After the restoration of independent judges in 2009, the superior judiciary emerged as a powerful institution that over the next decade would issue rulings against all government departments and functionaries. The emboldened judiciary however ended up weakening democracy in Pakistan. Instead of giving space to political leadership, top judges frequently gave them a tough time on different issues. Two prime ministers and about three dozen parliamentar5ans were meanwhile disqualified on various charges.
Keeping in view the context, the observations of the Iislamabad High Court while dismissing the petitions of the PML(N) and PPP against the amendments in PECA come as a positive development. The court maintained that political parties represented the people and were expected to resolve their disputes in Parliament instead of unnecessarily involving the judiciary. The petition by the PFUJ was entertained by the court because the media body had no other forum for seeking remedy. The political parties instead have Parliament which is empowered even to amend the Constitution. The PML(N) and PPP could contest the amendments in the ordinance within Parliament since they enjoyed a significant representation there. The verdict pointed out that either of the two Houses of Parliament is empowered to disapprove the ordinance through a resolution.
One hopes that the judgment would deter political parties from seeking short cuts instead of setting their house in order. By taking to courts disputes that can be resolved through a better performance in Parliament, the parties surrender their turf to the judiciary. They also weaken Parliament in the process while allowing flaws in parties’ working to continue to persist. One such weakness is to ignore party loyalists and award Senate tickets to super rich but unreliable individuals, leading to a situation the opposition faces in the Senate, where despite being in a majority it has lost twice in voting. Similarly using courts to punish political opponents instead of defeating them in elections brings credit neither to political parties nor courts. The practice needs to be abandoned.
