Daily Times

The election cry by Imran Khan to bring the looted monies back from those who stole it could never have been legally delivered. One, Pakistan does not have a bilateral treaty with UK that allows return of funds or exchange of accused in court cases indicted of a crime on the other soil [Refer to Altaf Hussain in a parallel situation]. Two, UK law takes action only if law of their land has been broken. Promises to offer hundreds of thousands of jobs remained an electoral cry. Corona was a life saver, economy got a hit, business came to either a crunching halt or production fell as jobs were lost. PTI government was luckily saved from answerability. Inflation rocketing sky high was attributed in totality to the increasing global price index. However, the fact that was ignored was that the people of Pakistan had no state-run programme to support their families. Those who had some income coming in was simply too meagre to deal with the onslaught of escalated prices from necessary household items to electricity to petrol/diesel rates. There was no focus at any level towards the issues of the common man. Maybe because the party leader became divorced from ground realities. No steps were taken to ensure steps offering common relief to the people. Today, people of Pakistan stand disillusioned, broken and afraid. They do not know how to make ends meet. It is not only true of the lower income groups but also the white-collar workers and a middle class that seems to have been washed off from the face of this country.

Those dissenters who decided to leave the PTI fold are being awarded all kinds of derogatory names. However, Prime Minister needs to look inwards. All kinds and shades of turncoats were helped up onto the bandwagon to enjoy the fruits of power. Therefore, when Imran Khan reportedly admitted [Dawn News] that “he could not bring “change” in the country he had promised at the time he came to power, due to “faults” in the system,” he forgot he helped give strength to this very system, by taking onboard those who were part of the problem. How could they have ever been part of the solution? The desperate act of giving show-cause notice to dissenters poised to vote against their leader is a legal faux pas. Article 63 A permits this after an act is committed, certainly not before the act is committed. Whoever the legal brains there are guiding the party leader, are leading him down a wrong path. Unless the law was changed, this stands as the correct interpretation. Parties are polarized at micro levels, though they may seem united at macro level. Anchor Kamran Khan’s recent video tries to project an institutional clash. This may or may not be correct, but in a world of facts, half-baked facts, speculations and plain untruths, it can become very difficult to distinguish chaff from grain. Where does Pakistan go from this point on? A friend, offers some suggestions. Excerpt from his message reads, “Parliament can remain in session and OIC Meeting held peacefully. Peaceful voting be ensured on 27/28th, Speaker acts as per SC verdict that must come before 27th. Or alternatively and may be more prudent, PM should offer resignation in return to withdrawal of motion, and negotiations for Interim setup and dissolution of assemblies. This will only be possible with the help of CJP, veteran political representatives of all parties and Armed Forces etc.” [Lt. General @ Naeem Khalid Lodhi].

Keeping the current murky waters in mind, it is unlikely the Prime Minister will do as suggested above. Fighting back is an admirable attribute. But if done with grace avoiding any foul language or personal attacks. Certain positions are above these low tricks and should remain so. Failure to maintain this dignified posture makes a person controversial. It also conveys a feeling of a situation going out of control. This is certainly not the impression Prime Minister Khan would like to convey. It is clear that PTI has failed to lead the country out of the mire. But then, so have the other parties. All are part of the problem. Not one has the ability to steer the country out of the quagmire and into the open, in the present scenario. This encompasses all areas of work. May it be foreign policy, welfare policy, economics [including in particular inflation] and so on. Writing on the assumption that this government will not survive, a set-up of the best from all parties and hailing from different fields need to be put together. The choice must be made on their strong party affiliation, ruling out all the turncoats at all costs. They must work on a specific mandate covering multi-dimensional aspects. There must be small term and long-term benchmarks. Targets have to be met. Can this setup continue for a prolonged period to meet the challenges? Can this be constitutionally possible? The concern being of many this writer has spoken with: if election happens, the same faces will return to grace our parliament. This may be a watershed moment for Pakistan. Let us hope saner heads prevail.

Pakistan Zindabad!

The writer is a lawyer, academic and political analyst. She has authored a book titled ‘A Comparative Analysis of Media & Media Laws in Pakistan.’ She can be contacted at: yasmeenali62@gmail.com and tweets at @yasmeen_9.