Mohammad Jamil
IN view of the ongoing accountability process whereby top leaders of the PPP and PML-N are in the dock, they have found in JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman an ally who has announced long march and sit-in in Islamabad and demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan. PML-N and PPP leaders have also joined the chorus not realizing where are headed to. At this crucial juncture when Pakistan is striving to internationalize Kashmir issue, improve dismal economic situation, opposition is all set to create chaos and confusion. They try to justify the sit-in taking the plea that PTI had also staged a sit-in on the grounds that 2013 election was rigged. At that time PPP had come out to support PML-N and stood by it in the joint session of Parliament to save democracy. Perhaps now they do not wish to see continuation of democratic process.
Deceit and deception is hallmark of Pakistani politics, as political parties have been forming alliances only to demolish mostly elected governments and not necessarily to form coalition governments. After February 2008 election former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari agreed in March to form a coalition government in Pakistan, the words of the 19th century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli seemed apt: “Coalitions, though successful, have always found this, that their triumph has been brief.” It turned out the triumph had been even briefer than many had expected. Sharif pulled his party out of the government on 12th May because of differences over restoration of judiciary, though he said his PML (N) party would continue supporting the PPP-led government in parliament, rather than sit in opposition. Later, the PML-N pushed the PPP to withdraw its members from Punjab cabinet, as PML-N had withdrawn its members from the federal cabinet.
Yet, both leaders reiterated their commitment to the Charter of Democracy and expressed determination to implement the document which was according to them was a big achievement of late Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif. The meeting expressed unanimity of views that to address the internal and external challenges being faced by the country and in the greater national interest both major political parties of the country would continue to respect each other’s mandate, strengthen democratic institutions, institutionalize good governance and work together for the smooth and effective functioning of the parliamentary process. But PML-N used the differences over reinstatement of judiciary, and joined the lawyers’ movement to put the PPP on the mat. In a democracy there is always difference of opinion between the political parties but the differences are narrowed down through negotiations. But in Pakistan, the politicians have the tendency to take extreme position that takes them to the cull de sac.
The conduct of the PPP and PML-N leaders during 1990s was reflective of such phenomenon, which culminated in their self-exile and exile through intervention of foreign friends. Political analysts and pundits had presaged that alliance or coalition between the PPP and PML-N would not last long, as both parties had different manifestos and ideologies, and have been archenemies in the past. There was a perception that leaders of both parties were united because they had suffered at the hands of President Pervez Musharraf, who had vowed that Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif had no role in Pakistan’s politics any more. Though PPP and PML-N leaders claim to be champions of democracy, the fact remains that late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were products of the garrison’s flower pots. Leaders of both these parties spew venom against military establishment – once their mentor.
Anyone who believes in adventurism is always on the lookout for an opportunity when a General of his choice would come and put the ‘Crown’ on his head. But it should be remembered that those who achieve power through short cuts, their tenures are cut short and are shown the door by their ‘mentors’. When General Zia-ul-Haq reprimanded JI for not having done the homework for implementation of Shariah, JI members resigned. Anyhow, Jamat-e-Islami had aided and abetted General Zia along with other religious parties, and were part of his Shura and his cabinet. Later, JI and other parties of the MMA had stood by the dictator General Musharraf right up to 2008. They had participated in 2002 election under Muttehida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), which unarguably had dictator’s blessings. Anyhow, during elected governments’ tenure, Jamaat-i-Islami has been often on the forefront for cobbling together alliances to topple govt.
During military regimes the religious parties tried to push forward their agenda of enforcing Shariah of their perception, which was contrary to the perception of the majority of the people. It is a matter of record that JI had declared in 1970 that Yahya Khan’s alternative ‘Constitution’ was the best document, which was to be implemented if the elected members failed to draft and approve the constitution within 30 days. After 2013 election which PML-N won with thumping majority, opposition leader, Syed Khurshid Shah, had said that the victimization of the then President Asif Ali Zardari continued. He said the Swiss authorities had written back to the government of Pakistan that the cases against the President could not be opened because they had become time-barred. He termed the move of opening Swiss case as sheer vendetta of the Nawaz Sharif Government against the President. Whither was the Charter of Democracy then?
—The writer is a senior journalist based in Lahore.
