Tempers are rising among political leaders and workers on account of the abusive language about opponents used by the Prime Minister. He has called them three stooges, Showbiz, Diesel and Dakoo. The opposition leaders have so far avoided paying back in the same coin though some of the second-tier opposition leaders have begun to respond in the same language. Jacking up the confrontation level the PM has called upon his workers to gather at Islamabad’s D-Chowk on the day the no-confidence motion is presented for vote in the National Assembly. This is intended to pressurize the PTI dissidents with an aim of stopping them from voting against the PM.
Mr Imran Khan feels constrained by the checks and balances introduced in democracies to stop the rulers from turning into autocrats. The latest example is the changes in electoral rules brought through an ordinance removing the bar on public office holders visiting the area of any local council during a specified period before the Local Bodies election. Defying the ECP’s embargo, Mr Khan visited lower Dir, accompanied by the KP CM and several federal ministers, to influence the elections. He had been specifically notified not to visit Lower Dir till the end of the elections.
Mr Khan wants all institutions and govt departments to act in line with his orders. Soon after ISPR clarified that the Army has nothing to do with politics, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry claimed that the Constitution mandates Army to stand by the government. Mr Khan went a step further by declaring that he was not doing politics but jihad and that humans either sided with the good or the evil, and only animals remained neutral.”
This has led the higher judiciary and legal fraternity to come out in support of the Constitution. A Supreme Court bench ruled against the promulgation of excessive ordinances to run the government, observing that an ordinance could only be issued when circumstances exist which render it necessary to take immediate action and when neither Senate nor National Assembly is in session. Meanwhile, lawyers top organizations are holding a joint meeting on Wednesday next week to devise a strategy to protect the Constitution.
There is a need on the part of the PM to respect the checks and balances, avoid frequent recourse to ordinances and act strictly in line with the Constitution. He should concentrate on bringing down the political temperature and give priority to resolving the common man’s problems.
