EDITORIAL: Supreme Court Justice Athar Minallah’s regret – that President Alvi, Punjab and KP governors, and CEC (Chief Election Commissioner) breached their statutory duties by delaying elections beyond 90 days – will not turn back time nor ensure proper procedure, but it will hopefully safeguard that such blatant violation of the constitution is never repeated. He also said that Pakistan’s registered voters have been deprived of their most fundamental right to participate in the governance of the state through chosen representatives and the right to vote in accordance with the law.
Indeed, caretaker governments, especially in Punjab and KP, seem oblivious to the very obvious fact that they are operating in a constitutional grey area. Legally, they have no jurisdiction beyond the 90-day deadline, yet here we are, as if the constitution in itself doesn’t matter at all. Justice Minallah’s remarks came in a note, in addition to the Nov 3 order, in which the Supreme Court expressed confidence that the polls would be held without disruption on Feb 8 next year.
Interestingly, he also observed that the conduct and failure of the president, governors and CEC to discharge their duties made them answerable to the public. Because, people became victims of their wrongful exercise of public powers and reckless disregard for duties under the constitution. The note also said they have exposed themselves to actions “against their torturous acts” and that “it is the duty of the courts to put an end to impunity against the violation of the constitution and constitutional rights”.
This is very serious, because even though the highest court of the land was unable to get all concerned parties to respect the 90-day deadline in time, Justice Minallah’s remarks suggest that some action might be taken against them, though they do not explain just when or how the court would put an end to impunity enjoyed by said individuals and offices.
For now, though, nothing is more important than holding the election, on Feb 8, in a fair and transparent manner. That’s a tricky enterprise because the nature of our politics is such that losing parties always, without fail, blame the loss on irregularities for which ECP (Election Commission of Pakistan) is invariably held responsible. There must, then, be a mechanism that rules out any chance of disputing the result after the voting is complete. That would require very serious monitoring of the whole exercise, which can and must be ensured.
Let’s not forget that this election is coming at the heels of the kind of political turbulence that the country hasn’t seen since half of it seceded more than half a century ago. Therefore, every effort should be made by all institutions involved to conduct it in a credible manner. It would do nobody any good if it only creates more controversy and confrontation. Because, it’s not just the politics that suffers from such violations of fundamental rights, but also the economy.
And we’re already on our last lifeline as far as the economy is concerned. The IMF, without which it is not possible to avoid sovereign default, has made it pretty clear that the country needs political stability for its bailout programmes to continue. One can only hope, then, that all pieces will fall in their right places, the election will be held on time, in a fair and transparent manner, and the result will be accepted by all political parties and the public.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023