Filing requests for information under these laws is not only a legal and constitutional privilege, but should also be taken as an obligation, stated a press release issued by the CGPA on Saturday to commemorate International Right to Know Day.

The day is marked on September 28 around the world. The handout stated the right to know is incomplete without the right to information. Therefore, the centre urged advocates of the law to promote its implementation on Right to Know Day.

CGPA Executive Director Muhammad Anwar said there has been remarkable progress in ensuring citizens’ right to information in Pakistan over the last year.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Punjab introduced excellent legislation in the form of the K-P RTI Act 2013 and the Punjab Transparency and RTI Act 2013.

These laws will allow the public to ensure there is transparency in public service delivery if they are implemented in their true spirit, said the statement. On International Right to Know Day, the CGPA urged the K-P and Punjab governments to notify rules under their respective laws, said Anwar.

The executive director said the Punjab and K-P RTI laws must not be restricted to the provinces and any citizen should be able to access information without providing a reason.

However, he stated that Sindh and Balochistan were yet to introduce such strong legislation. Anwar said the Federal Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002 needed to be replaced with the Right to Information law as per Article 19-A of the Constitution of Pakistan.

The CGPA also demanded the K-P government extend the law to the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata).

Similarly, he added there should also be a Right to Information regulation for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). The CGPA urged the media and civil society groups to play their role in raising awareness and use the law for investigative reporting.

Express Tribune

The official data and the research conducted by this correspondent indicate that the bureaucracy in KPK seems readier to share information regarding its working to the public as compared to its counterpart in Punjab despite the fact that the two provinces have enacted almost similar Right to Information Law early this year.

The data provided by the respective information commission of the two provinces show that over 400 complaints have been filed against various departments in Punjab for withholding information during last four months while in KPK only around 180 such complaints have been received in the last eight months.

This correspondent also sent similar information request to all districts of Punjab and KPK on the same date but the response from KPK was much faster and better in terms of information than that from Punjab. The request was sent to 19 districts of KPK on September 2, 2014 and until yesterday (Wednesday) five districts had already responded with the required information. In contrast, out of 35 districts of Punjab, only four had responded with the required information while one has snubbed this correspondent for making the information request.

The executive district officer (Health) of Lahore even summoned this correspondent to his office in response to an information request, in an illegal move depicting the typical secretive and authoritative mindset of the bureaucracy.

“You are requested to appear personally along with your original National Identity Card in this office on any working day for collection of the said information,” reads the response signed by EDO (Health) Lahore.

When contacted, the member of Punjab Information Commission (PIC) Mukhtar Ahmad Ali said the EDO had no right to summon a citizen over an information request indicating that the commission would proceed against the official after receiving a written complaint against his attitude.

According to data provided by PIC member, around 400 complaints have been received by the commission during last four months against the officials of the Punjab government who failed to provide information to the citizens under the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act (RTI) 2013.

“Under the law, the concerned department is bound to provide required information within 14 days of the filing request. Even if the information cannot be provided owing to some genuine reasons, the concerned department must give its response to the applicant within the stipulated time,” Mukhtar Ahmad said.

He said the culture of secrecy was still prevalent in the province but the commission was trying to create more awareness about the law through training workshops for officers of the various departments.

However, he said PIC was yet to get a proper office and budgetary allocation by the government.The situation is a lot better in KPK where the Right to Information Commission started working in December 2013. Talking to The News, the provincial Chief Information Commissioner Sahibzada Muhammad Khalid said the fist complaint against a KPK official for withholding information was received in February 2014.

“So far we have received 170 individual and seven group complaints against various officials of KP government for violation of KPK’s Right to Information Act 2013 and the commission have already disposed of 55 such complaints,” he said.

Khalid said the KPK Assembly must be commended for passing the RTI law as it had enabled the common citizen to access information regarding the working of the government. “This is something that I had not imagined happing during my life,” he said.The chief information commissioner said the law was playing a vital role in improving governance in the province as the officials knew that they were under public scrutiny.

He said in other countries several years were given for awareness campaigns before the implementation of RTI law but in KPK and Punjab, the law had been immediately implemented.

