Enforcing rule of law
HOW many times will one have to endure the remorseless acts of selling their conscience by the Parliamentarians! is a question which once again possessed me listening to the open horse trading and gamesmanship of the supposed people’s representatives over the past week over their campaign for the Senate Elections; a dubious exercise one witnesses every half term of the Upper House.
The Treasury Benches and the Opposition trading accusations over its outcome, must make both sides ponder; The Government despite disciplinary action against its members bought out by Zardari and Co last time unable to stem the rot because it failed to deliver either to the people or keep the migratory birds intact, and the Opposition for blatantly indulging in horse trading, and smearing the Parliamentary system.
Imran Khan contradicts himself by his rigidity in refusing to negotiate with the Opposition on the one hand, and on the other relying upon more of the same corrupt electable opportunists gathered from various parties having no qualms of conscience in switching loyalties or selling their votes, in preference to his old Party loyalists discarded one after the other.
My fears as a concerned citizen are that if the Khan fails despite his courage of convictions, who will the people of Pakistan turn to next to salvage the country’s image, economy and the wellbeing of its people, and who will come out to fashion a truly democratic system in the country.
Before it is too late, all Parties must put in place a transparent system like that of the Jamaat-e-Islami to elect their Chief, and together through the Parliament constitutionally outlaw hereditary fiefdom in Party and State Office.
This is only how democracy can see any hope in Pakistan.
As of now, none except the Jamaat seem to be pushed; Imran Khan in particular appears to have given no thought to who would lead his Party after he like all fallible human beings one day kicks the bucket; a day of reckoning known to none.
Systems and rule of Law which ought to be the top priority of any civilized polity, is where like many other indicators Pakistan lags dismally behind other nations.
Well over a decade ago though, in one moment of what was then considered a move in principle and an act of courage, the sitting Chief Justice refused to step down under coercion from a military ruler, and the events that followed saw an unparalleled unison among the legal fraternity of which the Jury and the Bar were considered inseparable components.
But alas! Like most developments in the country, the unison was short-lived and disillusioning, as most believe the nexus in practice had forever been in tact where the lawyers who under the law were supposed to assist the courts in administering justice, some of them assist them for ‘administration of selective justice’ under the table.
Instead of availing the opportunity of setting in motion, reformation of the judicial system in the country to make it akin to the aspirations and objectives of an Islamic polity which ought to have been taken in hand soon after independence, what has followed particularly after the Lawyers Movement supporting Iftikhar Choudhry, has been a state of lawlessness perpetrated by the same bunch of lawyers who have seen no bounds within and outside the courts; beating up members of Parliament, law enforcement agencies and whoever attempted to make them behave as true guardians of the rule of law.
Political Parties have used these incidents for their own political ends accusing each other of exacerbating the situation, instead of availing the opportunity to iron out course correction.
This scribe routinely walked through a premises in Islamabad the other day which presented the look of devastation caused by enemy shelling of a peaceful non-military target, and I wondered what impression of my country would a foreigner gather in visiting such a spot.
It happened to be the District Courts located in the F-8 Markaz of the Capital Town where under ICT Orders, illegal structures fashioned as lawyers chambers raised overnight encroaching upon the already limited negative space left for public commuting within the court premises, were knocked down.
These structures had virtually blocked entrances to various ICT Administration offices besides those of the local judiciary and court rooms.
Vandalism by the lawyer’s community and confrontation with law enforcement Agencies followed, whereby the already impaired judicial system was once again held hostage putting hearings on hold which had barely commenced after the winter break
. One often wonders if there was any room for such breaks in the first place considering the dearth of judges precipitated by protracted hearings, for which both the Lawyers and the judges are to blame.
Granting of stay by the courts being a common curse; often adding to dragging of cases, the judges as usual were obliged to grant stay against demolitions as the lawyers occupied rostrums in courts to extract such orders; the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s remarks that the Judiciary would not be coerced, sounding meaningless.
I paused to ponder why a stay was granted over such obvious encroachment and trespass, and why in any case the rubble had not been instantly removed to clear the public thoroughfare.
In a country where the caretakers of the Constitution, the judiciary which also has the authority to interpret the law framed by the lawmakers namely the parliamentarians, is itself held hostage by their associates, one can imagine the state of lawlessness in the country which is an open affront to the rule of law.
One had until a few years back only witnessed compromises made by certain elements in the higher judiciary, taking cover of a manufactured Law of Necessity; some blatantly taking sides in handing down capital punishment, and others endorsing and legitimizing military takeovers.
But this one is the limit, which one hopes will be met with exemplary punishment and not shoved under the carpet.
—The writer is a media professional, member of Pioneering team of PTV and a veteran ex Director Programmes.
