Justice delayed

Ultimately, the reserved seats verdict has restored the people’s mandate to the PTI. But why did this case take such a long time to process? This tends to be par-for-the-course in Pakistan, where cases can take decades to decide. Much instability and uncertainty could have been avoided had there been a timelier verdict in the reserved seats case. Now, the inordinately delayed ruling will bring with it more problems than it would solve.

If the present governing setup is torpedoed and the PTI forms its own government, it may well undo almost all the policy decisions made by the incumbent government including the arrangement with the IMF. If this indeed comes to pass, the country’s already fragile economy would collapse. The ruling elite will not lose anything from any crises that result from this delayed verdict. In fact, our elite tend to thrive during crises. The costs will be borne by the ordinary people who are already near breaking point.

Gulsher Panhwer

Johi