Bursting of the ECP bubble

Much hope, little promise

The Supreme Court (SC) has thrown the delimitation in Karachi ball back in the domain of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Rejecting its petition seeking deferment of the issue till after the general elections, the apex court has ordered the ECP to comply with its judgement on a fresh delimitation of constituencies in Karachi on a non-ethnic basis.

The about-turn that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) took on the issue within a few days of having vowed to follow the SC judgement had sent a wave of disappointment among people who were looking forward to a genuinely transparent election process under Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim. With this new injunction, the CEC is back in the spotlight. I am afraid he is going to fail the SC again just like he did the last time. It is sad because so much hope was reposed in his person and so much was being expected of a so-called independent ECP in the cause of gauging the will of the people in a free and fair manner.

What are the factors that compelled the ECP to back off from its earlier stance? These can be traced to the composition of the ECP, the inherent weaknesses of the CEC’s person and the fear of operating in an environment which is ruled by the goons of the MQM. While, apparently, the ECP may be an independent institution, in actual effect it is controlled by four political appointees, each representing a province. The clearly laid-down procedure in the constitution for their appointment was also not followed as a consequence of an understanding reached among the major political stakeholders in the country sitting in the government and in the opposition. Their interests were best served by injecting their trusted representatives in the ECP who would protect their criminal stakes by thwarting the prospect of a transparent election in the country.

While one may want to trust the CEC to the extent that he may still want to conduct a transparent exercise, there is no denying the fact that he neither has the power nor the necessary wherewithal to make it possible. But for the mode of appointment of the CEC, the institution remains firmly in the grip of the corrupt and the traditional political mafias. The institution also lacks the capacity and empowerment to conduct even a reasonably fair and clean exercise in evaluating the will of the people.

In another disturbing development, the ECP is reported to have cleared many legislators holding fake degrees. This has been done giving grotesque reasons ranging from their ‘clearance’ by the staff of various educational institutions through personal appearance, time-bar and resignation of the legislators from their seats in the assemblies. In none of these cases were the degrees cleared by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) which is the sole statutory body to verify them by following a clearly set-out procedure.

As the national elections near, the illicit political pressure is bound to increase. On the basis of its below-par performance so far, will ECP be able to sustain the pressure and go through with holding a reasonably transparent election exercise? The stakes seem heavily loaded against the prospect. In fact, its future performance may not even measure up to the little that it may have achieved in the past. This is so because the magnitude of political pressure from now on is going to far outweigh any thing it may have experienced so far. The stakes are really high as the prospects of some leading political stalwarts staying out of jail depend on their winning the elections. For them, it is a do-or-die situation. If they win the elections, they manage to stay out. But, if they lose, the only way they can escape jail is by running away.

That reflects another humiliating dimension of the political culture in Pakistan: you come, you rule and decamp with billions of ill-gotten state funds. The ECP is under the spotlight for yet another issue that it has itself highlighted. In a singular move, it has ruled that dual-nationals, in addition to losing their right to be elected to the legislatures as specified in the constitution, will also be ineligible to become members or office-holders of political parties. That would add another dimension to the range of falsehood that our elected representatives indulge in as a matter of habit. So far, they have been a loan-defaulting, tax-evading, fake-degree-holder bunch of transgressors. With this injunction, they will have a new feature added to their not-so-elevating repertoire. Our irrepressible interior minister was caught lying about his British nationality. He escaped the SC ire only when he apologised and placed himself at the mercy of the apex court. But, that has also become a norm that these errant legislators indulge in so often: lie and then apologise. There is no dignity, no self-respect in their conduct.

So, what kind of colourful concoction do we have coming to rule us for the next five years? The trick seems to be to get the traditional claimants to the constituency politics back in the saddle for another ride. The only factor that can disturb the applecart is the exhaustion that people in general suffer from at the hands of these corrupt political mafias that have drenched this country of all its riches and virtues. Each day brings them added misery either in terms of throwing up more existential challenges or exposing them and their families to untold security risks that they and their innocent ones may not be able to survive through. The tyranny of this rule cannot be described in words: while the coffers of the rulers become fatter, the afflictions of the poor are stretched beyond reckoning.

The prospect of the swing vote precipitating a change is a propitious thought, but there is considerable ambiguity as to its scope and the formulation of a viable mechanism to make it happen. With the PPP and all partners of the traditional combine determined to ‘buy’ the next elections, the challenge for change seems an uphill one.

The writer is a political analyst. He can be reached at [email protected]