One is tired of hearing from PPP rulers that parliament was supreme. It is a kind of ruse to avoid implementation of decisions and directives of the Supreme Court particularly regarding National Reconciliation Ordinance. Zardari & Co also touted that they had restored 1973 constitution. Nothing could be farther from truth.
Fact of the matter was that the constitution has been amended by self serving rulers and others, to be anti people and pro politics. Parties no longer are political but cults. Each headed by an all powerful deity – obeyed and revered like a guru. Chief of the cult whether a legislator or not was for life since condition for re-election was removed by amending the constitution.
In the sequel parliament functionally became a kind of tribal jirga of five or so chiefs of parties having elected members in the house. Regarding any issue before the house a party head decides which way his legislators were to vote. Any one voting otherwise because of personal choice or conscience would lose membership. Ironically there was no appeal against disfranchisement in any court of law except to the party chief.
The writer is not a lawyer much less a constitutional expert. However, in my reckoning some 440 elected members in the parliament (including senate) and many more of the four provincial assemblies have functionally been turned into dummies sans brains, nor conscience.
BASHIR A MALIK
Lahore
