Daily Times

Elections in Pakistan bring with them a certain amount of absurdity. That much is understood. Yet this time around, political actors are outdoing themselves.

Being disqualified from the premiership and barred from holding public office for life by the Supreme Court has not stopped Nawaz Sharif from hitting his stride on the campaign trial. His latest public appearance came at the beginning of the week when he addressed a workers’ convention in Chishtian, in the PMLN stronghold of the Punjab. It was there that he expressed his wish to serve Pakistan one more time. In another country, in another time, this would possibly have been treated as contempt of court. For due process can never be approached as a pick n’ mix affair. Indeed, simple non-recognition of judicial jurisdiction is not be sufficient to weaken the latter’s authority. Nawaz, truth be told, does not much care. So firmly is he entrenched in the mind-set that says he has everything to play for and nothing to lose.

Except this is not entirely true. For what the thrice-elected premier desires more than anything is to be crowned for a fourth term. For him, the third time has been anything but a charm. Yet what, then, are we to make of Nawaz’s refusal to tone down his anti-judiciary and anti-military rhetoric?

In his latest measured confrontation, the PMLN supremo effectively told an accountability court hearing that the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) into the Panama Papers case was neither fair nor impartial. In fact, Nawaz went on to proffer his own diagnosis for this: strained civil-military relations as well as the inclusion of military officers in the JIT. This may be nothing more than hedging his bets. Though no one is suggesting that the former PM does not believe what he says. But it is to ponder whether or not such a provocative statement is his swansong-in-waiting in case things do not go his way.

To be sure, Nawaz has plenty of detractors. There are those, such as Imran Khan, who said right from the start that he should have resigned the moment the SC investigations began. This was likely sincere advice. For as things currently stand, the PMLN kingmaker is also complicit in compromising his own trial. Pointing out that he has the peoples’ backing is not some get-out-of-jail clause. Unless, of course, one happens to be the unpleasantly suave Tony Blair.

That being said, one man has the power to silence such critics: Hafiz Saeed. The latter has been designated a terrorist at home and abroad. But there he is, showing Nawaz a virtual red card as he suggests that the latter has no business politicking following the SC disqualification. It is important to note here that not only is Saeed hitting his own campaign trail in Sindh — he is also threatening to move a contempt of court motion against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) over heel-dragging regarding registering his political party, the Milli Muslim League (MML); which the US last month listed as a foreign terrorist organisation.

Thus the uncomfortable truth is that as long as known militants are afforded preferential treatment over and beyond a popularly elected politician — legitimate state actors like Nawaz are on a winning streak.  *

Published in Daily Times, May 23^rd 2018.