The Commission’s finding

Testing Imran’s political acumen

The judicial commission constituted to probe PTI’s allegations of rigging in the 2013 general election has concluded in its 237-page detailed report that the polls were in large part “organised and conducted fairly and in accordance with the law”, dropping the curtain on the protests and claims by Imran Khan of having irrefutable evidence of massive organised rigging.

The report details the findings of the three-member commission headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Nasirul Mulk and comprising Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan.

In a nutshell, the Commission has reached the following conclusion based on evidence: 2013 elections were conducted fairly and in accordance with the law; PTI’s request for a probe was not “entirely unjustified”; and a plan to manipulate election has not been disclosed with any degree of specification by any of the parties.

Addressing the nation on the findings of the Commission Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on July 23 said, “The Judicial Commission proved that there was no rigging on any level and that the 2013 general elections were free and fair. The political parties did not provide any evidence of the alleged rigging in elections… Looking at the findings of the Commission, it cannot be said that the results were against popular mandate… Now that the respected enquiry Commission has confirmed the transparency of the 2013 polls, the door of allegations and accusations should be closed forever.”

PTI Chairman Imran Khan, while addressing a press conference in Chitral, also accepted the findings of the Judicial Commission but expressed reservations over not being given a copy.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Khan said Sharif is lucky to see the report first otherwise all the parties should have received it simultaneously.

Khan said though PTI was not the only political party which cried foul. There were 21 other parties that claimed the elections were rigged but it was only PTI which fought the case against.

Advocate High Courts of Pakistan and Constitutional Expert Ali Ibrahim told DNA that the constitution of the Judicial Commission and its subsequent report are a huge achievement when looked at in isolation. This is the stuff political parties can be proud of for a really long time. For the first time in our history, an election was audited on an overall basis.

However, in politics, context is everything. In the grand scheme of things, this is a huge defeat for PTI and Imran Khan’s personal credibility. For whatever reason, the general public had an expectation of truth and accountability from Imran Khan. This expectation, in large part, emanated from the high moral ground he had taken.

“But when someone has to speak non-stop from 9 pm to 11 pm for 120 odd days, the game of Chinese whisper creeps in and lofty ideals morph to loftier allegations”, said Ibrahim, adding that as a result, owing to the aura of credibility surrounding Imran Khan, people started to believe in the 35 punctures which doubled, it seemed, with a plus 1 formula, recently.

Khan said though PTI was not the only political party which cried foul. There were 21 other parties that claimed the elections were rigged but it was only PTI which fought the case against

Ibrahim said the thing that distinguished great leaders from pretenders is that they make calculated claims and then live up to them. They remain cognizant of the huge responsibility the general public places on them and they remain vigilant of any irrational escalation of commitment. Asking for the resignation of the prime minister, no less, was juvenile at best. Timing is key.

“There was a time during the early part of the Dharna where, it appeared, the resignation of the CM was on offer along with the same Judicial Commission but with different TROs that could’ve produced a far different result,” said Ibrahim adding that had that offer been taken, it would’ve been a huge victory for PTI and for democracy.

At the end, IK had a choice between doing what’s right for his party and doing right by his ego. He chose the latter and was completely outmanoeuvred by the politically superior PML-N. When he called off the sit-ins, he was left with a Judicial Commission with the present TORs for face saving only, Ibrahim opined. “The burden of the questions was so huge even Alan Dershowitz would succumb under it. Most legal minds knew that and the report of the JC merely confirmed that. This battle wasn’t lost in the courtroom; it was lost on the streets.”

Who was behind the ‘London Plan’?

A larger number of political analysts were of the opinion that the London Plan to dethrone the present PML-N’s government was allegedly prepared by former DG ISI Lieutenant General (R) Shuja Pasha and Lieutenant General (R) Zaheer-ul-Islam, which was also endorsed by the Defence Minister Khawaja Asif in a talk show when he stated that: “The 2014 London Plan against the Nawaz Sharif government was the collective work of two successive ISI Chiefs — General (R) Shuja Pasha and General (R) Zaheer-ul-Islam.”

Although Pasha has been mentioned earlier to have been behind last year’s sit-ins, General Zaheer has been named now for the first time to have conspired against the democratically elected constitutional government of Nawaz Sharif. The irony, however, remains that despite crossing their limits in violation of law and constitution; none of these retired generals have been questioned either by the civilian government or the military leadership.

“General Zaheer had a grudge against the government for its stance on the Geo issue after the April 2014 attack on Hamid Mir. To settle his personal grudge,” Asif said, “General Zaheer hurt the national interest. The situation was handled well by the prime minister, who remained patient. He lamented that for personal objectives, the national interest was compromised.”

A leading political analyst said former DG ISI Pasha told him at the airport that had Nawaz Sharif worked with us smoothly we would have never wanted Imran Khan.

According to sources, Pasha also allegedly convinced leading political leaders to join PTI including Asad Umar and Shah Mehmood Qureshi. “General Zaheer and General Pasha had been meeting politicians in order to influence them to join PTI. In a Karachi restaurant, General Pasha told corporate executives in 2012 to finance PTI’s political activities,” the sources added.

Leading Politician Javed Hashmi told DNA that Imran Khan was so confident that when we left for Islamabad for the dharna “he (Imran) told us that five to six generals are supporting us who will make Nawaz Sharif resign and we will come into power”.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman told DNA that after the Judicial Commission’s report it must be probed what was the real agenda behind the dharna and who was the mastermind of London Plan?

“It must also be investigated on whose agenda Imran Khan was working,” Rehman demanded.

