Defuse the situation before it’s too late
There is no end to complaints from politicians, media persons and civil society activists against what is going on in the name of fair and free elections. In a bid to shoot the messenger the establishment has tried to silence the media. This has already led to countrywide protests by the PFUJ supported by politicians, lawyers, and civil society activists.
A new vocabulary has become current that would henceforth be associated with Elections 2018 like “Agriculture Department”, a euphemism for the ISI, the “jeeps”, meaning agency sponsored candidates, and the pun “Askari elections.” It is worrisome that those who matter continue to take measures that favour a particular political party. Finding that protests, appeals and demands have yielded no results there is now a talk about ‘action’ after the elections in case of rigging. On Friday ANP’s general secretary told media his party would contact others to devise a plan of action if the elections were not free and fair. Some PPP and PML-N senators in the Upper House have expressed similar sentiments more bluntly. A public opinion survey conducted a few days back by a media house indicated that only 41% of respondents believed the elections would be free and fair.
So far the critics have been directly targeting the ECP and caretaker government for failing to fulfill their constitutional responsibilities. The NAB is also being accused of once again playing the role it did under Musharraf, i.e., dry-cleaning those belonging to the King’s Party and punishing its opponents. Suspicions have however already reached a point where several political parties are questioning the deployment of army inside the polling booths and giving it magisterial powers. Any glaring incidence of rigging in this situation can act as a tinderbox. A consultation held by sections of civil society in Karachi has expressed concerns about the shrinking space for freedom of expression and condemned interference in the electoral process. This kind of interference, it maintained, was never witnessed before in the entire history of Pakistan and will have very negative long-term implications for the country. Will those who have brought us here, also find us a way out?
