State structure

(1)   The party will work towards the writing of a genuinely federal parliamentary constitution. At the centre, there will be two houses of parliament. The National Assembly will be constituted on the basis of the one man-one vote principle. The Senate will reflect the equal representation of all federating units and will exercise meaningful executive power. The centre will concern itself only with defence, foreign affairs, currency and inter-provincial affairs. The so-called tribal areas will be incorporated into the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Religion will be separated from the affairs of the state.

(2)   The administrative and political status of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan will be revised on the basis of the internationally recognized principle of the right to self-determination, as expressed democratically by the people of these regions.

(3)   The principle of proportional representation will apply to the elections to national, provincial and local-level assemblies. The following categories will be made operational: workers, peasants, intellectuals, women and minorities.

(4)   Laws will be passed to put a cap on campaign spending and to encourage the participation of working people in the electoral process.  

(5)   Laws will be passed to empower voters to exercise the right to recall their elected representatives from the national assembly.

(6)   The administrative machinery will be reformed along democratic lines. A policy of decentralization will be formulated so as to ensure the supremacy of elected institutions over the administrative apparatus. Historically rooted systems collective decision-making such as the panchayat will be incorporated into the local bodies system. Through the union council and town committee, working people will encouraged to take part in administrative and fiscal decision-making. The local bodies system will be institutionalized through appropriate legislation.

(7)   The political, social, economic, and cultural rights of ethnic and religious minorities will be protected by law.

(8)   All national languages and cultures in Pakistan will be given state patronage. Numerous languages will be given the status of official/national languages whereas Urdu will function as the de facto medium of communication.

(9)   All laws that discriminate on the basis of class, gender and religion will be repealed.

(10)All non-productive expenditures – including defence – will be reduced and the military will be subject to the oversight of the federal government.

(11) All provincial police and revenue departments will be reconstituted whereas all politically motivated interventions and postings will be prohibited.

(12) The quota system will be revised on the basis of social and regional deprivation and all postings will be made on the basis of merit (within the logic of the quota system). The arbitrary powers of the administrative apparatus will be repealed.

(13) Corruption will be eliminated at all levels of government. Transparent accountability mechanisms not motivated by political ends will be established.

(14) An independent judiciary will ensure the provision of cheap and efficient justice.

 

     Basic rights

(1)   The UN declaration of basic rights will be adopted whereas other international conventions on political, economic, social, religious and cultural rights will inform basic constitutional amendments.

(2)   Education will be considered a basic right of all citizens. Education will be free at least until the matric level. Gainful employment will also be guaranteed.

(3)   The state will be responsible for providing health services of all kinds to each citizen.

(4)   Every citizen will be guaranteed justice. The provision of justice will be free and efficient.

(5)   Freedom of expression, association, collective bargaining and strike will be considered non-negotiable rights. The right to form a political party will also be guaranteed.

(6)   All citizens will be eligible to occupy elected and other official positions in the state regardless of caste, religion, sect, faith, colour, race and gender.

(7)   Human dignity and the right to life will be protected and the state will not have the right to infringe upon these basic rights.

(8)    Poor and handicapped parents that force their children to earn the family livelihood will be compensated by the state so that the causes of child labour are addressed. Any employer forcing children under the age of 14 to work for them will be charged for crime.

 

      Agricultural policy

(1)    A ceiling of 25 acres irrigated and 50 acres unirrigated land will be instituted (this figure can be adapted on the basis of what constitutes a productive unit). The land acquired from big landed estates will be distributed amongst sharecropping tenants and agricultural wage labourers (without compensation). The decision of the Federal Shariat court against land reforms will become null and void.

(2)    All land holdings of the state will be distributed amongst the landless.

(3)    All land allotments made by the state will also be reclaimed and this land redistributed to the landless.

(4)    The land held by absentee allottees including military officers and civilian bureaucrats will be confiscated and redistributed to the landless.

(5)    All allotments of land to multinational companies on a contract basis will be cancelled.

