A speaker in a parliamentary system of governance is one of the most significant figures. No doubt before being elected as a speaker, a member of an assembly has certain political views and enjoys his affiliation to one political party or another. Nevertheless, it is thought that the moment a speaker takes oath of office, he is to abide by the Constitution and parliamentary rules and his political affiliation will not stand in the way. Rising above all partiality and partisanship, he is to play his role as a bridge.
He is to set his interests aside, leave his political connections behind and be an unprejudiced presiding officer. A difficult job, indeed. Naturally, human beings tend to have preconceived notions and prejudices, and their judgments are clouded by them.
Impartiality is not to be carried out, but it is seen to be done by the speaker’s conduct. Without it, a speaker can’t do justice between the Treasury and Opposition benches. A speaker reduces himself to a mere mouthpiece of a party if he plays a partisan hand.
Whatever might be the commitment of Asad Qaiser and Qasim Suri to Imran Khan, the fact remains that they brazenly transgressed upon their authority, thereby violating their oath to the Constitution. Posterity will not forgive them. Their controversial roles in letting the country slide down the hill will be judged by historians
Democracy dies in darkness when it’s foundational pillar, the parliament, is held hostage by a speaker. The speaker’s role is to preside and supervise and not to impose his will over that of the people, who elect their representatives in the Assembly. Deep down a speaker may be a democracy-loving person or an anti-democratic one. That’s where the Constitution, read with parliamentary rules and procedure, comes in to circumscribe his powers and authority in certain matters. It goes without saying that parliamentary rules and procedures developed over the centuries and have now ripened into law.
The former Deputy Speaker, Qasim Suri as well as the Speaker, Asad Qaiser acted as if they were mere puppets in the hands of their political master, who was all along pulling the strings from behind the scenes to achieve certain political goals. It was entirely unbecoming of them to stoop so low so as to prove their loyalties to Imran Khan. Under the parliamentary norms, they were not in any circumstances accountable to him. Nor were they subservient to him. He might be the head of the political party they were connected to, but they couldn’t trifle with the constitution and parliamentary rules at any cost. In paying obeisance to Imran Khan’s dictates, they made a mockery of their roles as presiding officers.
Under the aegis of Asad Qaiser, deliberate filibustering and dilatory tactics were brought into play for the whole day in the National Assembly to keep Imran Khan out of troubled waters. There was a method in his madness. Pakistan’s democracy was hanging by a thread. Pakistanis were glued to their TVs and mobiles screens to await the denouement of the political soap opera that partook of suspense and surprise.
Asad Qaiser was visibly tormented and under tremendous pressure when he came for the last time to chair the National Assembly. In his frustration, he hurled abuses at a journalist, who asked him a question. Not to become a contemner who flagrantly disrespected the Supreme Court’s order, and not to attract Article 6 of the Constitution, he offered his sacrifice as a scapegoat. He tendered his resignation just 15 minutes before the hands of the clock were to meet at 12 a.m. Perplexingly, upon taking on the mantle of the acting speaker, Ayaz Sadiq sang praises of him, instead of coming down hard on him for throwing a monkey wrench in the whole proceedings just to curry favour with Imran Khan.
When confronted about his ruling that kicked the hornets’ nest and its being struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, Qasim Suri didn’t show any signs of remorse and continued defending the indefensible. Deplorably, on the day of voting for the new Prime Minister, Qasim Suri made an impassioned speech, giving vent to his grievance. His voice was shaking with emotions. He was brandishing the same letter that created a political earthquake in Pakistan to justify not going ahead with a no-confidence motion. His rage knew no bounds. He thundered. To him, his leader was above all board and accountability. Getting off the chair, he asked Ayaz Sadiq to come and assume the role of the speaker.
Those leaders who encourage blind following in their ranks lead their followers to believe in extraordinary things. The diehard followers find themselves in such a frame of mind that they couldn’t tell right from wrong and distinguish between falsehoods, half-truths, and truth. To them, their leader is infallible, who couldn’t come up with a conspiracy theory to justify his hold on to power. In other words, with their eyes shut, the followers believe, without questioning the rationality underlying the decisions made by their leader. When they climb up the ladder to reach the upper echelons of their party to occupy offices of crucial significance, they are ready to go to any extent to hold allegiance to their party leader.
Whatever might be the commitment of Asad Qaiser and Qasim Suri to Imran Khan, the fact remains that they brazenly transgressed upon their authority, thereby violating their oath to the Constitution. Posterity will not forgive them. Their controversial roles in letting the country slide down the hill will be judged by historians. While Molvi Tamuzeedin is remembered for his commitment to democracy, parliamentary sovereignty and supremacy of the Constitution, Qasim Suri and Asad Qaiser’s names will be associated with those who make no bones about trampling upon the Constitution to be in their political masters’ good books.
