q and parliament.
Mian Sahib, my sources insist, will still not want to get into one-on-one mudslinging with President Zardari. Let’s see for how long he can keep his cool.
There were a couple of more surprises in store for us besides the extraordinary restraint shown by the PMLN benches. A sitting minister made a laughing stock of himself by his pathetic antics and a politically driven, talented and articulate Marvi Memon, put to shame many of her ‘lota-minded’ colleagues by her brave move.
I have to confess that the incurable cynic in me did often question the revolutionary posturing that Marvi was resorting to of late. Her entry on our political scene under the patronage of General Musharraf was the sole cause of my bias. But perhaps it’s time to admit that a person interested in politics in this country just cannot avoid the praetorian route to reach his/he goal. But in the end Marvi achieved a historic first of some kind.
Many like her continue to sit without any qualms in this assembly on women’s benches of the same party. In private meetings, they loudly condemn the Chaudhrys for joining the PPP-led coalition, but don’t seem willing to sacrifice the perks and privileges of legislators by resigning from an allotted seat. Marvi deserves a hearty applause in this context. It is a different matter that rumors of her joining Imran Khan’s PTI are forcing me to predict a short-lived glory for her.
Compared to her dramatic announcement of resigning from the assembly, the show put up by a sitting minister, Akram Gill, seemed pathetically absurd. Along with three other minority members, he staged a protest picket, right in front of the speaker’s dais. The purpose was to express resentment over the decision of winding up the federal ministry of minority affairs as after the passage of the 18th amendment, minority affairs has become provincial subject.
Gill and his comrades claimed that during more than a year-long discussions and proceedings for passage of the said amendment, they were given assurances that the said ministry would not be touched. Without realising that they have missed the right opportunity to protest, the minister opted to put up a show, when the government was rushing to get the budget passed. Little wonder, the prime minister was seen, for the first time in public, to rudely tell Gill that he would sack him, if he did not return to his seat. Instead of resigning there and then the minister obeyed the order like a soulless robot. His love for an assembly seat and the ministerial berth amused many in the press gallery. But I for one was not amused.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 23rd, 2011

The News
I have offers from PTI, PML-N: Marvi
Mumtaz Alvi
Friday, June 24, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Marvi Memon, who resigned as MNA after presenting a charge-sheet against the government and PML, on Thursday ruled out the possibility of joining ex-president Pervez Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League (APML).

“I am very clear that joining the APML is not an option before me,” she said during an informal chat with The News here, a day after she tendered resignation as a legislator, which she thought was an honourable way of bowing out of the legislature.

She defended her decision to resign after violating the party line and voting against the budget in the National Assembly on Wednesday, saying by doing so she had pre-empted what was written on the wall for her.

Marvi, who is daughter of former Senator Nisar A Memon, who was once very close to Musharraf, said she would spend more time with people and try to create public awareness about the issues, the nation was faced with.

She has no plan for the time being to join any other political party but Marvi said she had offers from PML-N and PTI. Marvi hails from Sindh. Marvi claimed everyone was free to take independent decisions but insisted more big names in the National Assembly would take important decisions in the weeks and months to come. The former lawmaker declined to reveal identity of those, who according to her claim, could follow suit soon because of the dismal performance of the ruling coalition.

“There several legislators who are fed up with the government policies and want clean governance in Pakistan by saying goodbye to the out-dated status quo,” she maintained. Marvi said her decision to quit as MNA and the party was purely in response to the call of her conscience and she was satisfied with it, as she had set a new parliamentary tradition. Asked was she convinced Musharraf’s rule was far better than the PPP-led ruling coalition, Marvi pointed out that it was in fact PML-Musharraf government from 2002 to 2007.