Pakistan allows political parties in tribal badlands

Pakistan on Friday allowed political parties to operate freely for the first time in its tribal belt and amended harsh colonial laws in a bid to lessen the grip of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. President Asif Ali Zardari made the amendments by decree, with his government looking for ways to contain systemic violence in the semi-autonomous region that Washington has called the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda. "In the long run we must defeat the militant mindset to defend our country, our democracy, our institutions and our way of life," Zardari said, describing the system of justice in the tribal belt as "obsolete". The northwest region has long been governed by British colonial law. It is a headquarters for Taliban and other Al-Qaeda-linked networks fighting against US troops in Afghanistan and behind a bombing campaign in Pakistan that has killed more than 4,500 people in four years. Critics argue that the lack of reforms have alienated tribesmen and made it easier for militant networks to recruit young men to take up arms to fight the Pakistani government and to avenge a covert American drone war. The Taliban bitterly oppose Islamabad's alliance with the United States and American drone strikes, which leaked American diplomatic cables showed the government quietly approved. "Henceforth the political parties, subject to appropriate regulations to be framed, will be freely allowed to operate in the tribal areas and present their socio-economic programmes," said Zardari's spokesman Farhatullah Babar. Political analyst and director of independent Centre for Civic Education Zafarullah Khan said it was a "historic" development and political parties' activities would create peace and tolerance in the region. "Earlier there were two only choices for the tribesmen. Become pro-government or join the Taliban. Now there will be multiple platforms for the tribes for articulation of their interests and rights," Khan told AFP. Under the reforms, an accused has to be produced before an authority within 24 hours of his arrest and has the right to bail. The practice of arresting tribesmen for collective responsibility will also be softened, said Babar. The Pakistani military is fighting against homegrown militants in much of the tribal belt, but has ignored US pressure to open a new front against Afghan and Al-Qaeda-linked extremists in the district of North Waziristan. Babar told AFP that allowing political parties to operate freely meant that "a vacuum had been filled" and that parties would now liaise with tribal elders in order to carry out their activities in a peaceful manner. Until now lawmakers representing the tribal belt were technically independents. Although some have been backed by political parties, the parties themselves were not allowed to operate on the ground. Khan said that earlier only Islamist parties held sway in the tribal belt, but now other secular and democratic parties would also interact with tribesmen and educate them about their manifestos.