Siraj, Pagara’s demands against Constitution

Viewpoint

ISLAMABAD: Political parties foreseeing no brilliant future in the forthcoming general elections have started coming with out with inane demands and warnings, wishing a scenario that is alien to the Constitution and law.

They have not named the powers or individuals, who should come forward to attend to their calls, but obviously they want the establishment to intervene to satisfy them. But they ignore the fact that in the presence of the Constitution, everything has to be done strictly according to it. What they have stressed is beyond the basic document, and hence unconstitutional, entailing severe punishment.

Ironically, both the political parties -- the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Functional League -- have limited public say with the former facing a shocking depletion of its electoral fortunes in successive general elections and by-polls and the latter restricted to some parts of a couple of districts of Sindh.

Interestingly, a brother of Functional League chief is a member of the federal cabinet and is holding this position since the present government came in place. He has never given vent to such views.

No political party worth the name that sees a bright future in the parliamentary polls will ever make any demand to sidestep the elections and instead indulge in any unconstitutional act to get rid of the electoral contest.

“Our party wants accountability of all corrupt leaders before the 2018 general elections,” Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq has declared.

This slogan had been raised for a number of times in the past as well. Every time, it was meant to get the elections postponed due to the fear such elements have that they would fare very poorly in the polls. Whenever this demand was met, Pakistan was plunged into darkness for several years to come. Even after the end of the military rule, the situation it created required years to rectify.

If the democratic setup is to continue and the upcoming polls are to be held as required under the Constitution, Sirajul Haq’s demand can’t be billed as plausible and credible by any person with a common sense. Accountability of “all corrupt leaders” can’t be conducted by brandishing a magic wand as the Jamaat-e-Islami chief wants. First, “all corrupt leaders” have to be identified and then made accountable as per the law of land, which will obviously require years if not decades. In fact, hidden in his demand is the wish to get the elections deferred. But he may say so openly without any reservations so that everyone including his supporters knows his actual desire.

In the name of accountability for which Sirajul Haq and others made concerted efforts was concealed the ouster of deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that has been achieved. The slogan seeking accountability of over 400 others named in the Panama Papers is just a farce that is being promoted and projected by different politicians. None of them has been touched and none will ever be arraigned without a doubt.

Like others Sirajul Haq will also keep airing this demand that “the names of 436 other leaders mentioned in the Panama Papers leaks should also be brought to justice.” Nothing will happen. However, he and others are making such calls with the hope that some voters will be attracted towards their parties. The results of successive by-elections have established that this produced nothing for them as the electorates know the actual objective of such campaigners.

Functional League chief Pir Pagara is another prominent politician who wants all and sundry to forget about the scheduled 2018 general elections as he fears that these polls “may result in street clashes and worsen the law and order situation.”

His party, confined to a small area of Sindh, is confronted with sagging electoral prospects. While he apprehends violence in case the elections were held, he simultaneously says a Grand Democratic Alliance was the last hope for the people of Sindh. This clearly shows his deep desire to have a greater say at least in his native province but no previous alliance has been in a position to pose a formidable challenge to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

Pir Pagara seemed inclined towards the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) when he stated he was in contact with Imran Khan and leaders of other political parties. The possibility of an electoral coalition among Functional League, PTI and some other miniature forces of Sindh can’t be ruled out only to compete against the PPP in this province. However, such alliances have hardly posed any threat to the PPP.

Although the voices separately raised by Sirajul Haq and Pir Pagara are not very weighty considering their parties’ respective low public standing proven in consecutive elections, they may add force to the efforts of certain elements, who are engaged in devising machinations to rock the democratic system by creating doubts about the timely holding of the next general polls.

The demand of accountability before the 2018 elections also encourages those who dream to have a technocrats’ government for three years for “cleansing” but all these schemes find no place in the Constitution, which is supreme and any deviation from it will be high treason under Article 6.