Politics of piety

Another spanner in the works

The Supreme Court once again has thrown the spanner in the works. The presidential elections, which were due on August 6, have been moved back to July 30 on its orders and on the express request of the ruling PML-N.

In the name of misconceived religiosity presidential polls have been unnecessarily mired in controversy. The prime minister announced the other day that holding presidential elections on the 27th of Ramadan would deprive at least ten per cent members of the Electoral College-comprising of the parliament and the provincial assemblies – of their right to vote.

The PML-N in its petition before the apex court had taken the plea that a substantial number of members will be busy in ‘aitkaf’ or performing umrah in Saudi Arabia on the holy night. According to a media report, Mian Nawaz Sharif himself is also due to spend the eve of 27th Ramadan at the Holy Kaaba.

The PPP has taken a strong exception to moving the date of the presidential elections and has boycotted the whole process. Its presidential candidate Mian Raza Rabbani – a quintessential dissenter even within the PPP ranks has come out hard against Sharif and the Election Commission.

The PPP senator who is the architect of the 18th and 20th amendments in the constitution has alleged that the controversial change in the schedule is tantamount to reviving the one unit and weakening the federation. Since the president represents all the federating units, a majority in the Sindh Assembly not voting in the presidential elections is a serious constitutional crisis.

Opposition leader in the Senate Aitzaz Ahsan has taken the plea that Pakistan was created on the 27th of Ramadan. Why presidential elections cannot be held on the day? The founder of the nation the Quaid-e-Azam did not move the date for independence of Pakistan on this pretext.

In theory the PML-N candidate Mamoon Hussain should win easily. The opposition failed to put up a consensual candidate against Mamoon. Nonetheless owing to the fragmented nature of the Electoral College the opposition might have been thinking that it had a fighting chance.

The PTI also has expressed its reservations at the Supreme Court’s draconian decision to move the presidential elections without other parties having been heard. However unlike the PPP it has not boycotted the process and has nominated justice Wajhiuddin as its candidate for the race.

It was doubtful from the outset that the PTI would have agreed to form an alliance with the PPP for the presidential polls. Nonetheless politics is the art of the possible. The opposition should have been given ample time to campaign and politic in a manner it deemed fit.

The process should be fair and transparent, providing a level playing field to all the stakeholders. Rabbani has scathingly criticized the election commission’s role in the whole matter.

Instead of deciding the merit on its own, it conveniently passed the buck to the apex court.

Nawaz Sharif as prime minister can justifiably take credit for not perusing vindictive politics in the country and taking consensual decisions in the interest of promoting democracy. Steps to pave way for nationalists forming a government in Balochistan and his nemesis PTI assuming power in KP without a hitch has been widely acclaimed.

A clean departure from past tradition, his latest move not to be a party to the no confidence move against the Azad Kashmir government has also been widely appreciated.

In a similar vein he should wrest the initiative to resolve the imbroglio on the presidential elections. To move the apex court on the issue by the PML-N, in the first place was a mistake.

Changing the presidential election schedule should have been handled as a political issue, the stakeholders resolving the matter through mutual consultations. The prime minister should consider restoring status quo ante to save the situation. Heavens will not fall if he postpones his proposed visit to Saudi Arabia once again.

Nawaz Sharif chose the best presidential candidate available to the party who according to his perception. He is a loyal and trustworthy lieutenant who stuck with the party though thick and thin. To top it, he is an Urdu speaking Mohajar belonging to Sindh.

Amongst other PML-N aspirants Ghous Ali Shah was a non-starter. He is too old, fossilized and controversial in his party. For unknown reasons he still heads PML-N in Sindh.

As for Sartaj Aziz, despite his relatively advanced age he would have been the ideal choice. Perhaps he is considered too much of an intellectual and a technocrat for Mian sahib’s liking. In any case he is playing a pivotal role as advisor to the prime minister on foreign affairs. Ideally as a full-fledged minister, he would add value to the PML-N’s cabinet if at an opportune time elected a senator.

Both Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto as prime ministers were unlucky with presidents and military chiefs. Ghulam Ishaq as president had the dubious distinction of sacking both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. Farooq Leghari had no qualms in sacking Benazir Bhutto, his mentor.

He intrigued against Nawaz Sharif in cahoots with the then Chief Justice of Pakistan Sajjad Ali Shah. Despite being stripped of his powers under article 58 2(b), he almost succeeded in getting rid of Nawaz as prime minister. The COAS General Jahangir Karamat refused to go along with Leghari who then had left with no option but to resign ignominy.

Subsequently Nawaz Sharif by appointing his confidant Justice (retd) Rafiq Tarrar as president covered his flank. But only to be deposed by his handpicked military chief Gen Musharraf.

Zardari performed a masterstroke by elevating himself to the presidency. To his credit by introducing the eighteenth amendment to the constitution he stripped the presidency of its remaining powers. Nevertheless one of the major reasons the PPP government survived for five years was Zardari assuming the presidency.

Nawaz Sharif has avoided taking the same route because becoming president was also Zardari’s nemesis. The PPP completed its full term, but at a heavy cost.

Zardari ran a quasi-presidential system through his handpicked prime minister that bred incompetence and corruption. In the end analysis ensconced in the presidency, at election time there was no towering figure to campaign for the party.

No one knows this better than Sharif himself that Bonapartists can manipulate even a toothless president when the chips are down for the ruling elite. So, only time will tell whether Sharif took the correct decision in appointing Mamoon as president!

The writer is Editor, Pakistan Today.