Daily Times

It is a common belief that history repeats itself with regular intervals of 30 odd years. But in Pakistan it seems this historical cycle repeats itself within three to five years, especially in the political arena. Summer is an important season for the people of Pakistan. First, they have to bear the smouldering heat resulting from frequent load shedding of electricity. On the other hand, political experts of all stripes and colours come out to suggest new alternatives to save the nation. Most of them swear to be diehard democrats but they still cannot let the parliament complete its term for reasons that defy all logic. This summer is no different than others. There are increasingly louder talks of aiding the judiciary to implement its orders. Then there are others looking for clean politicians to form an alliance to get rid of the corrupt ones. Contributing to the chatter are those politicians who are impatient for their term in office. All in all, this is the same vicious cycle from which Pakistan seems unable to extricate itself. The nation has to ask itself whether it is the politicians that failed or it is the failure of democracy as a system of government.

Democracy as a form of government is chaotic by nature. It becomes a pressure cooker when there are a large number of political parties, a coalition government, an opinionated media and no mutually agreed ethics of behaviour. In successful democracies all players understand their roles, responsibilities and boundaries. They understand that overstepping a line may offer a short-term benefit but in the long run it will affect their interests as well. The behaviour of the stakeholders is conditioned by their long political traditions as well as the fair application of law. In Pakistan, all instruments of state carry a stigma of overplaying their hands whether it is the politicians undermining each other or the judiciary legitimising dictators using the doctrine of necessity or the military establishment abrogating the constitution.

Some prominent ex-servicemen and political theorists are proposing that since the orders of the Supreme Court have not been executed, it should resort to Article 190 of the constitution to seek help from the army. Article 190 does not specifically mention the army to provide aid, which implies that it is the last resort when all other options fail. As a civilian institution, the court should first invoke its ability to control the law enforcement agencies to execute its orders. Once these departments fail to comply with the court orders then second recourse is the issuance of contempt of court order against those who are creating hurdles. If the military route is adopted, it confirms the view that the military deliberately keeps civilian forces weak to keep the door of intervention open for itself. We have to learn lessons from the last four military interventions and its devastating effects on the nation.

The other idea is the formation of a group of politicians who keep a history of success in the elections and have no stain of corruption. This idea defies the basic tenet of politics, which requires gathering of individuals to form political parties to pursue an ideology that is different and unique from all others in a society. This means that if there is presence of an ideology that is acceptable to all these people, they should form a political party and present their manifesto to appeal to the electorate for mandate. Pursuing a patchwork of individuals that may not have a strong affinity towards each other or a formalised structure to organise does not induce confidence in their success. Winning elections or getting majority in parliament is not an end by itself but a beginning to serve the nation with the best capability. The premature announcement of this initiative shows the lack of political acumen in the leaders of this group.

There has been a lot of criticism on the opposition parties in Pakistan for being too accommodating of government policies. This is an unfounded criticism as in most democracies, for any government to function normally, there has to be a compromise between the government and the opposition on national issues without wide departure from their ideological positions. If the opposition takes a rigid stand, even the strongest democracies cannot function. A recent example is the debt negotiation deadlock between Republican and Democratic parties in the US.

There are concerns that the present government cannot organise free and fair elections. There are valid demands of chief of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan to prepare authentic voter lists and use of biometric identification during the elections. Over 1,000,000 people, including pooling agents, presiding officers, district election officers, security guards and political volunteers, manage general elections in any country. If a large number of these people become part of rigging in the elections then it shows the moral decay of the society in general. In the US, the elections are organised under the supervision of the judiciary. Since we have a credible judiciary in place, we should consider that the judiciary is given the mandate to supervise the upcoming elections independently without interference from the executive. Media, civic organisations and freelance reporters should make effort to collect evidence of rigging to help the election commission. Severe punishment should be awarded to officials who deliberately engage themselves in fixing the elections.

Patience as a virtue is not part of our national psyche. The traffic congestion on our roads, cutting lines to get served, the way we run our businesses and our expectations from the politicians are evidence of our deep-rooted impatience. There are always multiple options available to resolve a national issue. The best approach is one that safeguards against long-term negative implications. We have to ensure development of political institutions, which cannot happen until we let them continue. In the short term there will be disappointments but in the long run capable people will rise to the top. If the nation can stay united after a major earthquake, a historic flood and daily rampage of terrorists then fears of survival from a political storm are unfounded.

The writer is the Chairman Council of Past Presidents, Pakistan Chamber of Commerce-USA. He can be reached at abdul.kundi@gmail.com