TRUE to his reputation, President Asif Ali Zardari, in his maiden address to the joint session of Parliament on Thursday, laid emphasis on political reconciliation, meaningful dialogue, parliamentary consensus and fostering an atmosphere of mutual respect. Sounding optimistic about resolution of the grave challenges facing the country, he pointed out these were not impossible to overcome but require the fundamentals of a meaningful dialogue and parliamentary consensus. The President urged the two houses to play a leading role in rebuilding public confidence in the parliamentary process and establish a foundation for the uninterrupted sustainable development of our nation.
The address of the President to the joint session is an important milestone in the parliamentary system as it provides opportunity to the members to discuss and dilate upon various issues and crystallize national thinking on them. However, it is unfortunate that for the last several years, this occasion has been marred by noisy protests by the opposition, often on petty and flimsy grounds, conveying a wrong message to the people about the very forum of Parliament, which, otherwise is considered to be supreme. The members of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC)/PTI repeated the checkered history on Thursday by raising slogans and creating a rumpus in a bid to suppress the voice of the President but credit goes to Mr. Zardari for demonstrating complete coolness and continued his speech unfazed. His mature approach and composure received applause not only from members of the ruling alliance but also reportedly by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. As for contents of the address, these seem to have been picked keeping in mind the dangerous levels of polarization, blame-game, leg-pulling, grave economic challenges, need for reforms and relief for the masses and the need for conscientious efforts by the elected representatives to restore shattered confidence of the people in the institution of Parliament and the very system of democracy. It was in this backdrop that Zardari emphasized the need to derive inspiration and guidance from charismatic leaders like founder of the state Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, father of the country’s nuclear programme Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and an icon of democratic struggle Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. Pleading the cause of inclusive democracy, the President urged the parliamentarians to begin with a vision that strove to leave no one behind and it is hoped practical steps would be taken in months to come to realize this cherished objective. This, however, requires a positive response from the opposition, which, at the moment, is not in a mood to enter into a meaningful dialogue with the Government for the sake of resolving the chronic issues of the country and is just centred on a narrow agenda and narrative. It is also a fact that Pakistan cannot make genuine progress without an economic boom, which in turn depends on substantial investment in various sectors of the national economy. Therefore, the President rightly urged the government to intensify its efforts for implementing comprehensive ease-of-doing-business reforms and simplifying the existing regulations to provide an enabling environment for both foreign and domestic investors. His praise for the role of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) describing it as a step forward in the right direction is manifestation of growing consensus on the importance and relevance of this newly created forum. He also emphasized that besides working on economic reforms, spurring jobs, reducing inflation and expanding the tax net, the federal government should also promote positive working relationships and effective coordination, within the constitutional framework with the provinces. The proposals that the President made about enhancing productivity and exports also need serious consideration by the relevant ministries as diversification of exports, enhancement in the competitiveness of domestic products in global markets, introduction of value addition, and venturing into new international markets have the potential to make a difference.
The President’s address also included counselling for the provinces and rightly so as important issues like promotion of health and education are their direct responsibility, especially after the landmark 18th amendment in the Constitution, which was assented to by Mr Zardari in his capacity as the then President in April 2010. He urged all provincial governments to bring focus and energy on transformative reforms in the education sector, not just on improving access to primary and secondary education for all children but for ensuring quality as well. Zardari stressed the need for rebuilding scaled-up expansion in the health sector and said regular investments in the primary and secondary health infrastructure, as well as human resources, were needed to ensure that every citizen had access to quality healthcare services and that no citizen lacked medical care. As his PPP has governments in the two provinces, it is but natural to expect that his vision would be implemented in letter and spirit in these federating units to serve as a model for others to emulate.
On foreign policy, President Zardari thanked friendly countries like China, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkiye and Qatar for their steadfast support in difficult times and recognized the importance of trade partnership with the United States, European Union and the United Kingdom, hoping this cooperation will grow further. In the backdrop of recent terrorist attack on Chinese engineers, the President emphatically stated that Pakistan will not allow the hostile elements to jeopardize the crucial project of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and friendship with China, which is aimed at fostering regional peace, promoting connectivity, ensuring prosperity and maintaining stability. His reiteration that necessary measures would be taken to improve security of the Chinese nationals in Pakistan was also relevant in the given situation. The President also made strong references to the Kashmir issue as a mark of solidarity with the struggling Kashmiris and in a bid to sensitize the international community to take notice of the plight of people of Jammu and Kashmir. He pointed out that the revocation of Articles 370 and 35-A was a part of India’s strategy to reduce the Kashmiri Muslims to a minority in their own homeland. He said Pakistan rejected the one-sided actions and called upon India to reverse all illegal measures taken on or after 5 August 2019. Similarly, he assured Kashmiris that Pakistan will continue to provide moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of occupied Kashmir until they get their right to self-determination. On the issue of Palestine, the President expressed deep concern over the tidal wave of indiscriminate killings of innocent Palestinians and large-scale genocide committed by the Israeli security forces, adding Pakistan remains steadfast in its principled support for establishment of an independent and viable state of Palestine, based on the pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
In a nutshell, both the Government and the political parties especially the parliamentary opposition must give serious thought to the cogent proposals put forward by the President as these can promote national harmony and accelerate the pace of socio-economic development.
