ISLAMABAD
“We, as a nation, continue to chase shadows, embrace thugs as Messiahs, and look for Miracles where none exist. The latest miracle solution to all our problems is holding of immediate elections.”
This was stated by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founding member Akbar S Babar in an article entitled “Chasing Shadows” on Sunday. The international media is now unanimous that those in the forefront of this demand are the ones who created the mess in the first place.
They are the ones who ruined the economy and democratic institutions by deliberately nurturing divisions within each institution to divide and rule. Demanding elections is in line with the Constitution after a parliament is lawfully dissolved, but not on the whims of one individual to further his political agenda of ‘all or nothing.’
Pakistan’s Constitution remains the most dysfunctional Constitution. Not an eyelid moves when it is flouted on a daily basis when fundamental rights of citizens are crushed. But, when it comes to their power agenda, the protectors come to life to declare the Constitution sacrosanct. In doing so they even trample the fundamentals of the Constitution that even despots have been hesitant to in the past.
Elections in democracies is a means to propel new and more competent leadership. Not in Pakistan! where it is merely a means to climb to power by hook or by crook by recycling tested political waste. This is true as political parties are individual and/or family fiefdoms where cronies prosper and the competent perish. Power in Pakistan is merely a means to take a deep plough into the State’s resources.
Dictators traditionally perform better in governing as there is a perpetual issue of legitimacy that haunts them. Their periods of power have been more destructive politically as they alienate society and force military solutions to political disputes.
Democrats on the other hand are never sure how long they will last in power. For them, it is a now or never opportunity to turn their fortunes from rags to riches. Three things must happen if Pakistan is to come out of this never ending rut.
The Election Commission of Pakistan must be allowed to regulate political parties employing the full force of law without undue interference of the Superior Judiciary. This will turn political parties democratic and nurseries of credible leadership.
A Judicial Commission of credible retired Judges should be formed through an act of Parliament to cleanse the Superior Judiciary and suggest means to make selection of judges more transparent and merit based.
Lastly, Pakistan needs a breather of at least 3-5 years from the politics of chaos to focus on economic revival and governance. Whatever the result, any elections today will result in more chaos. If PTI wins, PDM will reject the results accusing that elections were held under a biased Judiciary.
If PDM parties win, PTI will sing and dance on the streets in protest till the cows come home. If there is stalemate, even more political chaos. And, while all this is happening, Pakistan would default on its loans leading to hyper inflation that a poverty stricken society can just ill-afford.
Political popularity swings with the political tide. PTI was most unpopular on April 9/10 last year primarily because of inflation, corruption, and poor governance. The PDM government performed no better and hence also lost political steam after coming to power.
Any political party that comes to power now will become unpopular in a matter of months thanks to the downward economic spiral that they are incapable of turning around. So let there be no mistake, any elections held without fundamental political and economic reforms will only lead to more chaos and anarchy.
While we stew in our own juices, the present doom and gloom also provides a rare and historic opportunity to set the fundamentals right as the majority is plain fed up with politics that has ruined their livelihoods. “As many years ago, surveying an apparently collapsing China, Mao Zedong coolly observed that there was “great disorder under the Heavens and the situation is excellent.”
