Rs 3,000
Citizens Report on Performance of Defence Committee of the Cabinet during the past four years is prepared by PILDAT in the backdrop of principle of democratic oversight of national security. The report covers a period of four years, i.e. from March 2008 to March 2012 examining closely the publicly-available data, reports in the media, regarding the meetings and performance of Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC). The Military wing of Cabinet Division, which acts as secretariat of DCC, was contacted to share publicly-available data of the DCC meetings but till the writing of this report, official data was not received. Cabinet Committees are usually formed to allow greater focus in a particular area. Through these Committees government business is processed more effectively by relieving pressure on the Cabinet as a whole. Committee structure also supports the principle of collective responsibility ensuring that policy proposals receive thorough consideration without an issue having to be referred to the whole cabinet. Cabinet Committee decisions have the same authority as the Cabinet. The objective of the report is not to offer a critique of the work of DCC but to analyse the performance in the backdrop of peculiar security needs of Pakistan and the role DCC is playing with respect to defining and influencing policy and principles of national security. The report is part of PILDAT’s larger focus on improving civil-military relations in Pakistan in the light of the Constitution of Pakistan and assisting Parliament, Cabinet and other institutions in undertaking well-researched, objective and non-partisan control and oversight of defence and security sector.
