Democracy in a shambles in Pakistan

G Parthasarathy

Chancellor, Jammu Central University, & Former High Commissioner to Pakistan

IN recent months, people of Pakistan were engrossed in what they believed were serious preparations for free, fair and democratic elections. However, it soon became clear that they were witnessing preparations for a soap opera, with the directions being given by army chief Gen Syed Asim Munir. He has had a turbulent career. It was during Imran Khan’s tenure as Prime Minister that Munir was removed from the post of ISI chief. Then army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa thereafter ensured that Imran was ousted as Prime Minister.

Apart from the political and economic problems, Pakistan seems to have ruined relations with its neighbours.

There is no dearth of people in Pakistan who aver that Imran’s exit was part of an American plot. Gen Bajwa was reputed to be an American ‘friend’ who had agreed to supply arms and ammunition for an estimated $900 million to the Ukrainian Government. It must, however, be acknowledged that Gen Bajwa, unlike his predecessors, was guarded and mature in his references to India. Obviously, he realised that enhanced tensions with India would be counterproductive. The same, however, cannot be said about his protégé and successor, Gen Munir.

Pakistan has landed in a mess thanks to mishandling and alleged rigging of the recent elections. The manipulation of the electoral process was spearheaded by the army. Instead of uniting to deal with attempts to undermine democracy and Pakistan’s Constitution, the judiciary and the bureaucracy developed cold feet. A spineless civil administration and the police toed the military’s line. Pakistan’s political class again emerged as divided when challenged by the army. A Pakistani friend once remarked: “It is not surprising that across the world, every country has an army. But in Pakistan, it is the army which has a country.”

Anticipating that the voting process would be vitiated, Imran arranged for his supporters to get around the barriers and cast their votes freely. The only political party that seriously opposed the army’s machinations was Imran’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Other leading parties fell in line and won handsomely in their respective strongholds. The army, however, did face a number of embarrassing exposés. Pre-emptive action by the PTI, whose members contested as independents, enabled Imran’s supporters to win 93 seats in the National Assembly. Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Bhutto-Zardari family-led Pakistan People’s Party won 75 and 54 seats, respectively. But in the eyes of the world and virtually the entire population of Pakistan, the army stood disgraced for undermining democratic polity. Gen Munir had, meanwhile, proclaimed: “India has not reconciled with the concept of Pakistan, then how can we reconcile with it?”

What has been shocking is the crude and unlawful manner in which Gen Munir brazenly violated Pakistan’s Constitution and electoral norms. Nevertheless, as anticipated, the army got the Sharif and Bhutto-Zardari families together with a few smaller parties to defeat and keep Imran behind bars. The allegations of rigging in the February 8 elections have been dismissed by the new government. The Commissioner of Rawalpindi division, Liaquat Ali Chattha, however, asserted that the elections were ‘manipulated’ in his presence. He also offered his resignation. He was, however, compelled to withdraw not only his resignation but also his comments.

Questions have been raised in the US about the farcical elections in Pakistan. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller has urged the newly elected government to investigate complaints regarding electoral irregularities. There has also been sharp criticism in the Pakistan media of the rigging. The Sharif and Bhutto-Zardari families will share the top ministerial posts. Asif Ali Zardari, who attained fame by marrying Benazir Bhutto, is set to become the President. There are, however, doubts as to whether Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has the skills and attributes of his mother Benazir or grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to rule the country. Bilawal appears to be in a hurry to become the Prime Minister, while he has sounded like an ISI chief when commenting on relations with India.

Earlier this week, the PML-N became the largest political party in the National Assembly following the distribution of reserved seats denied to the Imran-backed Sunni Ittehad Council. On Monday, the Election Commission of Pakistan had ruled that the council was not eligible for these seats. Most of the 93 PTI-backed independently elected candidates had joined the council in the hope that it would receive its share of reserved seats. The PTI announced on Tuesday that it would launch nationwide protests on March 10 against ‘stealing’ of the mandate.

Apart from the political and economic problems, Pakistan seems to have ruined its relations with its neighbours. While its ties with India have been in deep freeze in recent years, Pakistan’s actions have riled Afghanistan and Iran. Pakistan has accused the Afghan Taliban of crossing the Durand Line; it has also alleged that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is operating across its borders with Iran and Afghanistan. There were cross-border airstrikes by Iran in January and retaliatory action by Pakistan. Pakistan now appears ready to escalate border tensions with three of its neighbours — Iran, Afghanistan and India.

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