Daily Times

Headed by former Chief Justice (CJ) Nasirul Mulk, the caretaker regime taking office today is tasked with running the government in accordance with the Constitution and providing the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) with administrative and operational back-up. Not only must the caretaker regime be neutral and impartial, they must also be seen to be so.

Violators of the Constitution and the blatantly corrupt must be held accountable. At the very least, they and their collaborators mustn’t be allowed to take part in the upcoming elections. Given Ishaq Dar’s example, who elected as a Senator after absconding to London, this task cannot be left to the ECP alone. Supported by the Caretaker Regime, NAB must play its part. Pakistan’s democracy cannot afford the selective interpretation of the rule of law, while its political leaders and the unscrupulous public officials who aid them ignore it.

The first order of business is to remove forthwith those politicised bureaucrats who actively contribute to the rapacious conduct of their political masters and instigate them to act against ethical norms. Here I will quote my article ‘Direct vote and democracy’, which was published on May 5, 1995. I wrote ‘other than bad advice our political leadership depends on ‘special interest groups’ (and individuals) for survival once they are in office rather than on the electorate that voted them into office.’

The moral authority of the government having been virtually destroyed, the credibility of democracy is in tatters

The second order of business is to reverse some of the last minute extraordinary decisions made by the outgoing government. For example, a three month salary bonus that goes to federal employees. If this is not outright bribery meant to influence elections, then what is? As much as I personally like Ali Jahangir Siddiqui, sending him out to be our Ambassador to the US, given his legal circumstances and the likely short duration of his tenure, is way out of line. Consider the recent attempted strike by DMG officers in Punjab protesting NAB’s arrest of the efficient but ethically questionable Ahad Cheema, whose SUV was found parked in a vehicle showroom with Rs 14.5 million hidden in cash.

What has been done to the principal actors behind the ‘pen-down’ strike threatening governance in Punjab? The administrative breakdown could have led to anarchy and degenerate into an internecine civil war, quite like Libya or Yemen. Should these bureaucrats be left in place to manipulate the elections so that the ‘business’ of the next ‘elected’ government can go on as usual? Accountability is the touchstone of democracy. As such, too much is at stake to quibble about purely legal ramifications. Even with prima facie evidence, the persons involved must be suspended till they are cleared of wrongdoing.

Joining our elected representatives, an increasingly corrupt media takes vicarious pleasure in subjecting the superior judiciary and armed forces to muckraking. The moral authority of the government having been virtually destroyed, the credibility of democracy is in tatters.

An obnoxious and shameful harangue has poured contempt on the rule of law and targeted the respected superior judiciary who have to interpret it. Such gross disrespect by Mian Nawaz Sharif and his aides seeks to end the rule of law. In baiting the Armed Forces why are they adopting a deliberate policy of confrontation? While Maryam Nawaz Goebbels-like keeps on repeating her lies about the forgery exposed by the ‘Calibri Font’, she perhaps has now begun to believe it.  The confrontational stance that she and her father have adopted publicly is alarming, “those whom the gods want to destroy, they first make mad”.

The caretaker regime needs to support NAB. Too much is at stake for the poor people of this country for them to act legally squeamish in trying to recover ill-gotten wealth, besides everything money-laundering goes into the financing of murder and terror through organised crime. However, in attempting to bring to justice those who have violated the due process of law at will, should weside-line the due process of law? Going the wrong route will only exacerbate the situation.

With the elections to be held 60 days hence on July 25, 2018, consider the suggestion made nearly a quarter century ago in my article, “The 90 Plus 90 Formula” of December 5, 1996. “This would really mean that the Assemblies not being called into session for another 90 days in order that the accountability process for at least a majority of the elected representatives is complete.

Either the President can make a reference to the Supreme Court (SC) for adjudicating a time frame of 90 days post-election or the caretaker government can approach the court for relief, with the proviso that ordinances enacted by the President during this period will not lapse for 30 days after the Assemblies come into session. There is a temptation to give more than 90 days for accountability, but it must be for a very limited period so that the caretakers do not get too used to this. The headiness of being in power has its own dynamics evoking latent ambition. Luckily for us, the broad mass of the people want elections and accountability, both within a limited time frame,” unquote.

The accountability process being necessarily a long drawn out affair, and with the treasury looted and the country beggared, the intelligentsia is riven with debate as to whether elections or accountability should come first. However there is nothing more important for this country than to revive the democratic process as given in the Constitution. While the time and space can be adjusted because of the extraordinary circumstances, the electoral process has to take precedence in order to ensure the credibility of constitutional authority and continuity thereof (the writer is a defence and security analyst).

The writer is a defence and security analyst

Published in Daily Times, June 1^st 2018.