With sprawling lawns and imposing edifice of the colonial era, the Governor's House in Lahore has about it an aura of political clout that takes in its occupant sooner than later. We have had some powerful governors such as Nawab of Kalabagh Amir Muhammad Khan and feudal lord Ghulam Mustafa Khar and their imperial predecessors whose control of the province of Punjab was total and absolute.
But no more for Governor Latif Khosa who stands stripped of all that power and grandeur and is nothing more than an apology of previous holders of the gubernatorial office. The villain of the piece in this case is the 18th Constitutional Amendment, claimed by leaders across the political divide as the finest hour of our parliamentary system. Seemingly weighed down by a feeling that his party was losing ground in Punjab and he couldn't be of any help he lost control over his otherwise quite sharp legal mind. He felt increasingly weak and powerless because the said amendment has taken out Article 58 (2)b resulting in his powerlessness being an appointee of the president who can no more dissolve an elected parliament.
And among those behind this conspiracy, he said was Senator Raza Rabbani, inviting an ire from all over the place. As adjournment motions were submitted in the Senate, the principal architect of the 18th Amendment, Raza Rabbani, has expressed dismay over the governor's ignorance of the fact that by devolving a number of federal subjects to the provinces by annulling the concurrent legislative list in the constitution, the 18th Amendment 'prevented the country from heading towards disintegration'. How could a person of Khosa's understanding of constitutionalism, who had his head badly wounded while protesting military dictator General Musharraf's action against judges of higher judiciary, stand up and say that Senator Rabbani has 'disfigured' the constitution through introduction of 18th Amendment. There is no apparent cause for his odious remark about a senior party comrade, unless one lends credence to the gossip that Zardari-loyalists now feel they were short-changed by the supporters of the said amendment as the end result is a powerless presidency. But apparently that is not the case; all these months the presidency has been insisting that Asif Ali Zardari has the rare distinction of being head of state who delegated all his powers to parliament. Although, there is no word as of now from the PPP on Governor Khosa's statement, there is no apparent reason for the party high command seen to be standing on his side. But keeping silent over this may not be possible anymore given that objection to the governor's outlandish remarks has been raised in the Senate and the government is left with no option but to take some position - especially when the movers of the adjournment motions belong to smaller provinces whose struggle for provincial autonomy was relentless until it was granted through the said legislation. Whatever the conditions and circumstances that resulted in imposition of presidential form of government, it has to be conceded that by birth Pakistan is a parliamentary democracy. Twice Article 58 (2)b was abrogated by elected governments who thought it imperative for healthy growth of parliamentary form of government that presidential office should be neutered. And the 18th Constitutional Amendment is not only that, it is a vast canvas of legislation that effectively shifts the fulcrum of power from federation to provinces. It was no more possible to hold on to a strong centre concept that was invariably being perceived by the smaller provinces as a camouflage to perpetuate monopolistic control of state by one province - which too supported the move because of its in-built inevitability. If this is disfigurement of the constitution, one would say the more the merrier. Yes, the Senate should discuss threadbare the highly controversial statement even though no further legislation on this is warranted; it would help strengthen the cause of parliamentary democracy particularly now that questions are being raised about its effectiveness as the ultimate panacea to all our ills.