Another episode
Not much of a surprise, the development that took place in the Supreme Court yesterday. The honourable judges had already opined that the prime minister was, prima facie, contemptuous of the court. Yesterday was only the next mechanical step in the clockwork; the court said he would be charge-sheeted on the 13th and that is what happened.
The incumbents have had a history of treating the courts to a “go-slow.” There is due process to follow and, if the government wants to use all the leverage it has to slow things down, it can very well delay things by months on end before the proverbial dust settles. A possible guilty verdict is going to be followed by an appeal. That appeal is going to be followed by a prosecution by a larger – possibly full – bench. In case of a guilty verdict then, the issue of the premier’s retention of his office comes up. Since he could be treated as a prisoner of conscience – yes, that is what the government can claim, with several foreign observers chiming in – a case could be made for retaining his office from jail. The proceedings on that would have to be routed through, say, the speaker of the national assembly and the election commissioner, both of which could be delayed further. The only problem with this approach is the prime minister’s reluctance to go that way; he has made it clear he won’t hold the office, if convicted. The option to appeal, however, remains.
These are interesting times, ones that the great unwashed have to wearily put up with. Exciting as they may be to the media and the chattering classes, they bring no relief to the teeming millions. This is an incompetent government – like the one before it, and the one before that. But the capacity of a government to govern has to be exercised, much like a muscle. Tenures in this neck of the woods are either truncated or, in this case, constantly spent with governments watching over their backs for unelected players, who have never quite warmed up to this whole will-of-the-people thing, to use something, anything as an excuse to pack things up.
Argument of political instability only holds if Stock Exchange shows a decline, but in this case every time this regime is getting the stick or faces any censure by the courts that can lead to its demise, the KSE Index starts rising. Reason–This regime is not good for our economy–period. Nobody has any doubt, whatever arguments of spin doctors.
"The great unwashed".
Sir, are you using a derogatorily term used by the British against our people? This so unbecoming and insulting to the nation!
Comments are closed.