(6)    All lands handed out to ex-royalty and other honorific title-holders will be confiscated and redistributed to the landless.

(7)    Any existing high-technology farms will be turned into cooperatives and administered by small and landless peasants. In general cooperative farming schemes will be encouraged and subsidized by the state.

(8)    Peasants will be given loans, agricultural inputs and other support at reasonable rates.

(9)    Agricultural wage labourers will be given the right to association, while their compensation and working conditions will also be brought up to par with international standards.

(10)Livestock rearing, fishing and forest development will be given state patronage.

(11) Unused land will be forested whereas existing forest cover will be given special protection.

(12) Basic municipal services will be extended to all rural areas. Attempts will be made to promoted cottage rural industry.

(13) Agricultural policy will emphasise self-sufficiency in food as well as creation of gainful employment.

(14) Inter-provincial distribution of water will be made equitable and consistent with international practice. The 1991 water accord will be implemented in letter and spirit. Water distribution practices will be free from bribery as well as the influence of big landlords. No mega water storage project will be undertaken without consensus amongst all the provinces and affected communities.

 

Industrial, trade and economic policy

(1)   Great emphasis will be placed on industrial development. Private industry will be encouraged by the state but the ‘commanding heights’ of the economy including utilities will all be retained in the public sector with the objective of providing a largest possible number of workers with employment opportunities. More generally the state will play a central role in industrial development whilst also ensuring that private industry is not allowed to indulge in uncontrolled profiteering and exploitation of workers. Industrial development will take place squarely to meet the needs of Pakistan’s working people rather than serve narrow capitalist interests.

(2)   Small and medium enterprises will be given special attention; bureaucratic red-tapism, bribery and other impediments will be removed.

(3)   Support will be provided to domestic capital and special emphasis will be paid to rural industry so as to stifle the growing influx of working people into overcrowded urban areas which do not have the required absorptive capacity.

(4)   Industry will be set up in remote and relatively underdeveloped parts of the country and employers will be bound by law to offer employment opportunities to local communities.

(5)   Public sector institutions of all kinds, including financial institutions, will be reformed to as to ensure the representation in management of workers.

(6)   The exploitative conditionalities of the IMF, World Bank, WTO and the impositions of multinational capital more generally will be vigorously resisted.

(7)   Close ties and cooperation with other third world countries will be cultivated so as to secure economic freedom, sovereignty and industrial development.

(8)   The tax structure of the country will be overhauled so as to dramatically reduce the proportion of indirect taxation; direct income tax, including agricultural income tax, will be collected across the board.

(9)   Rich and powerful individuals and conglomerates that have taken loans from public sector financial institutions will be obliged by law to pay them back or else face criminal charges.

(10)                       Corporate profits of multinationals operating in Pakistan will be taxed heavily; all income accruing from such taxation will be spent on meeting working people’s needs and investing in basic technology.

(11)                       The practice of offering undue incentives including cheap loans to multinationals will be discontinued.

(12)                       A coherent policy for communications – particularly railway and sea  travel – will be formulated with the objective of meeting the needs of working people.

(13)                       Appropriate utilization of the country’s natural resource base will be prioritized so as to deal with the outstanding energy crisis. Coal and water will be major sources of energy. Gas and other mineral resources will be employed in a sustainable manner.

(14)                       Citizens’ right to housing will be the premise upon which a real estate policy is formulated while an appropriate ceiling on the size of residential holdings will be established.

 

      Labour policy

(1)   A coherent labour policy will be formulated that is based on international conventions and particularly laws of the ILO. Trade union rights, including the right to strike and bargain collectively, will be guaranteed in all public and private enterprises. No institution will be exempt from the application of labour laws, including those controlled by the military.

(2)   Workers will be granted a controlling stake in all big industrial enterprises. No public enterprise operating in the public interest will be privatized (or any public enterprise operating at a profit). Likewise bureaucratization and individual gain will not be tolerated under the guise of ‘nationalisation’.

