- Summing up the campaign
Allegations of the so called establishment’s involvement in elections are not new, yet this time there are concerns of its footprint being a touch bigger than usual. Eyebrows have been raised not just at home, but also in the international press. July 25 will tell how far alleged efforts to ensure a particular outcome have worked but it is important, in the long run, that no institution is able to sully its own image by becoming an open partisan. Accusations of manipulation of the elections have come from political parties as well as reputed NGOs-cum- think tanks including HRCP and PILDAT and swathes of civil society. This will compromise the new government’s ability to deal with momentous economic challenges, improve internal security and revamp Pakistan’s relations with its neighbours.
The reforms introduced through the 18th, 19th and 20th amendments to have neutral, independent and powerful institutions for holding free and fair elections have left a little to be desired, to say the least. This will require the new parliament to improve the system. A new ballgame is expected to begin after the new National Assembly is sworn in requiring new alliances. Further changes will have to be made in the laws regulating the ECP, caretaker government, and NAB. ISI, too, will have to be given a charter by parliament strictly defining its sphere with clearly spelt out disincentives for infringement. With the caretaker setup unable to ensure neutrality, a perception is growing that it needs to be dismantled. There would be many more parties this time proposing to rescind or amend Articles 62 and 63 than were willing to speak out against them when the 18th amendment was passed in 2010.
The struggle for constitutional amendments aimed at confining the institutions to their spheres will not be easy and may go beyond 2027. Hopefully by that time PTI too would emerge wiser.
