Is it really about the constitution?

The political and constitutional quagmires prevalent in Pakistan are not caused by incapacitated state institutions, but rather by the individuals heading these institutions believing they can do as they please and overpower other players.

It is at this point that the constitution that outlines the rules of the game ceases to exist. For the rest, it's just smoke and mirrors designed to give the impression that one is following the law.

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It can be difficult for institutions to find agreement on how best to implement the constitution. But here, we have every stakeholder trying to implement their own version of the constitution every single day.

The game of interpretation and who is sanctioned to interpret it becomes a meaningless exercise once one realises that it has never been about the constitution at all.

The looming crisis over the fate of elections in Punjab offers nearly a textbook case of how it has never been about the rule of law.

The country's top court is currently engaged with the government as the latter continues to blame it for being partial towards certain political players.

For its part, the court continues to slam the said parties in power amid scathing verdicts from its own fraternity.

Meanwhile, the parliamentarian's romanticism with the legislation these days is a sight to behold.

It is remarkable to see how the lawmakers have suddenly realised that the chief justice's powers needed to be clipped and that it is the parliament that is superior to other institutions.

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Day in and day out, we have lawmakers shouting at the top of their lungs to ensure that their fellow parliamentarians realise that the spirit of the constitution stands with them.

It has gotten to the point where it is comical to see how far the parties in power are willing to reinterpret the constitution in order to save their skins.

Those who sit outside the parliament believe that the courts can somehow resurrect them. Courts from Quetta to Karachi and Peshawar to Lahore have been busy lately with cases that are being thrown at the PTI.

Some of them are legitimate while others will go down history as tools used to cut PTI down to size only to be revived again someday in order to serve the state.

This brings into play another player who has been omnipresent in this entire scheme of things but wants others to believe that it has found it constitutional calling.

Months ago, the security establishment seemingly decided not to interfere in politics, allowing political players to fight it out among themselves.

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However, parties in power, Imran Khan and even the courts, or some segments of them, want to make amends.

This whole anarchic logic is the fundamental problem with Pakistan’s troubled state of affairs.

And once key players take this unsettled viewpoint to decision-making, we are left with a state in crisis. A state where the citizens' and the institution's trust is broken is a state of chaos, where the rule of law no longer applies.

Talk to anyone in the street and they will tell you that they don’t expect anything from the state; they are only fending for themselves and trying to stay away from any and all constitutional bearers.

In this situation, its almost impossible for a government to effectively govern its people. In Pakistan, we never had anyone who really thought governing people should be a priority or was important for the process of state formation.

This is why when trust breaks down between citizens and institutions, it is virtually a no-state situation.

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