Daily Times

Rule is an authoritative regulation or standard to be followed, a regulation adopted by the legislative body to secure adequate debate, freedom of expression, full consideration, and protection of the minority against surprise or fraud, and the orderly and prompt disposal of business.

Rule of law is an Anglo-American doctrine that the law is supreme and that the rights of persons under the law are protected from interference by officers of the government.

Rule-making power is the power of a court to make regulations for its procedure or to devise a formula for the construction or interpretation of statutes.

Rule of the situation demands appropriate action, keeping a balance, and avoiding Role – conflict. The question of human rights, for example, requires focus on the situation of human rights exclusively not to be mixed-up with un-related questions. A rule has to be a rule of reason as it comes to use of power.

A ruling is an authoritative interpretation of a provision of a statute, order, regulation, or ordinance, rendered by a superior administrative official or tribunal.

Laws are meant to provide direction as well as deterrence, and must not be applied simply to cause maximum possible effect. Perhaps more than the rule of the law, Politicians parliamentarians, jurists, and civil society need to be more mindful of the rules for the law, all laws, and not just selective ones we seem to be bent on undoing, merely for the sake of it. We have a plethora of laws, some of them very old in terms of time and changes that have taken place around the world. Maybe we need to be more judicious in their application and implementation. Let us not think of getting rid of them just describing them as draconian and archaic. Who knows when we might really need these laws? And if we need these laws at some point who is going to legislate? A smart approach to deal with such issues is to sharpen our skills to get to the spirit of such laws and improve our skills of better understanding and interpreting sections of the law. We have to understand the importance of “rules for the law”, along with the rule of law. What it means is the need for more effective and efficient personnel engaged in various stages of investigation, interpretation, reporting and conclusions of cases before them.

More important is the correct, fair and just application of the law. Law has to be used judiciously and not as an instrument of intimidation and muzzling political opponents and those viewed noisy and irksome. Way to correct wrongs lies within the application of the law, rather than the law itself.

It is easy to deduce that a cross-department response is inexorable to synergise civil and military potential

Our personal positive goals of a healthy mind will transfer as a collective goal of a mentally healthier community, helping in search of national identity and true national character as well as positive image as a nation.

As the fight against the coronavirus is stretching on, it will require more than usual medical and psychological response to come out on the right. Tough road is ahead, Compulsion for Pakistanis to borrow more primarily because of the very low rate of economic growth. Pakistan has a huge population, a high population density, the issue of awareness and lack of education, which makes the job of the government functionaries more challenging as their efforts are routinely undermined by the very people they are trying to protect. Moreover, there have been communication problems and misdirected effort due to irresponsible messaging by the political leadership. A uniform policy is missing. As for smart lockdown strategy the implementation will need to be thorough and strict.

It can be argued that a radically-altered world order post-COVID-19 would necessitate inter alia, a re-examination of national policy frameworks especially vis-à-vis crucial national security. It is interesting to note that pandemics have always been recognized as one of the non-traditional security threats but never regarded as a likely or serious one. Covid-19’s rampant spread has not only exposed serious inadequacies in the collective global response being duly acknowledged as a transnational challenge but has also caught many nations wholly unprepared.

It is easy to deduce that a cross-department response is inexorable to synergise civil and military potential. An unremitting ‘no war no peace’ situation that prevails in Pakistan, yearns not only for a capability beyond the military gamut but also possibly significantly different in capacities. Furthermore, hard and soft powers of the state need to better complement the national effort in pursuing our national security objectives in the face of more complex, intertwined and dangerous perils. Planning is everything said, General Eisenhower. “The reason it is so important to plan is to keep yourself steeped in the character of the problems you may one day be called to solve”

At this momentous occasion we cannot afford to shy away as the stakes are high. The maiden review in Pakistan could be titled the comprehensive security and Defence Review” (CSDR 2020). The exercise such as this has to be objectively realistic and strategized in the vein of capability-based planning as opposed to hitherto threat-based.

Pakistan is endowed with huge geopolitical significance, full spectrum military capability and other latent potentials to overcome transmuted security challenges in the post COVID-19 world.

The people and the government and leadership on all fronts cannot remain indifferent to the national, regional and global challenges.

A friend wrote from Cape Town (June, 2020) “An early morning walk in hout Bay, Peace during the COVID lockdown”. That was cool for a change, a positive healthy change.

The writer is former Director National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA) Government of Pakistan, a political analyst, a public policy expert, and a published author. His book post 9/11 Pakistan was published in the United States. His book Existential Question for Pakistan was recently launched and highly recommended as a must read for everyone