The adage “one who laughs last, laughs the loudest” seems to have found its best reflection from a key political development that has taken place on country’s landscape on Wednesday. But before I elaborate my point I would like to tell the valued readers that it was on Monday last that this newspaper carried my full-length letter to the Editor in its issue.
It was all about the significance or importance of what is called “a level playing field” or the situation in which every contestant has an equal and fair chance of succeeding.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have already demanded the caretaker setup and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) must ensure a level playing field for them.
Now Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has added its voice to the chorus, making a similar demand. In a letter to interim prime minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, President Arif Alvi is said to have raised PTI’s concerns regarding the “erosion of fundamental rights and a level playing field for all political parties” in the run up to the general elections.
According to President Alvi’s letter, PTI has alleged that it is being stopped from carrying out political activities and several of its leaders are incarcerated following violence in the country on May 9.
It has also been stated that the PTI secretary general has conveyed party’s allegations regarding the “erosion of fundamental rights, with particular reference to enforced disappearances, forced conversion of political loyalties, absence of a level playing field for major political parties, crackdown on media and mistreatment of female political activists through prolonged illegal detentions”.
In my view, a seemingly beleaguered and disarrayed PTI has rightly brought to the notice of the prime minister through one of its former leaders, the President of Pakistan, its concerns ahead of the scheduled elections.
The caretaker setup in particular must take a sympathetic view of the ongoing ordeal of PTI and redress its grievances so as to ensure a truly free, fair and transparent election in the country.
Denying any party a fair chance will certainly erode the election’s credibility. The interim government, along with ECP, is expected to hold an election which will always be remembered as a clean electoral exercise in which rules were scrupulously followed, and the outcome was not influenced by improper or illegal actions.
Abu Adnan
Karachi
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023