Chronicle of an election foretold
Rashed Rahman
The July 25, 2018 general elections are one of the most
controversial general elections in the history of Pakistan. Seldom have polls
been questioned regarding their being free, fair and transparent as roundly as
these have. This alleged pre-poll rigging has spawned one of the most divisive
elections in our history, which has been attended by extreme scepticism as to
its credibility and viability. Commentators across the board have declared that
these elections have already disenfranchised the voters and stolen the election
from them before even a single ballot has been cast.
As if all the rumours and speculations about gerrymandering
the outcome of this election to knock out, it appears, the PML-N and its
leadership and bring the seemingly favoured Imran Khan to power were not
enough, the revelations by Islamabad High Court’s (IHC’s) Justice Shaukat Aziz
Siddiqui regarding pressure being exerted on judges by the ISI have shocked the
country. Justice Siddiqui, in an address to the Rawalpindi Bar Association on
July 21, made startling allegations to the effect that he had been offered
withdrawal of the references against him before the Supreme Judicial Council in
return for verdicts unfavourable to Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam, both
incarcerated since their return from London in Adiala Jail. Further, on his
refusal, the IHC Chief Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi was allegedly approached
by the ISI with the demand that Justice Siddiqui should not be included in any
bench hearing cases against Nawaz Sharif et al. Justice Siddiqui also
questioned why administrative control of the accountability court hearing the
references against the Sharifs was taken away from the IHC and a Supreme Court
(SC) judge appointed to monitor these cases.
Questions like these and even accusing fingers have been
pointed at the superior judiciary of late for doing things that seem to
contradict long established jurisprudence. These critics and dissidents were
careful and mild in their language however, partly out of respect for the
institution of the judiciary, partly perhaps being mindful of the proclivity of
the judiciary to use its contempt powers against those who challenged it rather
more freely of late than ever before. If there is even a grain of truth in what
Justice Siddiqui has unveiled, it is tantamount to the most severe stricture against
the present judicial set up ever from an ‘insider’, no less than a judge of the
IHC.
Almost inevitably, this has set off a furore, with ISPR
requesting the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar to conduct an
investigation into these charges and act according to the law on its findings.
The CJP has taken notice of Justice Siddiqui’s outburst, expressed surprise at
its content, and reiterated that no one can pressurise the judiciary. Justice
Siddiqui in turn has written to the CJP requesting an independent commission to
investigate the charges laid by him and if it finds against him, he is prepared
to face the consequences. We now wait with bated breath for the next act in
this high drama.
In the meantime, PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi has been sentenced
to life imprisonment in the long running ephedrine case by a special court just
five days before the elections in which he was reportedly a leading contender
from NA-60. His supporters’ anger at the verdict, announced by the court after
an interminable delay at midnight on July 21, caused a fracas in and outside
the court, resulting in over 50 of his supporters being booked for ‘rioting’. The
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) thought fit to postpone the election in
NA-60, citing the high tensions in the constituency as a result of the verdict.
Mr Abbasi has been left cooling his heels in prison while his appeals process
plays out. His rivals, led by Sheikh Rashid but also including the PPP, have
criticised the postponement, which usually follows the death of a candidate.
The former intends to challenge the postponement while the latter has been left
making boastful claims of being denied victory in NA-60.
Terrorism continued to take its toll right up to the eve of
the polling when PTI’s Ikramullah Gandapur was killed by a suicide bomber while
campaigning in his D I Khan constituency. JUI-F’s Akram Durrani was attacked
for the second time in 10 days in his Bannu constituency but luckily escaped
unhurt. These attacks followed the massacre in Mastung and the killing of
Haroon Bilour in Peshawar. While the terrorists plied their deathly trade, some
terrorist organisations were taken off the Fourth Schedule and mainstreamed by
allowing them to participate in the elections, either from their own (renamed)
platform if registered with the ECP or from the platform of some spurious
recently registered front organisation. If the large number of such candidates,
or some significant proportion manage to find their way to the Assemblies, one
can only imagine the pressures they will exert to keep the narrative and
national agenda within their own narrow, distorted confines.
Meanwhile perceptive observers continue to castigate
politicians from all sides who indulge in distasteful and abusive language
against their rivals. Of course the author of debasing the political narrative
to the point where it now lies in the gutter is widely acknowledged to be Imran
Khan. His latest contribution on this score was dubbing all those PML-N supporters
who turned out to greet Nawaz and Maryam at Lahore airport as ‘donkeys’. Imran’s
besotted and unthinking supporters then carried out the atrocity in Karachi of
painting Nawaz’s name on a donkey and beating the poor animal to pulp and near death.
Is this what the polity and society is going to look like in Imran’s so-called
‘Naya’ (new) Pakistan? No word of condemnation for this cruel and irrational
act by the PTI supporters has been heard from the supreme or any other leader
of the party.
Mainstream media censorship and silencing dissenting and
critical voices on social media has deprived the people of Pakistan of their
right to know and express themselves. Memories of the darkest days of military dictatorship
and its suppression of the media and the right of expression have been
rejuvenated. We seem to have come full circle in this regard, without the
military being directly in power. Now that is real ‘progress’.
While most prognoses see little chance after all the
pre-polls skullduggery of the PML-N being returned to power at the Centre, it
is also unlikely any one party will gain a simple majority. The prospect of a
hung parliament has become Imran Khan’s nightmare by now, since even if he
succeeds in garnering enough seats to make a bid for cobbling together a
disparate, internally weak and incoherent coalition, any government flowing
from such an ‘unnatural’ construct may find it hard going to cope with the
major challenges the country faces, and be unable to resist the establishment’s
encroachment on its space from behind the curtain.
All one can say is, seldom has an election result been
visible from such a distance before polling. If the above conclusion regarding
the outcome proves correct, the only possible message to our long suffering
people is: good luck with that.
rashed-rahman.blogspot.com
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