Ordinance and TI embarrassment

Haplessly, self-righteousness, bullying and imposition may be deemed as the favourite tactics of politicking of the (PTI) leadership notwithstanding the country plunging in the slough of political, diplomatic and economic mess of appalling proportion. The lack of epiphany to proceed on with sagacity imbedded in rationality and objectivity is not considered as the right paradigm by the ruling elite although its indispensability is being underscored by all the sane people across the board. The promulgation of the presidential ordinance last week to hold open Senate elections may be yet another such step suggesting as to what extent the present government could go on flouting the constitutional imperatives without knowing the dire consequences. The Supreme Court is already conducting proceedings on the presidential reference on the subject and yet promulgation of the presidential ordinance on last Saturday may be a rambling attempt to pressurise the apex court to give decision in favour of the government. How ironic and inappropriate that the government has the audacity to bring an amendment in the Constitution through presidential ordinance? Even dictator may decline such haste and boldness in such matters.

It may be pointed out that the opposition had been opposing the open Senate elections because it instead wanted the holistic amendments in the electoral process in a way to eliminate any chance of election rigging, manipulation and fraud. But, the ruling party wanted this bit of amendment in the Constitution that Opposition did not endorse due to certain reservations. The government should have addressed such reservations of the Opposition on constitutional matters to evolve consensus instead of imposing its narrative,’ they cannot make no wrong’. The type of unifocal with Opposition of the government has adversely affected the governance in the country and people are paying the price resultant of the crippling price hike, unemployment, lawlessness and abject poverty. The image of the country is sadly on the downward spiral at the global level too due to back to back embarrassments stretching from PIA saga, Broadsheet fiasco, seizure of National airline plane in Malaysia, Transparency International (TI) Report(2020) etc.

Transparency International report (2020) has torn apart the PTI narrative of corruption that it had used so mercilessly against political opponents to muster whatever political support of the masses. Maintaining and upping up the political capital so garnered was a daunting task for the PTI after assuming the reign of the country. It failed in this account as per the general perception because people were not better off in terms of quality of life as compare to the previous governments. TI current report had busted its corruption narrative without a chance of benefit of doubt. Corruption narrative has seemingly boomeranged in the face of the government leaving them embarrassed and red-faced. Pakistan’s incumbent government standing negative at (124) in the Corruption Perception Index, India at (86), could not be starker. It is a damming indictment of bad governance on the incumbent government.

It may certainly be good news for the people that Pakistan had been incrementally addressing the corruption perception during the PPP and the PML-N previous governments, 2008-20018, explicitly suggesting much better functioning of the democracy based on ‘a system of automatic correction and adjustments’. The incumbent democratic dispensation’s functioning is evidently flawed because Parliament looks like godforsaken forum; media under heels and rule of law’s application discriminatory. The democratic evolution was on track during PPP and PML-N governments because sin qua non of democracy were generally in place according to democratic acceptable practices. The then Transparency International reports covering the periods of two governments, PPP and PML-N, clearly testified the declining of corruption perception giving pleasant feelings both at home, abroad. But, the Transparency International’s current report, showing upward negative trend of the corruption perception, have shocked many who were least expecting the infamy of the scale.

The longevity of the trend highlighted in TI report may continue because the ruling elite has given away bounty of Rs500 million to each of its MNA and MPA under the garb of ‘development funds’. Its snowball impact may surely adversely affect the functioning of the future local government institutions at the expense of development. Furthermore, the tug of war between the local institutions and the MNAs and MPAs may be a foregone conclusion as had been in the past. The largesse of development funds may predictably open the pandora’s box to misuse the funds on parochial basis because they know these have been given to them as ‘ bribe’ to remain loyal to the party in the face of reported fissures among the lawmakers of the party. It may also have been felt by the ruling leadership to galvanize their support firmly for being critical to win the Senate elections to be held in March this year. The talk of ‘no confidence motion’ by the PPP leadership against the government might have upped the anxiety of (PTI) forcing it to keep its elected members in the fold who were reportedly frustrated on the non-elected people assuming the central stage in the corridors of power.

It may be recalled that the top leadership of the ruling party would not get tried in the past in criticizing the previous governments for granting development funds to the MNA’s castigating the practice as a trivial politicking to promote culture of corruption. He boasted then that he would plug this loophole of corruption if he was voted to power. Two wrongs do not make one right, as adage says. He seemingly lived up to his wayward of taking the U–Turns without remorse. To play mockery with the dreams of the gullible people has been going on as a normal than exception. This government’s perceived failure to deliver signifies the tale of broken promises and expectations of the people. The track record of governance resulting in multiplying the miseries of the people speaks for itself. The tall promises of improving the quality of life of all and sundry within short span of time have sadly fallen on the deaf ears even after the lapse of more than two and half years.

The emerging situation may be worse in all forms and manifestations. The back to back crisis, sprouting from shortages of food items, crippling inflation-- mostly without respite-- surge in unemployment, deteriorating public law and order, curse of sectarianism and terrorism, and not the least the fractured health and education system, have plunged the nation deep into the slough of helplessness and abject poverty with no light at the end of the tunnel.

The report of the Transparency International (2020) has further dampened their hopes of better days during the foreseeable future. How deluded the ruling elite? Plumbing the depths of reticence was pitiable when official spokespersons claimed that the Transparency International Report was based on the data relating to the PML-N and the PPP governments. The prime minister did not lag behind either. The study of the contents of the report comprehensively rejected their assertions as the assessment was based on the compilation of data pertained to the years of 2019-20.

The pessimism that seemingly has engulfed the people may not be misplaced. It has co-relationship with the style of governance of the PTI leadership. It is primarily rooted in demonization of the political opponents followed by their character assassination through the trumped up allegations. Putting them behind bars for months and years is cruel abomination in democracy. The incumbent leader of the Opposition, Shahbaz Sharif, and former leader of the Opposition, Syed Khurshid Shah, PPP, are both in jail facing the political victimization of the scale that was not even seen during the successive military rules.

Their courage deserves tributes for standing up in the face of height of injustice. The resultant political polarization is bound to play out as an anathema to parliamentary politics having direct bearings on the poor performance of the government. The outcome of this combative politics smacks of which- hunting and the buck stops with the government table. The parliamentary politics and witch-hunting cannot co-exist. They impede the cause of each other with vengeance. This is happening during the PTI government.

Comparatively speaking, the last PPP government led by former Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani had the distinction so far as the functioning of parliamentary democracy was concerned. Drawing of the comparison between the two may surely embarrass the incumbent government for its appalling inability to even hold the flag of parliamentary politics not to speak of holding it up high. Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani was unanimously elected as the leader of the House. He proved himself as the worthy of honour as he ran the House even to the envy of the well-established democracies around the world.

The House optimized as the forum of debate and scrutiny resulting in unprecedented legislations with political consensus.

The military top brass used to come to the Parliament to apprise the parliamentarians on the security challenges facing the country. Freedom of media was a practically more than in Article 19 of the Constitution. Judiciary was independent to an enviable extent. It is matter of record that there was not a single political prisoner not to speak of hundreds of such prisoners today those included leaders of the Opposition, former prime ministers, ministers and prominent leaders under the garb of the highly controversial accountability process.

The Supreme Court in its historic judgment adjudicated the accountability process with discriminatory overtones. ‘NAB powers used as convenient stick to beat the opposition and recalcitrant journalists’.

muhammadshaheedi@yahoo.com