(3)   The contract system will be abolished in all public enterprises.

(4)   A minimum wage law will be passed that ensures a decent standard of living for all Pakistanis.

(5)   Differences in salaries across public pay scales will be minimized.

(6)   The newest technologies will be employed to limit accidents in accident-prone industries and particularly mining industries.

(7)   Provision of education, health and housing facilities to worker’s families will be the responsibility of the employer, in both the public and private sector.

(8)   Disputes between employer and employee will be resolved by a newly constituted labour dispute mechanism that strictly enforces labour laws.

(9)   Bonded labour will be made illegal and efforts will be made to eliminate the conditions that lead to it.

(10)                       Informal workers including agricultural wage labourers will be protected by labour laws.

 

      Education policy

(1)   Human development including that inculcation of a civic consciousness will be encouraged through the use of science and technology at all levels of the education system. Educational institutions will be established throughout society. Medical, engineering and other vocational institutions will be set up in all regions of the country. The provision of gainful employment at the local level will be a priority.

(2)   The educational curriculum will be revamped to reflect secular, democratic and critical values.

(3)   All educational institutions will contain residential facilities for teachers and students alike.

(4)   The independence of educational institutions will be guaranteed. A democratic culture of tolerance and dissent will be promoted particularly by granting students the right to association.

(5)   Universities will be made into hubs of learning, critical questioning and humanist values.

(6)   Legal limits will be placed on the fees of private educational institutions.

(7)   Long-term educational planning will be emphasized.

(8)   Primary education will be offered in the mother tongue. English will be a compulsory subject from the first grade.

(9)   Vocational training will be introduced at the secondary level.

(10)  At least 10% of the federal budget will be spent on education.

 

      Health policy

(1)   The state will be responsible for providing health facilities to all citizens.

(2)   Public hospitals will be set up at the district, tehsil and union council levels and these hospitals will provide all required preventive and curative facilities.

(3)   Multinational pharmaceutical companies will be regulated heavily and they will be allowed to function only insofar as they comply with locally stipulated imperatives of health and drug provision.

(4)   Private hospitals and clinics will not be constrained to charge reasonable rates for their services by law.

(5)   At least 10% of the federal budget will be spent on health.

 

      Women’s liberation

(1)   Policies will be formulated to undo patriarchal domination in Pakistan and allow women to become fully participating members of society. Women will be considered the equals of men in economic, social and political fields and legislation will be passed to ensure that international conventions related to women’s rights are applied at all levels of society.

(2)   Special legislation will be passed to protect the rights of women in the workplace.

(3)   Women will receive remuneration equal to that of men in all public and private enterprises.

(4)   Working women will be offered day care facilities for their children at their workplace.

(5)   Forced marriages of minor girls as well as adults will be criminalized.

(6)   All anti-women ‘customs’ will be made illegal and punishable.

 

      Student and youth policy

(1)   Students and youth are the future of society. In this regard priority will be placed on promoting opportunities for young people in educational institutions to take part in cultural, recreational and creative activities of all kinds. Public funds will be reserved for this purpose. Constructive competition will be encouraged including healthy debate on the basis of the right to association.

 

      Cultural policy

(1)   All nations that constitute Pakistan will be provided equal opportunities to develop their cultures and languages so as to build a genuinely democratic and progressive society. Legislation will be passed in this regard and funds provided accordingly.

 

      Media and information policy  

(1)   Legislation will be passed to ensure that all citizens are granted easy access to public information.

(2)   Radio, TV and print media will conduct themselves responsibly to protect the principles of freedom of expression and the public interest. Legislation will be passed enshrining these principles after consultation with the media.

 

      Provision of justice

(1)   The judiciary and the administrative apparatus of the state will be separated. The judiciary will also be financially independent.

(2)   A national judicial council will be responsible for the appointment of judges of th superior courts.

(3)   The practice of appointing ad hoc judges after retirement will be abolished.