Democratic roles

A two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court has held that advisers and special assistants cannot head cabinet committees or act as ministers, in the absence of a minister who had been elected and put in that place as a result of votes cast by the people. The court has held that the constitution mandates that only elected persons will be in a position to run government and take decisions and as such head ministries or act as spokespeople for the government. It may be noted that the PTI government at present has five advisers, some of them holding crucial posts.

The court has noted that Prime Minister Imran Khan appears to be running the government through a set of people he has personally selected himself rather than through those elected by the people. The basis of democracy is that government be handled by people who have been voted in through ballots for this purpose. The widespread use of advisers and assistants who have not been elected goes against this principle. While in the past advisers have sat in parliament and in the cabinet to give the government their expert opinion on key issues, they have not taken over the role of ministers. The rules of government lay down that each division or ministry needs to be headed by an official who holds a place in parliament and has been voted in for this purpose. In other words, the presence of such persons gives the country's people a say in the running of government rather than handing this over entirely to one man.

There is no doubt that so far the current government has acted widely through the use of assistants and advisers on many key matters. The decision also comes at a time when the matter of privatisation is under debate and a committee made up mainly of advisers and assistants is heading this committee. Let us not forget that democracy demands that the vote of the people be counted not only on the day of balloting, but also after it when the time comes to take decisions and run the government. So far, this has not happened because of the presence of the large coterie of assistants and advisers. It is time the government opted to use those who have been voted in to take key decisions and head committees. This must happen sooner rather than later.