EDITORIAL: The government would have noticed that all concerned quarters and stakeholders are offering it the same piece of good advice; that it must under no circumstances delay elections beyond October this year.
With the fate of two provincial elections still shrouded in mystery, despite all the drama of the last few months, and the tenure of the national, Sindh and Balochistan assemblies set to expire in just over two months, the roadmap to the elections should have been prepared and approved by now.
That is why Pildat (Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency) has also got in line to remind the government of its foremost constitutional obligation at this point. In a statement released recently, it said ECP (Election Commission of Pakistan) must be fully prepared to hold general elections in October in a transparent manner.
It also stressed, rightly so, that “only free and fair and timely elections can bring back desperately needed political stability in Pakistan keeping in view recent political turmoil and mounting economic troubles”. And even though commenting on the economic situation of the country doesn’t exactly fall within its jurisdiction, it is right to stress this point given the close link between Pakistan’s many political crises and its economic desperation.
Just the other day the IMF (International Monetary Fund) also went past its mandate and felt forced to highlight the link between political stability, adherence to the constitution, and unlocking the next tranche of the bailout programme.
Everybody seems to be hoping that a government with strong public support and approval would be able to take the bold decisions that are needed to keep the country solvent and afloat; though nobody’s yet commented in detail on what exactly those bold steps and decisions might entail. But considering the stops and starts in the EFF (Extended Fund Facility) since the days of the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) government, it seems each administration has tried to work around the tax raises and subsidy cuts that the Fund keeps demanding because that would really hurt their vote bank. Once a popular government is in place for five years, though, such steps might not be as hard as they seem right now.
That is why everything must be done to make sure there are no further delays in the election schedule. It’s already quite shocking that the Punjab and KP assemblies are still run by caretaker setups even though the constitutional limit to their tenure has long ended. And even the Supreme Court’s involvement failed to get the law of this very land implemented.
It must be made clear though that the entire political elite, all across the spectrum, is responsible for this crisis. For, all parties have made it amply clear that the only thing that really matters to them is either coming back to or hanging on to power, no matter the cost to the state or the people.
So much so that their childish confrontation culminated in the ugly incidents of 9 May 2023, which shall cast a dark shadow across the country for a long time to come.
Yet if political parties insist on carrying on with this senseless fight, they must at least display the maturity to do it by the rules. And the only fight that counts in democratic, representative politics is the election.
PTI still seems confident about its changes, even after the post-May9 mass exodus. It’s the government that is looking more worried.
That makes sense, given that it has had to bear the brunt of following IMF’s upfront conditions, and even then it has not been able to complete the program. But fiddling any more with the constitution will only make it lose more ground.
Therefore, it is in the interest of all political parties, state institutions as well as the people of Pakistan to hold the next general election by October at the very latest.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023