THE most controversial and consequential elections in the history of the nation have just ended and on the day after the elections it appears as if the voters of Pakistan are asking Quo Vadis? Quo vadis? This is a Latin phrase meaning “Where are you going?” It is also commonly translated poetically as “Whither goest thou? What now? Where are we going and what happens now? This was an election that had an unprecedented turn out of voters. Defying all odds and problems the people of Pakistan turned out in record numbers to vote for the party of their choice. The voter turnout in almost all constituencies was over fifty percent specially the turnout of youth and women was really impressive. This election saw a massive vote against the establishment and the status quo and the poll results from Punjab and KPK were definitely against the party supposed to be backed by the powerful establishment resulting in the PTI supported candidates taking the lead. Many of the PMLN candidates were lagging behind till late at night but were mysteriously declared winners next morning igniting strong allegations of rigging cheating and deliberately favoring certain contestants. Ironically this has happened in every elections in the history of Pakistan and we have witnessed the mysterious changes overnight in the election results. In the 2018 elections we saw the mysterious collapse of the RTS system that left no doubt in anybody’s mind that the PTI was the main beneficiary and the favorite of the establishment. Nothing has changed this time only the beneficiary appears to be different.
There has been a very strong reaction from the local and international media. Major countries of the world such as the USA, UK, and EU have voiced their concerns about the alleged irregularities and have urged the caretaker govt. of Pakistan to launch a serious probe into these allegations. For the first time in history the UN Secretary General has appealed to the govt. and our political leaders to resolve the controversies about the elections through the established legal frameworks. These statements by the international community just cannot be ignored because according to diplomatic rules foreign leaders are not supposed to comment on issues that are purely an internal matter of any country. Pakistan’s democratic process has become the laughing stock of the world and questions are now being asked about the involvement of the Election Commission in manipulating the election results. For the first time in history all the religious cum political parties have been decimated the Jamaat-i-Islami, JUI (F) and the TLP have suffered a huge set back with very little to show at the federal or the provincial levels. On the other hand the political parties supposedly artificially created by the powers that be or the so called King’s parties were three in number in this election namely the IPP composed of mainly the PTI deserters could get only two national assembly seats and failed badly in the Punjab too and the IPP founder Jahangir Tareen announced his retirement from the party and politics too. The PTI Parliamentarians could not win a single seat in the National assembly and the performance of the BAP created in 2018 too was miserable leaving no doubt that these parties will have a very short life in politics. Kings parties have been hammered together many times in the past and the name Muslim League has been used by General Ayub Khan, General Zia to give a civilian aura to their regimes. The PMLQ was patronized and nurtured by General Pervez Musharraf by carving it out of another Muslim League. Today we have numerous bye products of the Muslim League and some electoral joint ventures were created to keep out some genuinely popular parties and the biggest example is the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad in 1988 as a force against the PPP. The PMLN too is a product of military rule. Nawaz Sharif was patronized nurtured and hand crafted by general Zia but today the PMLN is one of the major political parties of the country. The MQM has mostly danced to the tune of the establishment and even in this election has obtained a heavy mandate. The PPP too is not without blemish as during the decade of the 1990s they too have done the bidding of the powers that be.
The game of dancing to the tune of the powers that be may have done some short term benefit to certain leaders or their parties but in the long run democracy and democratic institutions have suffered a great blow because our political leaders could not see beyond the tip of their nose. The only way to end the political crisis in Pakistan is to end the interference of the establishment and the elimination of the king’s parties in our political system. Artificially created leaders and parties have a very ephemeral and transient life span and despite the patronage of the establishment are disliked by the people. Political forces can live long and thrive only if they look for legitimacy from the people they are supposed to lead. Immediate the day after the game of power play has begun in real earnest with little respect for democratic traditions the name of the game is wheeling and dealing. The game is of the highest stakes and it is for power and power only. Vested interests are getting together and we witness the impossible spectacle of the PTI delegation embracing the JUI (F) chief in Islamabad. The win of Nawaz Sharif in his home constituency is being widely suspected and he has suffered a defeat in another constituency of Mansehra. Even in the Punjab the PMLN does not have a simple majority and the they can only form a govt. in the center with the help of the PPP.In the aftermath of the election Nawaz Sharif appealed and suggested the formation of a unity govt. of all the major parties in the field and talked about a healing time for the unity of the nation.
The election results have shown a hung parliament and a fractured mandate. Ironically today there is no single party that can claim a big vote bank in all the provinces and this will now result in the formation of a coalition govt. Such an arrangement will present its own challenges and difficulties. A coalition govt. will not be able to enact badly needed structural reforms to kick start the economy or to heal the polarisation and schisms in society.
—The writer is Professor of History, based in Islamabad.
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