Why so impatient?
The demands for immediate elections and insinuations of initiating an agitation if the government fails to oblige assume an ominous significance in the midst of suggestions about a government of technocrats or of the Bangladesh model as solutions of Pakistan’s problems. The argument that the government has lost the mandate is both contentious and self-serving. The constitution does not envisage fresh elections in case of the opposition concluding that the people are fed up with the administration.
Equally worrisome at this junction is the promise by Nawaz Sharif to set up military courts to curb crime in Karachi. The proposal has been opposed both in the National Assembly and the Sindh legislature. As Gilani put it, there is no room in a democratic setup for military courts. Notwithstanding the slow movement of cases in the civilian courts and the fact that notorious criminals sometime get themselves released by pressuring the witnesses and the prosecutors, the solution lies in the improvement of the working of normal courts than in setting up a parallel judicial system. If it is right to try the target killers in Karachi through military courts, these courts should have been set up long ago in Punjab where terrorists continue to benefit from the laxity of the system, to the annoyance of the agencies which nab them by putting the lives of their personnel at grave risk. For that matter, why shouldn’t military courts be set up in all the provinces of the country where terrorists continue to operate?
Impatience to get things done urgently and in line with one’s personal timetable can be ruinous for the system as the events of the 1990’s amply prove. Without being conscious of it, a leader may turn into a tool in the hands of those who want to demolish the democratic set up. There is a need on the part of both Nawaz and Imran Khan to avoid any hasty decision that can upset the apple cart. It is better to allow the government to complete its tenure than seek its removal through means not recognized by the constitution.
I ,tend to endorse your thougt process partly. While your criticism of Nawaz Sharif's proposal to set-up military courts to try cases of terrorism in Karachi , is neither justified not valid as a paralell judicial system and your counter arguement if such courts are needed then the same must be established in all the four provinces, makes a lot of sense. However we need to look into the rationality of continue the current government under the facade of democracy after knowing through C.Rice's book, how NRO was stage-managed by Bush and Musharaf, that became instruemental for landing Zardari in President House and Isharat in Governor house along with a group of their stooges in key slots. Add to that negation of the implementation of Apex court's verdict on NRO by the government and more recent Memogate and the conduct of key post holders during Apex court's hearing and its commission's inquiry. What's there left to stop people from starting an Arab Spring here?
msc
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