SINCE dawn of independence this country has seen many changes and experiments in the political structure of the country. The first constitution of the country saw the light of the day in 1956 but this constitution survived only two years and was abrogated by General Ayub Khan when he imposed Martial law in 1958. General Ayub came up with the system of Basic democracies and a Presidential system and gave us the handcrafted constitution of 1962. This system was discarded by Gen Yahya Khan in second martial laws in 1969 and the provinces were restored and the country was governed under the provisional constitution order and elections were held on the principle of one man one vote in December 1970. After the disastrous war of 1971 Zulifiqar Ali Bhutto managed to get the 1973 constitution passed by consensus by the National assembly and this constitution with many amendments has withstood the test of timeand survived the military dictatorships of Gen Zia and Gen Musharraf.
Now once again there is a whispering campaign in the country about some drastic changes to the political structure of the country. Cabinet ministers and some influential media persons are now talking of some sort of administrative restructuring for creating some new provinces in the immediate future and it is being trumpeted that this is a change wanted by the people of Pakistan but how was the will of the people known? There has been no debate in the assembly or any form of referendum to determine the will of the people. This topic has only been discussed in hushed terms in the media or some talk show anchors have made it a topic of discussion. If new provinces are to be created the constitution provides the means and method for doing so there is no need of any backdoor method. We have to make sure that it is the will of the people and not the will of some mysterious behind the scene powers.
All the major political parties that is the PM-N, PPP, PTI, JUI, MQM and Jamaat-i-Islami have different views on the creation of new provinces or any restructuring in the political system the stalwarts of the PMLN have vehemently denied knowledge about such a move in the near futureand the PPP seems to be against the very idea of new provinces. The national assembly or the provincial assemblies have not had any bill moved or any debate on the subject. It will not be a surprise if like the twenty sixth and the twenty seventh amendments the 28th amendment bill will also be rubber stamped by the assembly once it is presented before them. The PTI and JUI have yet to come up with a firm stance on the subject. Rumors about the 28th amendment have been in circulation for some time now but the statement of Mohsin Naqvi last month ignited the debate that a major structural change is in the offing His remarks pointed towards a major change in the entire political system perhaps meaning a form of the presidential system of governance. Immediately after the speech of the interior minister the remarks by the DG ISPR gave further impetus to the viral rumors and mysterious campaign on the social media. According to the interior minister the political system has collapsed but it is a fact that the collapse of the system is due to the absence of democratic principles and denial of democratic rights to the people. Vague statements by powerful politicians and officials have by now triggered a tidal wave of worries public debate about this rather vague and obscure plan. Ironically even the political parties and politicians who support this campaign are themselves clueless about how this plan will be implemented.
There no two opinions about the fact that the existing political system is on the verge of collapse and is not delivering but any attempt to improve the system with a brand new experiment will certainly not work. The political crisis of the country cannot be resolved by creating new provinces or by another attempt at the Presidential system. According to the whispering campaign in the media the 28th amendment will completely overhaul and restructure the entire political and administrative system of the country. Structural reform is part and parcel of democracy but a change forcibly imposed through extra constitutional methods will fail creating more chaos and problems. The two previous amendments that is the twenty sixth and the twenty seven have turned the judiciary into a branch of the executive and the new 28th could very well destroy any semblance of democracy in the country. The creation of new administrative units could well improve governance but the major political parties are totally divided on this issue and the requirement of the constitution of two thirds majority in the national assembly and the provincial assemblies make such a move if not impossible but highly unlikely to happen. Political leaders so far seem to agree on forming a south Punjab province on administrative lines, In KPK there is consensus on the Hazara province but the exact boundaries have yet to be determined. Sindh is up in arms against any division and even against putting Karachi under federal rule. Baluchistan if divided will create more problems and any one sided extra constitutional arrangements made by the powers that be will definitely backfire and create more political chaos in the country.
Our country today is steeped in political, administrative and financial crises and we simply cannot afford a major political experiment at this stage. The so called approaching political changes will be of no use for the future of democracy and the nation. Today we are in desperate need of complete restoration of democracy , rule of law and Constitution.
—The writer is Professor of History, based in Islamabad
