With the season of coup d’état or direct military intervention in politics over and the Establishment making a tactical withdrawal from manipulating or influencing political developments, the political leaders have a heyday. They are out to show their true colours!
Engaged in the noisy brawl of a blame game, they are blaming each other for the current dismal state of affairs: the nation’s fall from grace, economic malaise, rise of terrorism, maladministration and deteriorating law-and-order situation. Forming strange alliances amd coalitions of diverse, rather opposite and contrasting ideologies and programmes of action, there have emerged two political camps: the PDM and PTI. They are involved in a pitched battle (of accusations and counter-accusations), fought both inside Parliament and out on the streets. The shouting, grown into a crescendo, is duly relayed through the print and electronic and social media to the distraught nation. The core argument is about the holding of early or delayed general elections.
The PDM is struggling to cling on to power for as long as it can. Its leaders, having just secured freedom through parliamentary reprieve, do not wish to end up again in prisons. And sensing the pulse of the electorate, it can ill afford to enter the electoral arena, hence is making pretexts and excuses for the postponement of elections. The PTI, on the other hand, is striving to send them packing and take over the reins. Seeing a bulge in popularity, they are hellbent on holding urgent elections. Having abused and misused the legal and judicial process against the opponents, they are currently tasting a quid pro quo from the ruling alliance. And with a no-holds-barred approach, the battle between the two groups lingers on, getting fiercer and more ferocious by the day. The casualties, unfortunately, are the legal and constitutional norms, democratic and parliamentary traditions and civilized political discourse.
Meanwhile, the country is in dire straits and the nation is experiencing most agonizing moments. The successive governments, and especially the four-year rule of the PTI and the incumbent PDM Government, have contributed to the dreadful situation: economic meltdown, high unemployment, galloping inflation, rise in terrorist acts, increase in dacoities/burglaries and soaring street crime.
The country is at the verge of financial default and essential items of daily use are fast disappearing from the markets. The record inflation has rendered millions hungry and broken the back of the middle class. There is no such thing as governance, much less good governance, exposing citizens to suffer oppression and violation of rights, without any hope of remedy or relief. Consequently, there is widespread gloom and depression amongst the people.
Encouraged by the withdrawal of the Establishment from the political arena, the politicians, and especially the leaders, who were convicted or underwent trial for taking commissions or skimming billions of rupees from the national kitty, have the audacity to target the judiciary. They are also calling for the abolition of the institutions of accountability, in particular, the National Accountability Bureau. This institution, having been deprived of much of its powers and jurisdiction, thanks to the amendments made to its law by the PTI and PDM, and having earned a bad name for being used for selective accountability, is already teetering on the edge. The heir apparent of one-party leader is asking for the reversal of court verdicts of conviction against her and her father and insisting on getting a clean chit; or else, elections will not be allowed to be held!
The constitutional mandate of holding elections on time must be upheld, no matter what the cost and how it may affect the political parties. The Court needs to be on the constant watch and intervene whenever and by whomsoever, there is a threat to the democratic governance or a deviation from the constitutional dispensation.
In short, the country is in dire straits. and is faced with the worst political and economic crisis. Institutions, like the police, the Federal Investigation Agency and the rest of the bureaucracy are being abused and misused for narrow partisan ends. Constitutional mandates are brazenly violated and court verdict, even orders of the Supreme Court, are jeered at. The resulting state of affairs, undoubtedly, poses an existential threat to the very survival of the state and society. But apparently, there is no way out of the crisis. The distraught nation is in deep pain and agony, looking forward to a saviour!
In the given circumstances, all eyes are on the judiciary. It is the only institution which can, and must, play its due role. After all, the judges of superior courts have taken a solemn oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution”. There is hardly any regard or respect for its rules or principles by the Government or Opposition. The sacred document is under threat, even though it is a social contract between the people and regions to form a State and live together as one nation.
The institution of the judiciary is no shining example of an effective and efficient institution and the Supreme Court is often maligned for validating successive martial laws in the country. This Court is perceived to have been playing second fiddle to the Establishment and helping it in toppling political governments and thwarting constitutional rule. Undoubtedly, it has to its discredit quite a few most controversial verdicts, including sending one Prime Minister to the gallows and disqualifying another for life. This is in addition to a spate of most atrocious judgments on the dissolution of Parliament, dismissal of governments and validating the imposition of martial law. And quoting erroneous theories and doctrines like “doctrine of necessity” and “theory of revolutionary legality”, not just coup d’états were legitimized but the martial law administration permitted to amend the Constitution. It led the country to suffer successive bouts of the rigours of martial law, each one of which wrought greater disaster to the country. Thus, cases like Federation v Molvi Tamizuddin (1955), State v Dosso (1958), Begum Bhutto v Chief of Army Staff (1977) and Zafar Ali Shah v Gen Pervez Musharraf (2000), will always remind the nation of the dark era of its judicial history.
Notwithstanding the above, there were moments, when certain courageous judges resisted pressure, stood the ground and decided cases purely on merit and strictly in accordance with the law/Constitution. Justice Constantine of the Sindh Chief Court, Justine Cornelius of the Federal Court, Chief Justice Yaqub Ali, Chief Justice Saeed-u-Zaman Siddiqi and Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, are few such examples. Other than that, the High Courts and the Supreme Court have the distinction of standing by the law and protecting the fundamental rights of citizens. The suo motu powers have been employed for resolving conflicts and disputes and providing socio-economic and political justice to the community. The Court intervention in reversing the dissolution of the National Assembly by the former Prime Minister, Mr Imran Khan and ordering the holding of General Elections in the provinces of the Punjab and KP, despite the reluctance of the PDM Government, were well-received by all and sundry. It helped in resolving a serious political crisis and prevented a breakdown of the constitutional machinery.
The constitutional mandate of holding elections on time must be upheld, no matter what the cost and how it may affect the political parties. The Court needs to be on the constant watch and intervene whenever and by whomsoever, there is a threat to the democratic governance or a deviation from the constitutional dispensation.
