Daily Times

Consensus has emerged between the Muslim League-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party on government, and under the power-sharing formula, Shahbaz Sharif of the Muslim League-N will be the Prime Minister, while Asif Ali Zardari will be the President. Similarly, responsibilities will be delegated according to the policy under the power-sharing formula for other constitutional positions. This is promising for Pakistan’s future because after the general elections, a constitutional crisis had arisen, and no party could secure a clear majority in the assembly, it was only through the formation of a coalition government that this constitutional crisis could be resolved.

On the other hand, some elements are still trying hard to cast doubt on the conduct of these general elections, with some discussing allegations of rigging, and others talking about spreading unrest throughout the country for their vested interests. We need to see whether our country has experienced such allegations and suspicions about elections for the first time or whether such doubts have been expressed in the past as well.

The 1971 general elections are generally considered to have been fair and transparent in Pakistan, but we also need to see that after those general elections, the country was divided into two parts. Then, in the 1977 general elections, opposition parties initiated a movement which resulted in martial law being imposed.

Institutions should be allowed to function within their jurisdictions.

Then, in the 1988 general elections,

We also saw a recurrence of allegations of rigging between the IJI and the PPP.

and in the next decade, there were four General elections, and any party that succeeded in forming a government in those elections faced allegations of rigging by the opposition.

Similar allegations were made regarding the general elections of 2002, 2008, 2013, and 2018, and any opposition party that did not accept its mandate faced allegations of rigging against the successful party.

Some shortsighted individuals who are saying that due to allegations of rigging in Pakistan’s general elections, they will write a letter to the IMF, will only be serving their political agenda. But have they thought about the damage it will cause to the country?

Now is not the time to spread discord or unrest in the country, and personalities are never bigger than the nation, institutions, or parties.

The country has always followed its policies and moved forward with its intentions, and it’s the politicians who ultimately implement those intentions into policies.

Therefore, the cycle of blaming institutions should now come to an end, and for the sake of the country, we need to hold each other’s hands now.

Now, it is essential to ensure transparent conduct of elections, and fundamentally, the role of our politicians is crucial in this regard, ensuring that no single political party, upon coming to power, creates a mechanism that excludes these politicians from overseeing the conduct of elections, thus avoiding any scrutiny from a third party. Unfortunately, once in power, our politicians, regardless of their affiliation, did not take any concrete steps to strengthen institutions.

We need to forget the past and move forward, and to rescue the country from difficult economic situations, we need to strengthen Pakistan, its politics, and its institutions.

Because when all of this is strong, we will not need the IMF’s assistance, nor will we have to seek favours from any friendly country. How all of this will be strengthened will depend on our politicians taking a serious approach.

I want to say through this column that the formula developed by the PPP and the PML-N for power-sharing should be respected, and in politics, the door for negotiations should always be kept open. There should be flexibility in political views and decision-making, and politics should never be confined behind closed doors, which only leads to deadlocks.

Institutions should be allowed to function within their jurisdictions, and politicians, who are responsible for upholding our constitution, should be vigilant. Now, what is needed is that we have the means, we have the numerical strength, now we need good governance and good planning, which will be the first big test for the incoming government. In these difficult times, when Pakistani youth are turning towards despair, and a brain drain has begun from the country, we must stop it because our voice will only be heard in the international community, and our identity and our dignity will only be respected when we are economically prosperous, and this is only possible when every individual fulfils his responsibilities and thinks about the country’s progress.

It is only possible when our aristocracy, politicians, and rulers, instead of blaming each other, will try to find solutions to issues and work to eliminate them.

The writer is an old Aitchisonian who believes in freedom of expression, a freelance columnist, entrepreneur and social activist.