There have been calls for Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s resignation after his conviction by the Supreme Court. While Nawaz Sharif has demanded resignation, Imran Khan has threatened a tsunami march on Islamabad. However, the PPP and its allies show no signs of stress or retreat and the diehard PPP supporters consider this yet another case of discrimination against the PPP. Some view it as a power struggle [between two sections of the corrupt elites that govern Pakistan], which has little to do with democracy, independence of judiciary, or the rule of law.
The court cited article 63 (1) (g) of the Constitution and observed that the premier might face consequences under it. The Article 63 (1) (g) of the Constitution says:
(1) A person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), if:-
(g) he is propagating any opinion, or acting in any manner, prejudicial to the Ideology of Pakistan, or the sovereignty, integrity or security of Pakistan, or morality, or the maintenance of public order, or the integrity or independence of the judiciary of Pakistan, or which defames or brings into ridicule the judiciary or the Armed Forces of Pakistan.
It is a bit ironic that Pakistan’s political parties have not paid attention to amending this provision which is inherently anti-democratic with a Ziaist bent and can be abused to cover almost anything under the sun.
Ideology and morality are highly subjective and have been the pet excuses of Pakistan’s autocrats to persecute their opponents. In today’s Pakistan, how many people would remain qualified to be members of Parliament if this was really applied by the courts whose judges have been collaborators of military dictators who trampled upon the constitution with impunity!
In the broader context, this article belongs to the 18th century and does not have any place in the modern world. There should not be any holy cows or restrictions on free speech under any pretext whatsoever. All political parties should unite to strike this article from the constitution otherwise it is likely that it will be abused in the future. Only the court of the people through elections should decide who should or should not sit in the parliament unless she/he is convicted of a crime by a court of law.
This is not an argument to defend Zardari and Gilani. That there is widespread corruption is undeniable. But why some organs of the state, particularly army and judiciary, continue to be the holy cows. For most of Pakistan’s history, these two combined have dominated the system and are largely responsible for a lot of what is wrong with Pakistan today. Isn’t this ridiculous that instead of holding them accountable for their misdeeds and mistakes, there is virtually no mechanism or effort to bring them into the accountability net as well.
There is no doubt that politicians should be held accountable and everyone should be equal in the eyes of law. But why some are more equal than the others? This is where people like Imran Khan stand on a shaky ground because they are not willing to take on the military establishment or the judiciary. There is no room for selective accountability in a true democracy. If civil contracts awarded to foreign companies are subject to judicial scrutiny, so should be the defence purchases running into billions of dollars.
Isn’t it a violation of the fundamental rights of the people of Pakistan when the Supreme Court wastes tax payers’ time and money on taking suo moto action against an actress for allegedly carrying alcohol but fails to take notice of the thousands of deaths of “ordinary” Pakistanis at the hands of terrorists. I wonder how many terrorists have been tried and convicted since 2000? To my knowledge, not a single person has been convicted for any role in carrying out a bomb blast.
It is curious that while the Supreme Court goes to extraordinary lengths to look into the working of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and insists upon appointing persons of its choice to investigate particular cases against the officials of the incumbent government, it happily releases known terrorists like Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami’s Qari Saifullah Akhtar and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s Malik Ishaq on bail.
It is hypocritical on part of chest-thumping pseudo-nationalists to condemn the American drone attacks as violation of the sovereignty but turn a blind eye to the reports that it was General Kayani who had agreed to these attacks. The New York Times had reported that Mike McConnell, the director of the US national intelligence and Gen. Michael Hayden, the CIA director met with Pervez Musharraf and the army chief, Gen. Kayani on Jan. 9, 2008 and offered a ‘range of increased covert operations’.
A Newsweek magazine (March 22, 2008) report disclosed that the wave of Predator attacks were the result of understandings the high-level visitors reached with Musharraf and other top Pakistanis, ‘giving the United States virtually unrestricted authority to hit targets in the border areas.’
If drone attacks are violation Pakistan’s sovereignty and indeed they are, then why the Supreme Court has so far chosen to ignore these grave allegations against the army chiefs that they colluded with the American CIA. Both our politicians and army generals have been guilty of seeking American intervention in domestic affairs. But why do we have double standards? If a civilian seeks US help, he is accused of treason but when a general gives carte blanche to the CIA to conduct drone attacks, the matter is hushed up in the name of national security.
I agree thast there shold not be any holy cows and every one should be equal in the eyes of law. Considering the history of Pakistan replete with innumerable scams and scandles, don’t you think a beginning has to be made somewhere? Supreme Court of Pakistan has really made a good beginning and this will be deemed as water shed in the efforts made by well intentioned institutions and individuals to save Pakistan.
The Way Out
PM Gilani’s conviction and his subsequent obduracy neither to quit nor resign has created an impasse between the govt. and the opposition that has started threatening the very survival of democracy in the country. The open threats of simultaneous long march and counter march to Islamabad and Raiwind by the senior leaders on both sides not only smack of dire hostility but is tantamount to inviting clashes between the protestors. Such clashes, if ever took place, shall not remain confined only to the physical embroilment of the contenders but with the amount of fire arms displayed both by the Jialas and others even on ordinary bye elections, and presently at Lyari, it is anybody’s guess what could happen, including a civil war in the country. Would or should the army allow that to happen? And, if the army intervenes we all know what it means for the democracy.
Next, suppose the Speakers refers the matter to the EC after 30 days and the EC upholds the SCP verdict after a lapse of another 90 days, what will happen to all those executive orders passed by Mr. Gilani during these four months? Not all those could be reversed as some of them would have been implemented in the meantime. To my mind, therefore, the only way to avoid the civil war, possible take over of the army, save the democracy and not create chaos by the implementation of unlawful orders, the Chief Executive – the PM – should proceed on 4 months’ long leave and not issue any executive orders during this period. Once the parliamentary process is complete, depending upon its outcome, he or the next PM could continue with the usual business of running the country.
The PM’s resignation will not solve any problems rather more problems will be created. The letter will not be written by any other PPP or coalition party PM who will also therefore wilfully go in contempt. Except for wasting time and money of this poor country what will be achieved? In the meantime the PM has an excellent advise for the third of the population wanting to leave Pakistan as per a recent Gallup poll. He said, “Why don’t they leave? What is stopping them?” There are several factors I could mention which are hindering their exit. For one, the passport office barely performs and in an case will not issue a passport before the applicant has an ID. The NADRA office are mostly closed(elections etc.) and are usually busy finding excuses not to issue IDs to those most unforunate. So there, the PM could start by streamlining these inept organizations for a better Pakistan!