Daily Times

After the resignation of President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1993, the caretaker government of Mr Moeen Qureshi as prime minister supervised the new elections in Pakistan. As a result, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto came to power once again but her government could not complete the full term. This election was different from the last two elections. In this election, workers of all political parties were seeking monetary benefits from the candidates to open offices and other printing material. This was the change of political culture as before these elections, this was not the norm of elections. Again, in this election, many people who were close to SMBB and were not thought to be favourable to the decision-makers were made to lose the election despite being the winning candidates. This manoeuvring weakened the political process and has incurred a huge loss to genuine political workers. Those who were active at grass root but not rich in terms of money could not contest the election in Pakistan. on November 5, 1996, Mr Farooq Khan Leghari dismissed the elected government and announced the new election in Pakistan.

In the February of 1997, elections were held and Mr Nawaz Sharif came into power again with a two-thirds majority in the parliament. This election was again managed and manoeuvred on the same lines as the election of 1990. Most of the people who contested the election were experts in having the bogus electoral lists with people’s fake identity cards and their names enlisted in the electoral lists. No one could compete with the candidates of the incoming ruling party who were their candidates, having the extraordinary support from the decision-makers. This was a one-sided election, where other parties were given a nominal representation in the parliament. Most workers of the Pakistan People’s Party did not actively participate in this election, which gave an edge to other party’s candidates. The fake cases were made against the leadership of PPP and judges were used to victimise them. SMBB left the country with the permission of the court and remained out of the country till October 2007. The political process was stopped, which gave a huge dent in the politics of Pakistan. This was the mistake that decision-makers made for the second time while making their loved ones come into power but alas! Their love could not last for long. After two years, the government of Mr Nawaz Sharif was toppled and martial law was imposed by dictator General Perviaz Musharraf in October 1999.

The National Ehtisab Bureau started by Sharif was taken forward by Dictator Musharraf and converted into the National Accountability Bureau for political victimisation.

After martial law, the dictator wanted to clean the country by accountability. The National Ehtisab Bureau started by Sharif was taken forward by Dictator Musharraf and converted into the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which is still working so far. This was the institution used for political victimisation and engineering. General Musharraf announced to hold the general election in 2002. There were many similarities between this election and the election of 1985. Many old corrupt and new faces/people were given a chance to contest the election from the dictator’s party and later after elections, they became part of the government. Pakistan People’s Party won this election as a single majority party, but using some new along with a few old tactics, the threats of political victimisation was done. Few elected members of parliaments were forced to change their political loyalty and support the government, which resulted in the dictator’s party getting the vote of confidence just with the difference of one vote. The dictator’s government completed its full term with the change of three prime ministers, but this government gave rise to corruption and the use of government resources for personal gains. These individuals are still a part of governments and enjoying the fruits of power.

I was working in a multinational bank where one day, my brother called and gave me the news that I was granted a party ticket from the same area–Kot Lakhpat– as Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. This area mostly comprised of the lower classes, labour workers and down-trodden people. My experience of contesting the election and going through the process was a great journey. I still haven’t quit working for them even today even though I am not a candidate from that constituency. Still, I made good friends in that area. After losing the election in 2008, I served the people of the constituency continuously for five years without a break. I feel greatly honoured to still serve the people of that constituency and the people of my father’s constituency. In 2008, my father was also a candidate from one of the very important constituencies of Lahore contesting against the relative of Mr Mian Nawaz Sharif as it is the same constituency from where Sharif won and became Prime Minister. My father has more connectivity with the people at the grassroots level. He knew right from the start that it was difficult to win the election against Sharif because he can compete with anything other than spending huge funds in elections, which has rotten workers of all political parties at the grass-root. Still, contesting election against them is a sportsman spirit so there should be some competition in the public leadership. The assassination of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had alarmed the decision-makers. Postponing the election gave them time to decide and select the people of their own choice to go in the parliament. The role played by the King of Saudi Arabia, just three days before the election, was quite important. A few important developments facilitated Mr Sharif’s party, PMLN, in winning a decent number of seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan.

(To Be Continued)

The writer is a litigation, corporate and human rights lawyer, a political activist and former Vice-Chairman (SAARC Young Entrepreneur Forum).