The News

IT is never advisable for governments to get into the business of banning books. And if the literature in question is written to counter the extremist narrative that is beginning to dominate, as Malala Yousafzai’s I am Malala attempts to do, then official obstructions to prevent the launch of such material can only be termed utterly appalling. As reported, the authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have thwarted the launch of Malala’s book which was supposed to take place yesterday at the University of Peshawar.

The PTI-led KP government apparently got cold feet as ministers and university officials pressured the organisers to cancel the event. The police, too, said they would be unable to provide security. This sets a disturbing precedent, especially when we consider that a seat of higher learning was involved. As one of the organisers observed, “It is against the spirit of freedom of expression and promotion of education”.

But there is an even graver problem. The KP government’s buckling under pressure reflects a sense of fear that is palpable across Pakistan — the fear of ‘offending’ the militants. The state is ceding more and more ground to the extremists, allowing them to decide what is and is not okay for public consumption. Such resignation and retreat on part of the state is unacceptable.

Malala has been feted by the world for her courageous stand against extremism and activism for women’s education. She has been welcomed in world capitals and august global forums. Should we not hang our heads in shame because she cannot be appreciated in her own country and province? Let us be clear: Malala is someone the people of KP can be proud of, a symbol of the potential of the troubled province’s youth. PTI chief Imran Khan has expressed disappointment at the cancellation of the launch. He would do well to convince the KP government to reschedule the event and facilitate it so that it goes ahead without a hitch.

DAWN

In any democratic country there would have been no need for any speculation since an accurate and conclusive answer could easily be obtained by any citizen raising this issue under the ‘right to information’ law.

While the presidential assignment may be ceremonial, it is significant by its symbolic representation of an aboveboard individual whose actions are dictated solely by ethical, legal and constitutional considerations. To remove any aspersions suggested by the press, on October 28, 2013, a Pakistani citizen made a clarification request to the Presidency under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Ordinance 2002. It was expected that a clarification on who footed the Haj bills would be received within 21 days (as required by the FOI law) and the matter would stand closed.

The questions asked were: 1) names of all persons who accompanied the president during his Haj visit to Saudi Arabia; 2) amount spent on travel and stay of each individual; 3) who paid for the travel and living expenses of each individual. Were they paid by the president from his own pocket or sponsored by the government of Pakistan?

Forty days have passed since the request was sent to the Presidency. One did not expect the highest office to not follow the law of the land – clearly a violation of not just the FOI law but also that of Article 19A of the Constitution of Pakistan. This could only imply that either the information is being withheld because the president provided a free junket to his family and friends at the cost of taxpayers’ money or is simply not bothered about the FOI law or the constitution of Pakistan. Both inferences do very little to boost trust and admiration for the occupant of the largest house on Constitution Avenue. The matter now rests with the federal ombudsman – a recourse provided in the FOI law when information is not provided by a public body.

Attracted by foreign funding, “right to information” has been a popular topic for five-star conferences in Pakistan for the past several years. Scores of seminars, hundreds of speeches and thousands of plastic mineral water bottles have been consumed to dilate upon this subject. In practice the law remains dormant and rarely churns out any meaningful information.

No public sector official has ever been punished or fined for denying the right of information to Pakistani citizens. Except for the newly formulated FOI law in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, there is no provision in any other law to take the defaulters to task.

The role of ombudsmen (replaced by information commissioners in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab) thus gets limited to receiving a citizen’s appeal and passing it on to the concerned department with a note to ‘do the needful’. The delinquent department often interprets this as ‘do nothing’, ‘sleep over it’, ‘deflect it’ or simply drag the issue with standard bureaucratic recipes.

With the Presidency taking the lead in refusing to act upon the FOI law, there may be little hope for the ‘right to information’ to flourish in Pakistan. There appears to be little emphasis on actually implementing the FOI law (with all its shortcomings) and far more on its use as an article of trendy conversation. It is also a classic example of how foreign funding can make us joyfully organise seminars on cool topics like FOI in five-star hotels, but do little to enhance our capacity to think, act and improve on our own.

