ECP has done its job, politicians must do theirs
Despite a doomsday scenario, the Senate elections were held on time and preparations are afoot to hold the National Assembly elections in accordance with the schedule. In an ironical repetition of history, Nawaz Sharif failed to complete his tenure like Yousuf Raza Gilani. The PML-N however continued to rule the country the way PPP had done earlier. A peaceful transfer of power is expected to take place a third time in succession. A perception however persists that that while democracy has survived for a decade the system has continued to languish. Instead of being concentrated in the elected bodies, power is being wielded by a triumvirate with two of its three pillars comprising unelected institutions. To a considerable extent politicians too are responsible for the state of affairs.
While the ECP has already completed the re-demarcation of constituencies, published the electoral rolls, suggested dates for the general elections and convened a meeting of all political parties to finalize the code of conduct on Thursday, politicians have yet to put their act together. Even after five meetings between the PM and Leader of the Opposition the two failed to reach a consensus on a caretaker PM. It was unrealistic on the part of the PPP to nominate a known party stalwart for the office and expect the PML-N to endorse it. A parliamentary committee will now decide the issue with eight members, half nominated by the Opposition leader. Unless Khurshid Shah includes the names of PTI and MQM parliamentarians also in his list, the issue of the selection of Acting PM is bound to land on the ECP’s table. This would be yet another testimony of failure on the part of the political parties to resolve their differences through talks. The government and the opposition have so far managed to reach consensus on the name of the Acting CM in KP only but have failed to broker an agreement in other three provinces indicating a lack of flexibility, a tendency which does not bode well for the future of democracy.