The only way forward

Former premier Imran Khan played his cards well in Punjab where the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elhai not just managed to win a vote of confidence in the house, but as promised, signed the summary for the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly. The PTI and its ally, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), managed to get the vote of confidence for their chief minister against the backdrop of an aggressive campaign launched by some of the stalwarts of the Shehbaz Sharif-led federal government to orchestrate defections within the PTI and create friction between Imran Khan and Parvez Elahi. Both the PTI and the PML-Q accused the federal government of playing a dirty game as some of their members were not only offered huge bribes, but also pressured to change loyalties. The federal government did manage to win over a few Punjab MPAs. However, Imran Khan had the last laugh as he ensured 186 votes for the Punjab chief minister by winning back some of the PTI weak-links  from southern Punjab and galvanizing the other party lawmakers as well. According to a PTI insider, just four days before the vote of confidence, the situation was in flux, but then Imran Khan managed to get the required number after holding back-to-back meetings with the lawmakers.

With Imran Khan’s plan of dissolving the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial assemblies back on track, along with the push to get the resignations of his Members National Assembly (MNAs) approved by the speaker, an already besieged Shehbaz Sharif government is on a slippery slope. Matters are fast getting out of the hands of the ruling coalition, which lacked credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of a vast number of Pakistanis from day one. The PDM’s poor performance, especially on the economic front, has only made it more and more unpopular with each passing day. The real brunt of public wrath is being faced by the PML-N which enjoys the dominant role in the government. No wonder, Punjab, once considered the stronghold of the Sharif family, is fast slipping out of their hands. The more the Shehbaz Sharif government is trying to hold on to power, the more it seems to slip out of its hands against the backdrop of a growing friction within the Sharif family and the PML-N following the decision of self-exiled former premier Nawaz Sharif to formally nominate his daughter, Maryam, as his political heir.

Now the question before all the stakeholders, including the state institutions, is what next? Should the PDM be allowed to stay in power at the cost of Pakistan’s political and economic stability or the institutions help politicians to break the stalemate and go for early elections across Pakistan? General elections remain a better choice for the country instead of polls in two provinces and by-elections on national and Sindh and Balochistan assembly seats vacated by the PTI because a government with a fresh five-year mandate remains in a better position to take difficult economic decisions and introduce sweeping reforms which the country badly needs.

Common sense says that fresh general elections after developing a consensus among the key stakeholders would serve as the first step in efforts to pull the country out of its current political and economic mess. But for this, institutions, especially the military leadership, will have to act as arbitrator and guarantor – overtly or covertly — as politicians have again demonstrated that they are unable to rise before their petty political and self-interests. But as the Pakistan Army may help break the deadlock, it will be the responsibility of all the other institutions, including the Election Commission of Pakistan and the superior judiciary to ensure free, fair, peaceful and transparent elections. All institutions must walk the talk of keeping impartiality so that the will of the masses can be truly implemented.

It is also the responsibility of the institutions to ensure that all the self-serving amendments introduced by the PDM government, especially those pertaining to accountability laws, get scrapped. Reviving the anti-corruption narrative and ensuring accountability of the corrupt, especially the public representatives, should remain the part and parcel of democracy and any democratic exercise. Pakistanis should not be forced to accommodate corruption as a premium they pay to enjoy the so-called luxury of democracy.

Going forward, it is also the responsibility of the institutions to work in tandem with the country’s vibrant civil society to make Pakistani democracy work for the people rather than the elite. For this, scrapping dynastic politics – both at the national and constituency level – remains a must. And this cannot be done until political parties themselves become democratic and allow educated and professional Pakistanis to join the political process along with middle, lower-middle and the working classes at every level, including the Parliament.