Surely the subject needs to be carried far beyond the papers on which it placidly resides at the moment. The Presidency could have set a ground-breaking example and taken the FOI law many miles forward had it simply sent a short and accurate response to the questions asked. May one hope that it would make up for the lost opportunity after it receives a formal ‘please do the needful’ letter from the federal ombudsman?

The writer is a management systems consultant and a freelance writer on social issues. Email: naeemsadiq@gmail.com

The News

Sahibzada Muhammad Khalid, a grade 22 official who resigned from the K-P Public Service Commission earlier this week, has been appointed for three years. This period starts from the date of his taking office as outlined by Section 24 of the RTI Act, read the official statement.

The search committee, which will decide two other ‘commissioners’ was also announced. K-P Chief Secretary Arbab Shahzad will serve as the chairman of the committee. Justice (retd) Abdul Aziz Kundi, University of Engineering and Technology Vice Chancellor Syed Imtaiz Hussain Gillani and Rahimullah Yousafzai were announced as members. K-P Secretary Information will serve as secretary to the committee.

The search committee will ensure merit based appointments, mindful of the criteria for the commissioner jobs, within 30 days, added the handout. The eligibility for commissioners set under Section 24 of the RTI Act states one of the members needs to be an advocate of the high court or Supreme Court who is qualified to be a judge at the high court. The second member will be from the civil society and should have no less than 15 years of experience.

The act has a deadline of 120 days to appoint the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Commission after its commencement.

The RTI bill was unanimously passed by the K-P Assembly on October 31 and was sent to the office of Governor Shaukatullah Khan to sign. Speaking to The Express Tribune, Spokesperson for Chief Minister Shiraz Paracha confirmed the governor had signed the act and therefore, appointments had been made.

Express Tribune

The media group is constituted by the Development, Environment, Legal Aid, Technical Support and Advocacy Association (DELTA), which is holding consultations with stakeholders for better utilisation of the legislation.

The consultative meeting held at Peshawar Press Club (PPC) was attended by members of the media group and other journalists.

The participated of the meeting termed the Act a good piece of legislation. But, for getting maximum benefits from it, they called for launching a campaign in both print and electronic media for creation of awareness in the people. He said that awareness regarding the law would help decline the problems and complaints of people.

They further said that under Article 19-A of the Constitution of Pakistan, it is the fundamental right of all citizens to have access to information at federal and provincial levels. They termed the newly promulgated Right to Information Act (RTI Act) 2013 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government bold step towards bringing transparency to the province.

The meeting recommended that the commission to be constituted under the Act comprises representatives from the legal fraternity and civil society but does not have media representation. The media is the forefront in highlighting issues regarding corruption. Therefore, a representative from media must also be included in the Information Commission along with members.

It said that that lower courts as well as the high courts should not be exempted from application of the law. It is necessary that the judiciary, instead of treating it as ‘sacred cow’ is also made accountable, as per international practice.

Hence, an information cell should be crated within the courts to provide information through an information officer deputed to the cell by the government emulating the structure at the district level. Information pertaining to monetary matters of the judiciary cannot be sought from the courts, but from the department of law.

The RTI Act should also be copied and enacted at national level through national legislation. Similarly, the rights provided under the RTI Act, should b also provided to the residents of Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA, which can be accorded through extending the legislation to cover the area of FATA through a Presidential notification.

The Nation

Despite these regrettable changes, the RTI bill could be used as a model for the other provinces and the centre. The draft Freedom of Information Bill presented by the PML-N is a travesty that does the very opposite of what such a bill should do. It gives individual departments the right to decide if they want to release documents and the only oversight is in the form of an ombudsman who can advise them but has no real authority. Each request for information also requires the payment of a burdensome fee which will surely discourage the public from exercising their right to know what their elected representatives and public servants are up to. This is where the RTI bill should inform the Freedom of Information bill currently being considered in the Senate. The RTI bill mandates that officers be appointed who can be approached for all requests for information and who will be expected to avoid delays and obfuscation. Even more importantly the RTI bill includes protection for whistleblowers so that no one will lose his or her job for revealing information that could be damaging to those in power. Of course, the success of the RTI can only be judged by its implementation but the federal government should pay heed to some of the language in that bill.

The News