Fact-finding mission: Senate panel favours steps to empower G-B Assembly

Proposes legislative changes to transfer powers from bureaucracy to the people.

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights has recommended the federal government fully empower the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Legislative Assembly by amending the G-B Empowerment and Self-Rule Order 2009.

The committee, which embarked on a fact-finding tour of G-B from April 28 to 30, states that the bureaucracy enjoys more power than the elected representatives of the area. As such there is crucial need to transfer the powers from the bureaucracy to the elected legislative assembly to bring it at par with assemblies of the country’s other provinces.

One of the members of the Senate committee, Senator Farhatullah Babar, told The Express Tribune that during the visit to the area, the panel identified several issues which need to be addressed as far as the empowerment of local people is concerned. “There is a need to revisit the G-B Empowerment and Self Rule Order 2009 to fully empower the local legislative assembly… this is one of our recommendations to the federal government,” he said.



According to Babar, the first thing would be leave administrative and financial powers with the legislative assembly led by the G-B chief minister. He mentioned that the committee was briefed that permission from Islamabad is a pre-requisite even for creating a post of a peon for G-B. “We submitted as many as seven motions in Senate about G-B after visiting the area, which will be discussed and debated upon in the upper house’, he said.

The senator added that the second important thing to do would be to improve the the mechanism for appointing judges in G-B’s superior judiciary, which is currently unsatisfactory. Presently, he said, the appointment in the judiciary is done by the prime minister on the recommendation of the G-B governor.

“This should not be done through executive powers but rather through a balance mechanism by involving all the concerned stakeholders,” Babar said.

Another committee member, Senator Mushahid Hussain, said that the panel wants the government to strengthen the legislative assembly and judiciary because it is the key to resolving several other issues. He mentioned that the capacity of the assembly members needed to be strengthened through capacity building to handle their own matters.

However, Mushahid noted that the committee was satisfied with the fact that there was no issue of violence and crime in G-B, except for the cases of sectarianism. He also stated that there is tremendous potential in the human and natural resources in G-B, which needed to be harnessed for the betterment of residents.

The committee will first put the recommendation before parliament and then to concerned authorities, including the prime minister and the president.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2014.