After the Model Town tragedy, law enforcers refused to bash the protestors prodding the PML-N, and self-proclaimed 'defenders' of democracy in the opposition, to seek a negotiated settlement with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) because the prospects of these parties coming into power seemed too risky for the 'country-loving' parliamentarians.
The startling revelations about large-scale rigging of the 2013 polls in Punjab and Sindh by a former Additional Secretary of the Election Commission (EC) have opened a Pandora's Box, and release of the so far suppressed inquiry report on police action in Model Town will open another that the PML-N regime will find hard to close. This explains why the PML-N is now organising rallies all over Pakistan.
Because it can't appease the PTI, the government's focus now is on frightening the PTI and PAT protestors. Telecom links in the 'Red Zone' have been frozen, for "preventing terrorists' entry this area" roads leading to Rawalpindi and Islamabad have been blocked (oddly, using cargo containers, not scanners), and official warnings are that terrorists have already entered the protestors' camps.
No one should challenge a transparently elected regime that obtains the mandate of the electorate's majority; forcing such a regime to quit amounts to treason. But the condition that such a regime must fulfil is its election through a transparent electoral process; if that's not the case, that regime itself will be committing treason by staying in office.
Although all the parties forming the parliamentary opposition had expressed their doubts about transparency of the 2013 polls, only PTI launched its protest march demanding the dismissal of the government. Worse still, all these parties (except two) oppose the campaigns of the PTI and PAT that challenge the descent of the PML-N regime courtesy rigged polls in 2013.
Eliminating the chances of poll rigging remained the lowest priority of all regimes, elected or dictatorial, although, nearly two decades ago, innovation in electronic technology had completely eliminated the chances of fiddling with voter's thumb impressions. While India switched to that technology, regimes in Pakistan refused to follow suit.
Surely, Pakistanis wouldn't have opposed state outlay on this technology to ensure that transparency of elections so that only those getting the electorate's mandate were elected. This was imperative for another crucial reason too; instead of being taken for granted, regimes elected by a transparent mandate are taken seriously by the global community.
Perhaps, poll rigging isn't anymore a crime in Pakistan. That this is so isn't surprising; poll rigging became a tradition because those who committed this heinous crime were rarely punished. Most political observers (except those who love democracy, no matter how corrupt) agree that, except for the 1970 elections, all others were rigged. Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar admitted before the National Assembly (as repeatedly quoted by Imran Khan) that authenticity of 60,000 to 70,000 votes cast in any constituency couldn't be verified because of non-availability of electronic thumb impression verification technology. How 'credible' has this made the 2013 elections needs no elaboration.
According to a press report based on in-depth discussions with National Database & Registration Authority (Nadra) personnel, verifying authenticity of votes based on thumb impressions in just 20 constituencies of the National Assembly will require more than a year - a procedure the Election Tribunals wanted Nadra to complete within weeks.
According to this report, voters' fingerprint verification in (the allegedly rigged) 14 constituencies took several months, and 65 percent of the fingerprints on ballot papers didn't match Nadra's record of the voters confirming what Chaudhry Nisar told the National Assembly - that poll rigging is a reality, and should be accepted ungrudgingly.
Isn't it unforgivable that neither the caretaker regime, nor the EC, nor NADRA felt it necessary to prevent the possibility of elections becoming controversial, given the visible incapacities of the administrative units to check large-scale rigging? Or was it accepted as the norm because Pakistan's democracy remains rooted in rigged polls?
Of the above-referred 14 constituencies, data available with observers like FAFEN indicates massive irregularities. Given EC and Nadra's investigative incapacities and this revelation, the only option - a bafflingly huge task - is the digital audit of EC's forms 14, 15, 16 and 17 filed for each polling station, to isolate just reporting anomalies and inaccuracies (not poll rigging evidence).
There are allegations that 9.2 million ballot papers were printed on May 9, simultaneously, drastic changes were made in the polling scheme and voters' lists, official heavyweights fiddled with the polling process and above all, non-magnetic ink was used for pasting voters' thumb impressions. Doesn't this mix render the 2013 elections wholly non-transparent?
Despite the alleged rigging of the electoral process, PTI got the second highest number of votes. Yet the PML-N regime simply ignored PTI's pleading for investigating poll rigging. The price PML-N finally paid was that, all over Punjab - its power hub - it had to rely on cargo containers to block marches by hundreds of thousands protesting against poll rigging.
In spite thereof, the lawyer community's reaction was amazing. On Pakistan Bar Council's appeal, lawyers staged a country-wide strike on August 21, protesting against what they called "unconstitutional sit-ins" by PTI and PAT. What this august community - expected to confront injustice of all kinds - ignores the allegations about rigging of the 2013 elections.
According to the EC, only the Supreme Court (SC) can order a digital audit of the overall results of the 2013 elections by a judicial commission comprising of SC judges - a necessity the Supreme Court hasn't felt thus far, though the questionable authenticity of the poll results has given rise to a political chaos that threatens Pakistan's stability.
On August 23, PTI had proposed that Nawaz Sharif should relinquish the charge of the PM's office for 30 days and during that period a judicial commission comprising of SC judges should investigate allegation about poll rigging to settle for once the truth about poll rigging. But so far there has been no response to this proposal from the SC.
Whether this reluctance has to do with 'constitutional constraints' or because the SC knows that (given its limited scrutiny capacity), NADRA cannot complete this task in 30 days, remains unclear. But, on August 25, the SC ordered the PTI and PAT to immediately clear the constitution avenue (end their protest over poll rigging?)
The political stalemate is damaging the economy, more importantly its image, with long-term after-effects. But the Finance Minister points only to the drop in the Rupee's exchange value, and the government isn't prepared to budge from its system-crippling stand ie the PM won't resign. As a consequence, chaos is now spreading countrywide.
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