Daily Times

As a part of the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP), the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has issued a list of guidelines to all cellular mobile operators (CMOs) regarding the issuance of new subscriber identity modules (SIMs) as well as the biometric verification of existing customers. The purpose of the Biometric Verification System (BVS) is to verify the identity of everyone who owns and operates a cellular phone in Pakistan to prevent potential terrorists from anonymously coordinating with each other to plot attacks and to activate bombs using SIMs provided by CMOs. The PTA has restricted the maximum number of SIMs that can be registered to an individual’s computerised national identity card (CNIC) number to five. All the major CMOs have been encouraging their customers to biometrically verify their SIMs (by providing their thumb/fingerprints to the customer databases). As of February 26, 2015, the deadline for the verification for anyone who has three or more SIMs registered to their CNIC, 72 million SIMs have been biometrically verified and 10 million others were blocked and disowned by CMOs the next day. As the deadline drew near, people lined up in throngs outside customer service centres to complete the verification process, causing great inconvenience to traffic and customers, particularly the elderly, ailing, physically handicapped and those who cannot travel to customer service centres. The deadline for those who have less than three SIMs registered to their CNICs is April 13, 2015 and the second round of verifications will probably bring up all the same issues.

After the biometric verification, the CNICs and corresponding fingerprints will be tallied with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) for further verification. It is uncertain whether collecting and registering all cell phone users’ fingerprints is truly necessary to intercept the communications of militant organisations. The leaders and militants of most terrorist organisations tend to use temporary ‘burner’ phones, which do not require SIM cards, cannot be traced, and can be discarded after use. This is a practice that will become even more common amongst terrorist organisations in Pakistan following the drastic implementation of BVS. Furthermore, no regulations or policies have been instituted or implemented regarding the monitoring of the usage of the public’s communications and activities. While the government’s commitment to implement the NAP and crack down on terrorism in Pakistan is commendable, a balance must be struck to both protect the people’s lives from terrorist threats and their right to privacy. If indeed these measures are necessary, restrictions must be placed on CMOs, which consist of large multinational and national corporations, to prevent the misuse or abuse of the consumers’ data. *

of the amendment draft is to conduct the polling via open ballots in lieu of secret ones. After the PM’s committees on the subject received mixed responses from the politicians and leaders of the other political parties, the PM hosted an All Parties Conference (APC) on Friday in the hope of convincing the key players in parliament to support the proposed 22nd amendment. As an outcome of the APC, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) have offered their support to the PM, but the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) have opposed the suggestion. This result comes as no surprise since the PTI has been arguing for open ballots for some time, whilst the PPP has been reluctant to voice its support, opting instead for airing its reservations. The JUI-F has also been opposed to a 22nd amendment because it believes that the 21st amendment unjustly singled out religious groups as the only source of militancy and terrorism. Since the PPP has a majority in the Senate, the government needs its support to pass this amendment. Even though it seems that the PML-N will try to move the 22nd amendment bill in parliament on Monday, before the elections, it is unlikely that it will be successful now that the PPP has made it clear that it will not support it.

The PM’s determination to lobby for and get this bill passed at this point just before the elections seems very strange. The elections are set to be held on March 5. Horse-trading, or the bribery and manipulation of members of the Senate electoral college (mostly members of the provincial Assemblies) by parties other than their own to gain additional seats in the Senate is a practice that has become a mainstay of the electoral process for decades. Yet it seems that the possibility of horse-trading and defection in these elections in particular are causing concern to the PML-N and PTI. Both parties include a number of members that have been part of various other parties in the past and therefore may not be unflinchingly loyal to their current parties, especially amidst the great discord that has been rumbling within the ranks of these political players. Interestingly, in these Senate elections, virtually all of the major political parties are vying for more seats than they can hope for, based on their assembly representation in the provinces. Although it is possible that the PM’s support of PTI’s drive for open ballots is to avoid yet another movement of civil disobedience and protests from the opposing party, the PML-N also seems to have realised that their own parliamentarians may defect due to dissatisfaction with the party leadership.

Given the questionable motives behind the push for this amendment, the only principled stance seems to be that of the PPP’s. PPP Vice President Sherry Rehman correctly argued that it is not appropriate to institute major procedural reform this close to the elections, particularly when the schedule and list of candidates have been finalised. Raja Pervaiz Ashraf also asserted that one cannot institute two laws for the same matter; since the lower house is directly elected by secret ballots, the same principle should hold for legislators electing the upper house representatives. The government’s proposed constitutional bill includes a clause to make the law of “disqualification in case of defection” applicable to the Senate elections as well, which will hold the parliamentarians to the draconian standard of voting solely in accordance with the wishes of their party. Thus the government is finally recognising the fallout of the vote trading and party swapping that all political parties have been engaged in throughout the history of Pakistan. The PML-N’s move to pass the 22nd amendment is aimed at ensuring its own representation in the Senate. The only fallback for the government is to hold further talks to ascertain coherent reform that can ensure the transparency of all future Senate elections. *