Author: Iqbal Tareen, Virginia, USA August 27, 2014 “No Ball” of Imran Peoples of Pakistan and friends of freedoms and democracy are closely watching the twin tides of “Freedom and Revolution Marches”, which have now transitioned into an apparent clash between the Government of Mian Nawaz Sharif and the two aspirants of the state power. Both Mr. Khan and Mr. Qadri have beefed up their personal resources and the resources of their sponsors and supporters to stage what they claim to be the final battle of their political lifetime. I will be the first one to appreciate their contribution to a badly needed participatory democracy in Pakistan. Both Imran and Qadri have pushed issues of corruption and power abuse to the front burner of public discourse. I would also give high marks to patience and administrative accommodation that Nawaz Sharif and his team has shown during extended sit in of both parties especially in the capital city of the country. Are both Imran and Qadri justified in pushing the agenda for electoral reforms in the country? The answer is yes. Is it within the confines of world’s best democratic practices to voice and mobilize public opinion exposing electoral irregularities and bad governance? The answer is yes. Any individual, group, or a political party has inherent right to do so and that is beauty of democracy. That been said, I have serious bone to pick with both Imran and Qadri. In one of his speeches at the rally, Imran declared that in next 24 Hours the “Umpire will give clean bold” to Nawaz Sharif. It was no mystery that Imran was actually encouraging or was hopeful that Pakistan military will take the elected Prime Minister out. This was an unforgivable “No ball” of Imran. You don’t use freedoms within democracy to overthrow a democracy. Demanding dissolution of Provincial and National Assemblies and resignation of an elected Prime Minister without proven guilt is an arrogant disregard to the will of 46.21 Million people (53.3 % of total registered voter in Pakistan)[1] who voted to elect their representatives in 2013 elections. The absolute majority of ordinary citizens in Pakistan can’t afford a luxury of leaving their jobs and professions to camp out in the lush green yards of Islamabad. They don’t have to. People process plenty of politics and go through lots of disruption in their lives to register personal preference by casting a vote. Majority of people in Pakistan are busy earning their wages to bring the food to their families. They work very hard in factories, offices, in lands, running small businesses, teaching in schools, and worrying about how they are going to pay for the next meal or for medicines badly needed for their ailing family members. The real Pakistan doesn’t come any closer to the prosperity and wealth displayed by most of the participants and leaders in both rallies. Under extraordinary spot light of media and without worries of working for living, they do not represent hundreds of millions of real people who live from day to day. I am not sure on what moral and legal grounds Imran and Qadri could claim they represent 200 Million Pakistanis with a total vote count of 7.5 Million for PTI. Let us take a close look at the numbers. The PML-N got the majority of votes (14.8 million) followed by the PTI (7.5 million), the PPP (6.8 million) and the MQM (2.4 million) and Independent candidates picked up 5.8 million votes [2]. Out of 266 National Assembly Seats, 125 seats were won by Pakistan Muslim League (N), 32 by Independent, 31 seats won by Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians, 27 by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, 18 by Muttahidda Qaumi Movement, 10 by Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam (F) and 23 by all other parties combined. Leaving 27 seats of disgruntled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf aside remaining parties received 37.7 Million (83.8%) votes out of 46.2 Million votes whereas PTI received 12.2% votes [2]. Muslim League (N) alone received 32% of the total votes. Out of Four (4) provinces in Pakistan, three provincial assemblies and governments are held by parties other than PTI. Mr. Qadri does not have a single representative in any of the assemblies in Pakistan. Let us assume PTI had won 50% additional seats than its current count of 27. That would have placed PTI in # 2 spot with total of 41 seats. Let us also assume PTI had taken those 14 seats away from Pakistan Muslim League (N) leaving it with total of 111 seats. Even then PML (N) would have been the single largest political party in National Assembly and Imran would have still been too far from being a Prime Minister. So how do nations decide their constitutional and legal disputes in 21st Century? Shall we delegate nation’s legislative, judicial and government business to the mobs? If accused of a crime, will Imran and Qadri prefer to delegate their fate to a mob or they would rather prefer a day in the court of law to prove their innocence? I am sure they would like to be treated innocent until proven guilty. Why to rattle the roots of democracy and pave the way for hopeful military takeover? By raising stakes in their public rhetoric, Imran, Qadri and Nawaz have boxed themselves into a tight corner. No one is willing to soften the tone and none of them has a plan beyond the standoff. Everyone is hoping for someone else to blink in a circle of death. As a result of their egos, the hopes and aspirations of ordinary men and women of Pakistan have suffered the real blow. In my judgment both disputing parties have personalized their political differences and have politicized their personal differences. Something must be done to bring an end to this madness. Instead of hoping that both Imran and Qadri will ultimately cave in, the government should assume the opposite. The question is who shares the legal and moral burden of leading out of this mess? I believe the responsibility falls on the shoulders of Nawaz Sharif who is elected to fix the problems instead of procrastinating. The key is to leverage institutional strength to resolve institutional crisis. Here is what I would recommend the Nawaz Sharif government should do: 1. Unilaterally accept all reasonable demands of Imran and Qadri and issue an executive directive for the redemption of their genuine grievances without wasting any time. But do not compromise on unreasonable demands of dissolution of assemblies and resignation of the Prime Minster. Let the court system work its miracle without state interference. 2. Work with all parliamentary parties to move and pass resolutions in all provincial assemblies including Pakhtunkhwa supporting constitutional and legal solution of electoral issues rather than resorting to the street power. 3. National Assembly should appoint a special electoral reform committee consisting of reputable parliamentarians and senior active and retired Supreme Court judges and Subject Matter Experts to recommend electoral reforms preventing outright and blatant voter fraud. Leveraging proven technologies to automate systems and use of National Identity Cards for voter validation should also be considered to address logistics of the electoral process 4. Prime Minister should immediately seek a vote of confidence from the National Assembly. I would advise Speaker of National Assembly not to accept resignations of PTI MNAs until they are given a choice to cast their vote in the vote of confidence for the Prime Minister. This will not only repair damage done to his office but it will provide desperately needed credibility to democracy in Pakistan and will place it in a good standing in global community of nations. If these steps are immediately rolled out, no administrative action will be necessary to dissipate the mob. References: 1. International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance: idea.int/vt/countryview.cfm?CountryCode=PK 2. ECP: tribune.pk/story/552368/pakistan-elections-2013-total-voter-turnout-55/
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 03:35:53 +0000
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