Questioning the government: NACTA’s performance deemed ‘satisfactory’

Nisar points out that the body faces administrative and technical constraints

ISLAMABAD: The interior ministry on Saturday defended the role of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) and said its performance was still satisfactory, despite all the administrative and technical constraints it faced.

The stout defence came in response to a question asked by PPP MNA Dr Nafisa Shah in the National Assembly about Nacta’s track record in controlling terrorism.

Nacta was established through an act of parliament. As per the act, Nacta is still an incomplete body. The failure for non-completion of Nacta was not highlighted. The interior ministry, however, claimed that “after establishment of Directorate of Internal Security (DIS) within Nacta the dissemination and analysis of tactical and strategic intelligence under one roof will further strengthen operational mechanism. This would further help launch Counter Terrorism operations by LEAs in a coordinated and effective manner.”

Nacta was established in 2009 during PPP’s government but no active role has been assigned to this body to date. The status of the body is still not clear particularly following a judge of the Islamabad High Court through which the court held that the interior ministry is illegally overseeing the administrative control of the authority.

In the written reply, the interior ministry also made a startling revelation that ‘Nacta deals with the National Internal Security Policy (NISP) 2014-18.’

“Nacta is mandated to monitor and implementation of National Internal Security Policy (NISP) and National Action Plan (NAP) in coordination with provinces and stakeholders,” the ministry’s replied. The ministry did not elaborate what kind of administrative and technical constraints Nacta was facing.

However, a senior ministry official told The Express Tribune that Nacta has become just a redundant body as it has no say in the implementation process. The official said that against around 300 posts, the current strength of the anti-terror body is just 57. The federal government has refused to release funds to Nacta, citing that Premier Sharif did not approve the summary.

The interior ministry said that the “NAP is being implemented with full commitment and seriousness in coordination with stakeholders.” The implementation is being closely monitored and coordinated by the ministry of interior and the Nacta on regular basis, the reply held.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2015.