Wise or unwise, anyone agrees or not, the ‘Lahore Mission’ of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has turned out to be a bold decision to educate people of Pakistan, especially his support base, about the ‘hand’ that kept on insulting the sanctity of vote over the last 70 years. His four days of travel from Islamabad to Lahore has made him a real public hero despite undue criticism from his political opponents and pro-establishment news analysts and politicians. Gurus call it a mature, clear and loud enough message to the establishment and its strategic global partners that there would be no more compromises on the mandate of the public vote. No doubt, the message is well delivered, perhaps, well received too by the judiciary and the establishment. The political gathering at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on Sunday night was a clear Nawaz Sharif bashing by the PTI chief Imran Khan and Sheikh Rasheed, not the Independence Day celebrations by the Laal Haveli. Earlier, Dr Tahirul Qadri has had its show off in Lahore that is to be followed by a dharna on the Lahore Mall Road from August 16. The nexus is evident. The third empire has further designs after giving Nawaz Sharif out. The result would be nothing else except to weaken the democratic process by allegations and accusations. It would not serve the objective of elimination of corruption until the judiciary go across the board for cross examination of all those cases that appeared in the Panama papers. Otherwise, the common people would lament its only ‘Nawaz Sharif specific’ design. Unfortunately, even the judiciary could not side with the judicial norms. Evidently, flimsy decision once again has spoiled the image of the judiciary that already has stigmas to its credit by siding with the ruling dictators against the democracy whatever the kind of martial-law it was. Pakistan’s superior judiciary has to face another historic dent in its repute of ‘impartial decision making’ if the full-court review is denied to Nawaz Sharif for his disqualification. Pakistan’s judicial history cites several examples where decisions were seemingly compromised in the cases of national importance on the direction of the ruling dictators or by unnecessarily using the ‘law of necessity’. If the decisions on the cases of national importance are taken on the flimsy grounds, how the public shall presume the cases of ordinary people were or being decided on merit? Unfortunately, it is a big reputation loss for our judiciary. This was the point of time where all the political forces should have stood by him saying no to the establishment’s fiddling and undue interference in the democratic process. We undesirably see leading politicians such as Aitizaz Ahsan and Qamar Zaman Kaira and some others playing a game of their vested interest by weakening the democratic process, and supporting the establishment for their designs. We shall be facing another social and political turmoil as the Qadri and Khan pick up their agenda on the roads to disturb the normal life of the common people and their businesses, living and livelihood. There will be another steep fall as predicted in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) — another blow to Pakistan economy. It seems that Qadri and Khan are hired by design to disrupt the socio-political stability and economy of the country. Chinese media and experts though refer the responsibility of the present chaos in Pakistan to the external elements, but they believe the resolution of the confrontation lies with the domestic institutions While celebrating 70th Independence Day of Pakistan, we hardly see any significant development in any field. Certainly the consistent development is impossible without a stable economy, and that depends on the strengthened socio-political setup. Unfortunately, no Prime Minister of Pakistan could complete his five-year term due to one conflict with the establishment or the other. Nothing could have been insulting to the public vote more than ousting the elected Prime Minister. Now the public is up to their nose. Every sane person believes that the recent Supreme Court decision against Nawaz Sharif was unjustified. The situation had been different if the JIT and SCP have proved the allegations of corruption against him. A common opinion is that it was not the Supreme Court’s decision at all, and since the establishment had to get rid of Nawaz Sharif by hook or by crook, that mentality led to a flimsy decision against him. This decision has come out as a disastrous one. It has affected economy and political stability. The situation at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) shows the real picture of the impact. The CPEC is on halt. The other Direct Foreign Investment is waiting to settle down the dust that is not expected very soon, sadly. The time-tested friend China is waiting for Pakistan to see their promises fulfilled to expedite the CPEC initiative. Chinese media and experts though refer the responsibility of the present chaos in Pakistan to the external elements, but they believe the resolution of the confrontation lies with the domestic institutions. Undoubtedly, socio-political stability begins with the harmonic working relationship of state institutions. Democratic processes and decisions should not be over shadowed by the hegemonic decisions by the unruly forces. Public will and mandate should be the preferred and respected design of choice. The writer is an Islamabad-based policy advocacy, strategic communication and outreach expert. He can be reached at devcom.pakistan@gmail.com. He tweets @EmmayeSyed Published in Daily Times, August 15th 2017.