Youth parliament: Young policymakers as divided as adults over war on terrorism

YPP discuss the perplexity of the War on Terrorism, announce YPP 2012 members.

ISLAMABAD:

Youth Parliament Pakistan (YPP) members inadvertently displayed the inherent complexity and volatile nature of the war on terror in Pakistan by aptly calling for a revision of government policies on the matter.

However the house remained largely divided during Friday’s session on whether it is an imposed war or one that is Pakistan’s own. In this session, the model parliament, started by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency in 2007 to increase political awareness among the youth, also found out about the new Youth Cabinet.

The disparity revealed the murkiness around the issue of terrorism, even for Pakistanis who are so close to the action.

Two actions emerged from the dual stances. Youth parliamentarians willing to own the war on terror posited that the Taliban ideologically and practically are against the wishes and aspirations of the Pakistani people and have repeatedly used Pakistan’s soil to wage war and wreak havoc both here and abroad. They said that the extremist groups were leaving Pakistanis needing to attack this problem as an internal one.

On the other hand, those who believed that it is an imposed war by the US-- posited that the only way to resolve the issue at home is by initiating dialogue with the militants. There were some youth parliamentarians who did not commit to either approach and believed that both perspectives are correct.

Saleem, a YPP participant from Karachi, however had a different opinion to the latter. While talking to The Express Tribune, he said, “It is definitely our war and an imposed war, but UN resolutions to introduce US and NATO forces to eliminate militants and Al-Qaeda had a lot to do with it becoming an imposed war.”

Furthermore, the house adopted a resolution condemning the bomb blast in Peshawar, saying, “We condemn the bomb blast in Peshawar and urge the government to find the actual causes of terrorism in our country in order to move towards a solutions.” The resolution was moved by Salman Khan Shinwari, Amir Abbas Turi and Noman Nayyar Kolachi.

Meanwhile, the leader of the house announced the Youth Cabinet, which now comprises Umer Riaz as Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Human Rights Minister, Muhammad Usama as Information and Technology Minister, Ahmed Numair Farooq as Finance Minister, Hafeezullah Wazir as Interior Minister, Hassan Ashrad as Information Technology and Telecommunication Minister and Muhammad Waqar as Foreign Affairs and Defence Minister. The Blue Party elected two representatives, Dr Ali Raza as general secretary and Elia Nauroz Ali as it head. The shadow cabinet and chairs of various parliamentary committees were also announced.

The merit-based selection process was led by an independent steering committee. Out of the 60-member batch, 44 were male and 16 were female, with an average age of 23. In the fourth successive batch, the Blue Party formed a majority with 78 per cent opting for its membership, while the other 22 per cent joined the Green Party. The Youth Parliament Pakistan comprises 28 members from Punjab, 12 members from Sindh, seven from K-P, five from Balochistan, three from Islamabad Capital Territory, two each from Fata and AJK and a lone member from Gilgit-Baltistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2012.