Crass politics

By doing what he is doing Imran Khan is betraying the mandate of the people who elected him and the members of his party to the National Assembly

With the government determined not to allow PTI to hold its proposed public rally in the Red Zone on 30^th November and Imran Khan insisting to hold it at the same venue, things are fast moving towards another round of confrontation and lawlessness witnessed on 31^st August and the hopes for a negotiated settlement of the political stalemate remain as elusive as ever. Imran Khan has warned that if the government made any attempt to shut down Islamabad, a bloody revolution could take place.

As far as the government is concerned — in the light of the previous experience of both PTI and PAT going back on their commitment of peaceful sit-ins and the continued threatening posture of Imran Khan — it is fully justified in not allowing the same madness to be repeated again. Maintenance of the public order, protecting the life, property and rights of the citizens and quelling any challenge to the writ of the state, are the primary duties of the government and there can be no compromise in this regard.

Holding public rallies, dissenting with the policies of the government and mobilising masses for a change in the system of governance are the democratic rights of the politicians and the political parties and Imran Khan has been given a freehand by the government to organise and address public rallies in different cities of the country. It also made fool-proof security arrangements to prevent untoward incidents during those rallies. Even for the 30^th November the government has shown its willingness to allow the PTI to hold public rally at a different venue with the consent and permission of the district administration.

The foregoing facts amply reinforce democratic credentials of the government and its commitment to introduce a culture of tolerance and accommodation. The government also exhibited unprecedented restraint in view of the criminal acts enacted by the workers of PTI and PAT on 31^st August and during the sit-in as well as the criminal indiscretions committed by Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri, notwithstanding the fact that the entire campaign was premised on contrived and unsubstantiated allegations and demands, with a sole purpose to dismantle the democratic set-up through disorder and anarchy, a conspiracy whose contours became evident as a result of the revelations made by former President of PTI Javed Hashmi and former COAS Mirza Aslam Beg in his articles in print media which need not be repeated here.

Perhaps it would be pertinent to unravel the truth about the rigging saga and the constitutionality of the actions taken by Imran Khan. It is an irrefutable reality that only 30 PTI candidates for National Assembly election filed petitions about irregularities in their constituencies with the Election Tribunals, which clearly implied that the rest of the candidates and the party accepted the results of the other constituencies without any grudge or complaint. Out of these, 19 petitions have already been decided against PTI candidates. The charge of massive rigging in the 2013 elections at this belated stage, therefore, is clearly an afterthought.

It is indeed regrettable to note that to rub in this notion, Imran Khan has been repeatedly accusing the former CJ, Chief Election Commissioner, the ECP, MI, former COAS, ROs and the PML-N of being in league to steal the elections from PTI, without providing any credible and verifiable evidence in this regard. The findings of FAFEN and the international observers who monitored the elections also negate claims of Imran Khan about rigging in the 2013 elections. Blaming the PML-N for orchestrating the rigging is the most preposterous proposition as the elections were conducted by the ECP with the assistance of the interim government and as such it was not in a position to manipulate the results of the ballot.

At the beginning of his campaign against rigging and before leading his ‘Azadi’ march, Imran Khan demanded that the Prime Minister should step down, the Parliament should be dissolved, the Election Commission should be reconstituted, an interim government of technocrats be formed and fresh elections held. These demands and proposed march were declared unconstitutional by a full bench of the Lahore High Court in its decision on a petition filed by a private citizen but both Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri defying the decision went ahead with their marches and the sit-ins. Contempt proceedings against Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri are already in process at the LHC for violating the court orders.

The contention of Imran Khan that he has launched his campaign after having failed to get justice is also a false claim. The Election Tribunals have already disposed of majority of the petitions filed by the PTI candidates. Constitutionally speaking, Election Tribunals are the only forum where complaints about rigging can be heard and disposed of. That is why the Supreme Court rejected the petition filed by PTI contending that it was not a primary court of hearing for such complaints and the appropriate forum for it was the Election Tribunals. It is quite evident that Imran Khan has been knocking at the wrong doors. The complaints of the PTI candidates were duly disposed of by the Elections Tribunals as required under the constitution. The rest of 11 petitions are pending for a variety of reasons pertaining to non-fulfillment of legal requirements by some candidates or lack of interest by others in pursuing those cases.

To say that the country is at the crossroads would be an understatement. At this critical juncture of history it needs impregnable unity among the political forces to ward off the dangers lurking on the horizon and to consolidate the gains of democracy. It cannot afford the crass politics being practiced by Imran Khan. The marches and the sit-ins have already done a great damage to the economy, caused the biggest diplomatic embarrassment for the country due to the cancellation of the visit of the Chinese President to Pakistan and tarnished the image of the country in the comity of nations.

The claim to bring a revolution with the assistance of the likes of Sheikh Rasheed, Chaudhry brothers and Shah Mahmood Qureshi is perhaps the biggest joke of the century. By doing what he is doing Imran Khan is also betraying the mandate of the people who elected him and the members of his party to the National Assembly. Bringing change in the system is only possible through legislation done by the Parliament. He along with his party MNAs, therefore, should return to the Parliament and play their due role in reforming the system rather than spoiling the whole show.