Daily Times

Quaid-e-Azam once said, “Democracy is in the blood of Muslims, who look upon complete equality of mankind…[and] believe in fraternity, equality and liberty.”

For the past one month, Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri have been staging dharnas (sit-ins) calling for Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s resignation. Yet, even at its peak, the number of those attending does not amount to winning a single constituency in the general elections. Both Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri have become increasingly isolated and the hope of PM Nawaz Sharif’s resignation seems to be waning with each day.

Here are 10 reasons behind why Pakistan has rejected calls for inqilab (revolution) and azaadi (independence).

1) Despite irregularities, the 2013 general elections were better than before and several polls suggest that the PML-N sustains popularity. According to numerous independent election monitoring organisations such as FAFEN, PILDAT and the EU, although the May 11, 2013 Pakistani general elections were far from perfect they were actually better than all previous elections. The relatively positive reports were based on the independent reports of over 41,000 trained observers stationed all over the country.

Evidence of the PML-N’s sustained popularity is seen in many recent polls. A recent Pew research survey shows that 64 percent of Pakistanis have a favourable opinion of PM Nawaz Sharif and only 32 percent give him an unfavourable rating. Another survey by PILDAT states that 63 percent of all Pakistanis believe the 2013 Pakistani elections were fair and transparent.

According to Gallup Pakistan, 66 percent of Pakistanis think that Imran Khan should have waited for the next elections. It also revealed a strong commitment to democracy with 81 percent saying they prefer it to the 13 percent who favoured dictatorship. Furthermore, all other political parties have renewed their confidence in PM Nawaz Sharif and both Pakistan’s National Assembly and Senate have passed unanimous resolutions declaring it illegal to ask for his resignation or dissolution of parliament. Coercing his resignation would hence be an unconstitutional assault on parliament’s resolutions. As many have pointed out, if Imran Khan thinks PM Nawaz Sharif rigged the 2013 elections on a massive scale while not even being in office, it does not make sense that he needs to resign before any investigation takes place.

2) The time for unconstitutional power grabbing is over. While Pakistan’s neighbouring country, India, has steadily been strengthening its democracy, Pakistan’s progress has been stifled by political unrest and has suffered at the hands of military dictatorships. Imran Khan himself has said in an interview last year that the worst thing to have happened in Pakistan is the disturbance in the continuity of its democracy.

In 2013, Pakistan witnessed, for the first time in its 67-year-old history, one democratically elected government peacefully handing over power to another democratically elected government. This peaceful transition of power is an important milestone in Pakistan’s history for which Pakistan was internationally praised and an accomplishment Pakistanis should feel proud of. Orderly and peaceful democratic transitions of power are a testament to a maturing political climate in the country. It is necessary for the constitution to be rendered supreme and the democratic process strengthened for Pakistan’s future generations to inherent a strong nation.

Pakistanis are tired of political musical chairs. They no longer want to see their rulers desperately trying to sustain power but to actually tackle the problems that affect average Pakistanis. The constitutional way to call for the resignation of the PM is through a “no confidence” vote in parliament. There is no support for this from any other political party.

3) Current rigging allegations are not enough to change the PML-N’s majority. All political parties acknowledge that some local level rigging took place in last year’s election but there does not seem to be any evidence it was massive or done by any one political party. Furthermore, despite irregularities, the current rigging allegations do not change the overall results of a victory for the PML-N. This is why all other parties have accepted the results. Some 410 petitions against rigging were filed with the election commission, only 58 of these from the PTI, and of those 39 have already been handled by the courts. Even if every single remaining allegation of rigging went in the PTI’s favour it would still not be enough to change the overall results.

Though the government should have initiated reforms earlier to avoid the current crisis, there were already calls for both a parliamentary committee and a judicial commission to investigate accusations of widespread rigging and enact electoral reforms. Fiery rallies may rouse emotions but bring little practical change and are best kept for election campaigns. It is imperative to work within the framework of the constitution for real change.

4) Conspiracies on both sides must first be investigated. The PTI’s and PAT’s claims and ultimatums are getting increasingly bizarre and inconsistent. Imran Khan has accused the former Chief Justice (CJ) Iftikhar Chaudhry, General Kayani, celebrities, and a host of other people in what seems to be one of the most devious international plots against him coming into power. But we have yet to see or hear of any proof. The PTI’s Deputy Information Secretary, Fayazul Hasan, has claimed on national television that Pakistan’s military establishment, the US, UAE, India and even MI6 were all allegedly involved in a massive international plot against Imran Khan winning the elections!

These claims failed to be substantiated by any independent organisations overseeing the elections. Imran Khan and Afzal Khan’s claims have also been refuted by the election commission. Afzal Khan not only said he has no proof to offer but he testified that the May 11 elections were the best ever held in Pakistan. Undermining each of Pakistan’s institutions without providing hard facts is highly irresponsible.

Furthermore the PTI’s own president, Javed Hashmi, has made damning accusations that Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri are working on a conspiracy against Pakistan’s democracy at the behest of some retired generals who are responsible for writing this “script”. This puts both the PTI’s and PAT’s credibility into serious question as themselves being “match-fixers”. Until a full investigation is done their accusations against others or demands made of the government must also be taken with a grain of salt.

(To be continued)

The writer is a freelance journalist and blogger for The Huffington Post. She has a BA in English and Psychology from Rutgers and can be followed on Twitter @ meriamsabih