da winzada777： A constitution provides cricket with stability and protection; in selection processes, in development of domestic cricket, in nurturing of regional associations

da stake casino： Osman Samiuddin26-Mar-2006

Will Shaharyar Khan’s plan of implementing a new constitution finally come through? © Getty Images
Constitutions are not big in Pakistan. The country didn’t have one until 1956 and the one that governs the nation now only arrived in 1973. And this one can argue that toilet paper is accorded greater respect in some countries around the world, such is the fiddling, chopping, changing, misinterpretation and disregard it has faced by various leaders over the years. Cricket is not much better; it has been waiting on a new constitution now since 1999, when, within the second six months of the year, in turn four different men were heads of Pakistan cricket. To this day, the board is run by an ad-hoc committee in constitutional ambiguity.One of the many tasks in current chairman Shaharyar Khan’s in-tray when he took over on 9 December, 2003 was to devise and implement a new constitution. For two years, deadlines were repeatedly set for the constitution to be put into place. In November 2004, in an interview to this website the chairman said it would take three to four months. A few months earlier, in May, he had told , a national daily, the constitution would definitely be in place in three to four months.A draft, created by a body headed by Justice Karamat Bhandari was finally completed in mid-2005 and handed to President Pervez Musharraf (the head of state in Pakistan is Patron of the PCB and has to approve the constitution) in June. Given that he is president and may have more pressing matters at hand, nothing has happened since, no approval, rejection, only more limbo.”I cannot add much to that I am afraid,” Shaharyar told Cricinfo. “Occasionally, I get the impression that the President’s House has sent the constitution out to legal experts to have it vetted. Beyond that I cannot say anything with any certainty.”Is it likely to emerge any time soon, say before the end of the year? “I am fairly confident that something will emerge in the next two to four months. They are moving on this, it’s not lying around gathering dust.” It’s been said before though and only the foolish would rule out it being said again.Is it disappointing then that over two years after having taken over, one of the primary objectives still hasn’t been achieved? “Frankly I won’t say disappointed but I really would prefer that we had one as soon as possible. In the areas where the old constitution is alive, like district level governance, we have held elections. It is only with the executive committee and electing a general body that we haven’t had elections. But our democratic credentials are still better than many boards in that we have had elections in many districts across the country.”It is a rationalisation Pakistan is familiar with; in 2005, local level elections, although widespread, were widely-disputed and there has only been a referendum for the ultimate head of state – the President – in 2002, the results of which were also disputed. Democracy, it is argued by the government, is not so black and white a concept, or indeed one that, one-size-fits-all, can be applied to every nation. Strands of similar reasoning persist in Pakistan cricket, where it is often argued that the centralised and autocratic functioning of the board allows a smoother administration of affairs nationwide, shred of pesky, dissenting regional voices.”We have spread out the decision-making process with the ad-hoc committee which is a good body with sensible people on it. Look around in India and Sri Lanka and the problems they face in running cricket, particularly in India where it is difficult to make decisions because so many voices are there,” says Shaharyar. But there is of course good reason for its speedy implementation, as Shaharyar reiterates, “I would rather we have a constitution, particularly as the new one has improvements in it and covers loopholes, anomalies and contradictions that the older one didn’t.”The safeguards of accountability and transparency a constitution guarantees is vital, as the current administration, dogged by financial scandals after every big home series may appreciate. And as Imran Khan has pointed out more than once, a constitution provides cricket with stability and protection; in selection processes, in development of domestic cricket, in nurturing of regional associations (which this administration has failed to do) all of which have traditionally been problematic areas for Pakistan. Above all, it makes the chances of something like the administrative shambles of 1999 unlikely to happen so easily.The chairman’s own position is likely to come under review if and when the new constitution is approved. Not only is his three-year term coming to an end in December, the draft constitution has also left the process of finding a chairman in the President’s hands. Traditionally they have been appointed directly by the President. “We have left that to the Patron to decide. He can nominate and have all other positions elected, or he can ask candidates to come in and stand for election. Or a mixture as in he nominates a person and the general body approves or disapproves.”My tenure ends in December. We’ll see after that: if the constitution is there and calls for an elected head I don’t want to run for that. If it is a nomination then I might consider it. Logically if I have been there three years then I should stay another three months for the World Cup. It makes sense to see it through till then. I’m not hankering for it though – I have done a few things and a few still need to be done. The constitution is one of them.” As it has been, unfortunately, since the day he took over.