- Every time a side loses its case it blames the court
Pakistan’s political history indicates that it is highly difficult to turn the majority enjoyed by a ruling party into minority through attempts at alluring those on the treasury benches. Imran Khan as well as his allies were confident that the PML-N leadership was facing an internal rebellion and a big chunk of parliamentarians was about to desert Nawaz Sharif and fall into their lap. It was forgotten that ruling parties have enough means at their disposal to keep the dissidents in line, particularly so when there is a possibility of the party in power winning the next elections also. With a signal from Nawaz Sharif the PML-N MNAs thronged to Parliament House to register their solidarity by defeating a PPP bill seeking removal of Section 203 from the Elections Act 2017 and thus foiling the move to stop Nawaz Sharif from being the party chief. The bill was rejected by 163 votes against 98. Sensing that they were fighting a losing battle many opposition MNAs were absent, including Imran Khan.
While Nawaz Sharif won the battle of numbers, it was noted widely that the house got full for one man whereas the absence of legislators has thwarted the passage of key legislations. Constitutional amendment to enable the upcoming general elections to be held on the basis of the provisional results of the 2017 census has yet not been passed by the Senate because of lack of enthusiasm leading to the absence of the senators. The tendency continues to weaken the Parliament leading opposition parties to seek shortcuts which is harmful for the system.
In the past politicians belonging to the opposition sought the army’s support secretly to remove the sitting government. Now they openly go to courts for the purpose. Nawaz Sharif himself played the pioneering role in introducing the trend. He is now reaping what he has sown. The Supreme Court has been approached by Sheikh Rashid to challenge the Election Act 2017 approved recently by Parliament. Soon the hearings will become the most debated item on TV talk shows.
