And how they can be resolved peacefully
While Imran Khan’s entry into politics, particularly after PTI’s participation in 2013 elections, has been quite turbulent, owing to his irrepressible propensity to play the mantra of self-righteousness and defaming and shaming government institutions, rival political leaders and political parties, the setbacks along the way have also blunted the edges of the knife he was holding to cut everyone to size on the basis of his make beliefs and hearsay. The PML-N government probably deserves credit for cutting the fangs of a volatile politician with its remarkable tolerance of the jingoism exhibited by him and his Canada returned political elder brother during the sits-ins at Islamabad and the attacks on the state institutions like the Parliament House and the PTV building, a political venture which had all the trappings of a conspiracy to topple the legitimately elected government through violent means by rubbing in the notion of a stolen mandate.
The government played its cards with utmost aplomb and vision, of course with the support of all the democratic entities represented in the Parliament, the judiciary, the media and the military leadership who refused to assume the much trumpeted role of an umpire ready to raise his finger. The government also readily agreed to form the judicial commission to probe alleged systematic rigging in the 2013 elections and accordingly approached the SC for the formation of the commission, which could not be established due to the reasons recorded by the Supreme Court in its judgment on petitions filed for declaring the 2013 elections null and void. It also acted on a well calculated strategy to avoid precipitation of the political crisis by not accepting the resignations of the PTI legislators.
In the meantime, the PML-N government and PTI remained engaged in an on and off dialogue on the TORs for the commission. It is satisfying to note that finally the two sides managed to narrow down their differences and the way has been cleared for the formation of the judicial commission. An Ordinance has already been issued by the President for the setting up of the commission to remove the legal impediments as indicated by the Supreme Court in its decision for not entertaining the petitions in the presence of Article 225 of the Constitution. The ordinance taking cognizance of the constitutional stumbling blocks clearly indicates that this probe by the commission will not affect the cases being already heard by the Election Tribunals or decided by them.
The TORs mentioned for the judicial commission in the ordinance burden the commission with the responsibility of probing whether the elections were conducted honestly and fairly, there was any systematic rigging in the elections and the results were truly reflective of the mandate given by the people. A close look at these TORs reveals that they conform to the position that the PML-N had taken right from the beginning. The agreement on these TORs, ,however cannot be termed as a climb down by the PTI but rather a sign of political maturity and the spirit of give and take which is the hallmark of politics. Khan has begun to learn the tricks of the trade though the hard way.
The commission has been mandated to finalise its findings at the earliest possible, preferably within 45 days. Now it is incumbent upon all the stakeholders to cooperate with the commission and not to indulge in any obstructive antics and also refrain from critical comments on the working of the commission. Whether as a result of the probe by the commission the government or PTI would be vindicated, cannot be predicted with certainty. However, going by the decisions given by the Election Tribunals on electoral petitions of the PTI, majority of which have been rejected, there has been no hint of any systematic rigging in the elections or any attempt to steal the mandate of another party.
Nevertheless rigging and irregularities at the individual level have all along been observed in almost all the elections held in the country at the national, provincial and local level. The decisions given by the Election Tribunals in certain individual cases confirm the existence of this detestable practice. We also have a history of manipulated and systematically rigged elections through the involvement of intelligence agencies. But this time around the traditional manipulators stayed away from the electoral exercise. The findings of the commission would once and for all settle the political confrontation between the PTI and the government and also be helpful in bringing changes to the electoral system to make it more transparent and free of avenues of manipulation or rigging.
While the commission is set up and it starts discharging its mandated role, PTI is well advised to reciprocate the spirit shown by the government in keeping it part of the system and demonstrating flexibility on its demands. It has now no reason to stay away from the assemblies and insult the mandate of the people. The country has suffered enough economically and politically due to the ambience of political confrontation in the country and cannot afford its continuity in view of the diabolical challenges confronting it. Pakistan is at the crossroads and needs impregnable unity among all the political forces and the stakeholders to keep them at bay.
There is also an imperative need to reform the system of governance and elections and making them more attuned to establishing the ascendency of the mandate of the people and service-oriented. Fortunately there is now almost a national consensus on the point that the present system of governance and elections was not truly reflective of the will of the people and the vision bequeathed by its founding father. It is therefore the duty of all the political entities to go back to the drawing board and work collectively and selflessly for the betterment of the country in line with the goals of independence and the vision of the Quaid.
PTI being a new entrant into politics and claiming to be a harbinger of the desired changes in the political landscape of the country and a system based on social justice, is under greater obligation to facilitate the change by being part of the efforts at reforming the system and playing the role of a responsible opposition in the Parliament. The changes in the system are only possible through the Parliament and not through agitation on the streets.
