Hoodwinking, subverting and bypassing is an art so masterfully cultivated by our ruling classes, usually with the support of the bureaucracy, that they are able to defeat the good intentions of other institutions and make a mockery of a good policy or a constitutional requirement or even a court order. Everything is twisted and turned into a farce to serve the vested interests. Following the letter of the law and destroying its spirit has become a way of life. We now know through court proceedings that out of the nine general elections held since 1970, only one has been free of planned rigging by the state. Almost all caretaker governments in the past have not been appointed as neutrals but have been a party. So in the past the whole process has been a blatant eyewash, while the next election, in spite of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), seems to be headed towards a more sophisticated approach at subverting the process in order to achieve results similar to the past. The constitution calls for a neutral caretaker to ensure a free and fair election under a neutral and independent election commission. We were given to understand that the 18th Amendment ensured that the next elections would be free and fair. Unfortunately, while the procedures have been followed, in many an area the spirit has been subverted and continues to take a beating. Take the appointment of the Sindh caretaker chief minister; it is morally, ethically and probably legally incorrect. The MQM sat on the opposition benches for about a fortnight, after almost five years in government, just to avail the constitutional right to choose the caretaker in connivance with the PPP. Therefore, it is a partisan choice. Once that was achieved, media reported that they went on to equally divide cabinet seats amongst the two parties! What neutrality can we expect here? How free and fair can the elections be in Sindh? The ECP has not questioned it, the higher courts have not taken notice, and the other major parties like the PML-N or PTI are more concerned about Punjab. A major English daily has recently reported an important disclosure made by Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Najam Sethi regarding the fact that President Asif Zardari still calls the shots. According to Mr Sethi, when he requested Prime Minister (PM) Khoso for a grant to alleviate the load shedding in Punjab, he was advised by him to speak to the president. Mr Sethi said, “I saw the president who promised that he would order the federal finance secretary to release the funds of Rs 150 billion for this.” It seems that the caretaker PM and his cabinet is a doddering bunch of front men and it is business as usual for the president. A president who has been partisan for almost all of the five years is now taking executive decisions on behalf of the caretakers! If this is not subversion of the constitution, then what is? Now it is easy to understand why PM Khoso refused the request of the Chief Election Commissioner to transfer Punjab’s chief secretary to Sindh. It seems that it did not suit the designs of the PPP and MQM. It also explains why the incumbent chief secretary is not being replaced, as he is partisan and is required to head a highly politicised bureaucracy in Sindh. All these machinations and manipulations in Sindh are necessary to protect the ‘seat bank’ of the two major parties; if they do not achieve similar number of seats from Sindh as in the 2008 elections they would not have any chances of a shot at the federal government. The seats they obtained in Sindh were probably the result of means fouler than fair, therefore they must ensure the possibility of using similar means. Mr. Sethi’s office has said he has been misquoted and denied the news report. However, the reporter has not only produced a transcript but also claims to have a video recording. It is also understandable why this disclosure has created such a commotion in the CM House and Islamabad: the cat has come out of the bag! The caretaker minister for gas and petroleum is known to be a close buddy of Dr Asim, the outgoing PPP minister. We all know how close Dr Asim is to Mr Zardari, and we are also aware of the need to keep matters under wraps in this area. Once again the transparency of the process and the impartiality of the caretaker set up blows up in our faces. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), after meeting General Kayani, had announced the army’s full support, and that at sensitive polling stations the army’s presence would be ensured, while in others one soldier would be stationed. We saw how this settled issue was reopened by Interior Minister Habib, who then announced that the army personnel would not be available at polling stations but would be deployed under the control of the provincial governments. Constitutionally, the sole responsibility is that of the ECP for holding of free and fair elections and nothing is under their control on Election Day! If this is not subversion then what is? Who is calling the shots? Except probably in Punjab, partisan administrations may play unacceptable roles, particularly in sensitive areas. Therefore the army is sorely needed under the ECP’s control. For instance, this would be the outlook for Karachi: keeping in mind Karachi’s polling history of violence, coercion, fear, fraud and armed takeover of polling stations, the ECP has declared 50 percent of its polling stations as sensitive or highly sensitive. Sindh’s partisan caretaker government and its politicised bureaucracy cannot be expected to remain impartial in Karachi. The police and the rangers in Karachi are absolutely corrupt and completely compromised; they work hand and glove with the major parties and the mafia. They have always looked the other way and will continue to do so. Therefore, under the present arrangements, with the army under their control, we in Karachi are doomed to the same fate as has been our destiny for the last 25 years, deprived of our inalienable right to vote fairly and freely. The only way approximately 10 percent of the country’s voters can exercise their vote freely is by ensuring the army’s presence at each sensitive polling station. A caretaker prime minister who does not exercise his constitutional powers and defers decision making to the president, a president who controls the government through underhand arrangements with his choice of a caretaker PM, thereby acting unconstitutionally, an interior minister who subverts security arrangements made between the army and the CEC, and a province whose caretaker neutrality is a sham, refuses to act on the advice of the CEC. If this is not a mockery of the constitution and an absolute farce, what is it? The writer is a businessman and a former chairman of the National Textile Foundation. He can be reached at fsumar@cyber.net.pk