Judiciary moves into the void
Over three months in power and the PML-N is yet to take decisions about key appointments. While the prime minister is scheduled to visit the US this month, the post of the ambassador after the exit of Sherry Rehman in May immediately after the elections remains vacant. The government has yet to replace the High Commissioner in London, a political appointee of the PPP government. As the two political parties have yet to reach consensus on a new CEC, an ad hoc arrangement fills the gap. The absence of a NAB chief stands in the way of the initiation of proceedings in major cases of corruption and misuse of authority. There is currently no PIA chief to cure the decades old ills of the PIA. Similarly there is no CEO in Pakistan Steel Mills to help the government take decisions about the future of the terminally ill enterprise.
In the case of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) a petition has led the Supreme Court to issue orders for appointment of the Chairman within ten days. The PTA carries the onerous responsibility of the establishment, operation and maintenance of telecommunications in Pakistan. It is also entrusted with the task of disposing of applications for the use of radio-frequency spectrum. The post of the chairman PTA is lying vacant since the middle of January after LHC sent home the last holder of the office declaring his appointment illegal. In his budget speech on June 12, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had claimed that the government was expecting Rs120 billion from the proposed sale of 3G licenses. As the government faces economic crunch, it was expected to fill the vacancy at the earliest, but that failed to happen. In the absence of the chairman, the PTA’s budget has lapsed and reportedly there is no money even to pay the salaries of its staff. Besides the office of the PTA chairman, posts of three members of the Authority also lie vacant. As the plaintiff put it, the entire telecommunication sector in the country is running unbridled and without effective regulation because the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority is virtually non-existent, As a result, the government’s priority agenda of introducing the third generation cellular phone networks has hit the snag. The chief justice has remarked that due to the non-auction of 3G, the national exchequer had to bear loss of billions of rupees. He has ordered to finalise the 3G auction within two months.
The government thus finds that some of the crucial decisions it was trying to postpone have now been forced upon it. The indecisiveness on the part of the government has led to the acquisition of its turf by the court. The politicians often complain about the courts interfering in their jurisdiction. They need to realise that unless they take timely decisions on crucial issues, the courts are likely to move in.