PML-N knows nothing of parliamentary politics
Like his predecessor Ayub Khan, Zia-ul-Haq also maligned politicians and rejected democracy. He held Local Government polls on non-party basis with an aim to create a nursery of pliable leaders dependent on the military ruler for their political promotion. A huge amount of funds were put at the disposal of the loyalists chosen to contest the General Elections which were also held on non-party basis. Quite a few of the present leading lights of the PML-N are the products of Zia-ul-Haq’s political engineering. Some seem to have come out of the shadow of the dictator, others have yet to overcome the tendencies he inculcated in them. The Punjab government was all set to hold non-party Local Government polls in the province till cold water was poured on the plan by a Lahore High Court ruling in favour of party-based elections.
The PML-N has once again decided to hold the Islamabad Local Government elections on non-party basis. The party fails to understand that there is no concept of an election in a democratic system without political parties’ participating in it under their platforms. Long before the General Elections the PLM-N seems to have developed fears of unpopularity. The desire for non-party polls by a political party indicates that it is not confident of its party tag carrying charisma.
By resorting to steamrollering the opposition to pass the bill, the ruling party has violated democratic norms. The views of the minority have to be taken into consideration in order to reach a consensus. By introducing a non-democratic measure the PML-N deviated from the Charter of Democracy it had signed with the PPP. The Charter explicitly requires Local Government elections to be held on “party basis through provincial election commissions in respective provinces”. What is more, the party failed to take into account the ground realities. It is soon going to find that it cannot get the bill in its present form through an opposition-dominated Senate.
