Nawaz Sharif has bagged the role again. After months of running shows all sold out, when the curtains fell on the Panama Gate scandal, it seemed that Nawaz Sharif would no more remain in the limelight and his role in the political drama of Pakistan is over. But yet in another sequel of the season produced by the Senate and directed by the Nawaz League, his performance is no more reserved for role play; he is the evergreen hero, the spectators still get free popcorn and his show is still on. Only the genres change, from drama to suspense, from tragedy to comedy. The joke is on the public, the punchline revealed, but it’s not funny.
There have been many twists in the performances with Nawaz Sharif in the lead role. In the most recent, Sharif was removed from the prime minister’s post after a Supreme Court ruling disqualified him from holding political office because of corruption charges. In between the hearings in the apex court, removal from office and subsequent reelection in NA-120 constituency, there were intermittent ‘scenes’ involving hospitals and foreign trips due to medical reasons. These additional ‘acts’ proved crucial, for they seem to have lifted up the flagging ratings and viewerships. The next act of Sharif involves the courts where he may be indicted for corruption and will then have to face a court battle.
But it was the bulldosing of the amended Election (reforms) Bill 2017 along with ruckus by the opposition for added sound effects, that has supposedly brought the most thunderous applause from the public. The Bill included a clause which had a proviso, “Provided that a person shall not be appointed or serve as an office-bearer of a political party if he is not qualified to be, or is disqualified from being, elected or chosen as a member of Parliament under Article 63 of the Constitution or under any other law for the time being in force.” This clause had been omitted by the ruling party from the Bill, which some legal experts claimed to be as ‘person-specific’ ‘aimed at allowing the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to get himself reelected as chief of the ruling party.’ They were right. Amidst chanting slogans of Wazir e azam Nawaz Sharif by fervent followers, the current de facto leader of the country has been re elected as the president of PML-N and will be at the helm of the party when Pakistan goes for general elections next year.
In Pakistan, political leaders – civil or military — come and go and act on their whim. They, add, repeal, amend, revoke – do whatever they feel like doing to the Constitution of Pakistan. The Constitution, against the backdrop of the political scene of the country, itself has had a chequered history. In 1949, the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan passed the Objectives Resolution. After two reports of the Basic Principles Committee, which toned down authoritarian tenor, the third report proposed an acceptable democratic order and was adopted by the Constituent Assembly in 1954, which was dismissed ten days after the adoption of the report. Conceding much to authoritarian demands, a draft constitution was adopted by the second Constituent Assembly in 1956 .This Constitution was abrogated in 1958, when the first Martial Law was imposed. In 1962, ‘an unabashedly authoritarian’ constitution and in 1973, ‘a truly democratic’ constitution were enacted. After the lifting of the third Martial Law, major amendments were made to the Constitution in 1986, which made the Legislature ‘subservient to authoritarian and obscurantist dictates.’ As of 2015, 21 amendments have been introduced to the Constitution.
Nawaz Sharif has been toppled for the third time from office, never to have completed his term. He may not be Sadiqor Ameen, but never mind, the leader of the party he is. He will now lead the election campaign next year and at centre stage, who knows, may enjoy another stint assuming leadership of the country. The show goes on and we, the silent spectators, watch all the entries and exits. The curtain never closes.