He added that the dharna embarrassed Pakistan globally; it targeted the parliament and the important assets of the country and also tried to bring the army into politics due to which a credible national institute’s image was put at stake.

Rehman inquired who Imran Khan would blame whom for the economic, political and internal losses faced by the country because of the dharna?

“PTI supporters and voters must also hold the leadership accountable because they wasted the time of the nation and did not produce credible evidence before the Commission? Imran should apologise to the families of his workers who lost their lives because of sit-ins and compensate for their loss,” said Rehman adding that Imran is politically immature and he should resign from politics.

“Another attempt to destabilise the country failed and in the presence of independent media and operational democracy such attempts and conspiracies will not succeed”.

Adding to what Rehman stated, Awami National Party’s (ANP) Central President Asfandyar Wali Khan said that the dharna in Islamabad, attack on parliament and PTV and the speeches Imran Khan delivered regarding the ‘third umpire’ were all part of the conspiracy to weaken the democratic forces of the country. Imran Khan’s motives were evil and he wanted to come into power using the slogan of ‘poll rigging’.

“The dharna was not to unleash the ‘poll rigging’ campaign, in fact it was to dethrone the democratic government and come into power undemocratically, paving the way for the third force,” said Khan.

He added that the Judicial Commission Report is a step towards the survival and strengthening of democracy with its true essence. We all must respect the findings of the Judicial Commission,” said Khan adding that now after the findings of JC it is proved that all the allegations levelled by Imran Khan were false.

“He (Imran) should apologise to the nation for his wrong attitude, undemocratic way of oratory, leading to undemocratic measures and announcing civil disobedience against the government,” said Khan.

Khan added that ANP also expressed its reservations about the 2013 general elections but it accepted the results for the sake of democracy and smooth transition from one democratic setup to another.

The country suffered economically because of the dharna. The tours of the Chinese president and other foreign dignitaries were postponed, which had an adverse effect on the progress of the country.

Better electoral system, better elections:

Talking to DNA, media analyst Adnan Rehmat said that in long-term politics, a political win or a loss doesn’t matter.

“The verdict of the judicial commission should be seen as the best endorsement for electoral reforms. Instead of seeing this as a PTI loss or PML-N win and therefore losing the lesson, PTI and Imran should now productively focus on demanding and inserting whatever changes they want by way of a fairer electoral process and election system by sitting with PML-N, PPP and others in the parliamentary committee currently considering such reforms,” said Rehmat adding that the final recommendations should then become a comprehensive constitutional amendment a la 18th Amendment. This is the only — and least disruptive — way of having a system that can deliver fairer future elections. Any other way is anarchy and helps no one.

The dharna was not to unleash the ‘poll rigging’ campaign, in fact it was to dethrone the democratic government and come into power undemocratically, paving the way for the third force’

Judicial Commission Report will act as a certificate

PPP Senator Saeed Ghani told DNA that all the political parties believe that the 2013 general elections were rigged but due to immature politics and policies of PTI the Judicial Commission report will act as a certificate declaring the elections free and fair.

The Judicial Commission when formed only probes the allegations for which they were formed that is why we knew it already instead of asking for the Judicial Commission PTI should have looked for other democratic ways of bringing electoral reforms which would have helped in conducting free and fair elections in the long run, said Ghani adding that now if someone tell the present government that the elections were rigged they will present the 237 pages JC Report which stated that the election were fair.

Disqualification reference against PTI leadership

Asfandyar Wali Khan demanded that in the light of Judicial Commission report, which declared that the allegations levelled by Imran Khan false, the government should send a reference for the disqualification of PTI leadership to the election commission. “So that nobody could dare put the country at risk for personal gains in future. We should make it a lesson for everyone,” said Khan.

Future of Imran Khan:

Political Economist Mobeen Ahmed Chughtai told DNA that in this era of the post-Judicial-Commission report, Imran Khan finds himself juggling conundrums. There is his absolute, unflinching and expressed faith in the Judicial Commission and its constituting Judges, and then there is this finding that goes against him.

“On one hand, a multimillion rupee expenditure on a celebrity sit-in against the ‘stolen mandate’ and undemocratic parliament, on the other not a shred of credible evidence to prove systemic rigging in the elections,” said Chughtai. “His unwavering commitment to justice and higher social ideals, and also a complete lack of fairness or legitimacy in his own party’s elections as related by another commission set up under his own party member former Justice Wajihuddin sahib”.

PTI is slowly turning into an equally (to other parties) dirty, slithering mass of incompetence and corruption, itself. The only problem is, had this been the 90s, he could have easily gotten away with these contradictions. But today these are glaringly evident under the scrutiny of an unforgiving media.

“There is no question in my mind that as long as Imran Khan continues to cling onto the apron strings of his party ‘financers’, PTI will sink to new lows”, Chughtai added.

“Yes, PTI is doing some good work in KPK but that is what it should have limited itself to and focused upon completely. But no, Khan sahib preferred the politics of intrigue. He is reaping what he had sown. And the final and greatest obstacle to PTI’s growth is the fact that PTI is, largely, a cult of personality rather than an actual or effective political entity.”

One could, perhaps, have suggested that the majority of PTI choose a new and better leader for the party from amongst its ranks – but that would be futile, he added, saying that as soon as Imran Khan leaves the chairmanship, the “party” will simply whither away.

Under these circumstances, the future, making or breaking of the PTI is solely upon the political acumen of Imran Khan. Sadly, there isn’t much of that available from what is apparent, he said.