Electoral games and manifestos

Except for PPP and JUI-F, no major opposition party seems to have ruled out the boycott option to undermine the credibility of the election process and thereby the whole system upon which Musharraf plans to build his structure of power in partnership with a new ally which he has discovered in Benazir Bhutto. Both these personalities have come together through an understanding sponsored by the U.S. The U.S. has snubbed the former general in the past over his efforts and ability to effectively command an armed force whose soldiers had been disillusioned in the war against terror which is a proxy war the U.S. is waging, ably assisted by our intelligence, logistical support and manpower in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan’s own territory. Although there is a need to eliminate the extremists in the northern part of the territory and elsewhere, there is a need to develop a national consensus, educate and provide social justice to the masses in order to make them understand the menace itself as well as develop a sense of participation amongst the citizens, who would not embrace such elements in the quest to find an alternative and just system. These elements often maintain peace in the captured territory and grant exemplary punishment to culprits of heinous crimes to gain local sympathy. How the Taliban managed to secure their objectives through this is a dangerous reminder to us all in this regard. We seemed to have abandoned all alternative measures which seek to go to the root of the problem.

Meanwhile, Benazir Bhutto and Musharraf look set to come closer in the future until one of them or both discover the need to discard the other over some issue which cannot be resolved through any channel including U.S. efforts. When that happens only time will tell but it is inevitable. We saw it in the past and we can expect something serious in the future. The events of October 18th and the backlash the regime had to face at the hands of Benazir Bhutto, who suspected foul play and a role of the intelligence in the blasts, is just an example. That was the only occasion when for the first time Benazir Bhutto sought to challenge the establishment since a dialogue between the former General and the PPP chairperson was initiated which culminated in a deal, a term of which included the use or rather misuse of the office of the President by Musharraf and the promulgation of NRO thereby enabling Benazir Bhutto to return to Pakistan.

As the foreign sponsored deal envisages a working relationship between Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto, all assertions by PPP that the boycott option was still open are misleading. This deal has in fact narrowed the options of Benazir Bhutto and for this reason as well as others she does not endorse the demand for the restoration of the pre-November 3 judiciary, let alone make it a pre condition for participation in the 2008 general elections. It is interesting to note that during the lawyers’ movement after the removal of the top judge, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Benazir Bhutto was cautious in supporting the cause of the movement which was for the independence of judiciary and lost an opportunity to demonstrate that her party believed in this principle. Instead, she was wary of the increasing popularity of the movement as well as the bold stance Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took and was instead more concerned about the repercussions it may have on the ‘deal’ which was in the final stages during that period. In fact she, like Musharraf, did not foresee that the legal fraternity would respond with such brevity and be joined by the civil society, students and people from all segments of the society.

It is interesting to note that Benazir Bhutto has added ‘equality’ amongst the five ‘e’s’ that her party has announced as election manifesto. Due to her failure to include the reinstatement of judges in her list of demands, one fails to understand how one can stand for equality whilst ignoring justice. Without an independent judiciary, it is hard to imagine a system where justice prevails. Regardless of the fact that she embraces ‘equality’ yet she, along with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, stated that that they support an independent judiciary in future without any reference to the deposed judges. What one fails to understand is how this is possible when the very foundations of the independent judiciary lie in debris with the Musharraf assault last month. Independence of the judiciary is not a phenomenon which can be built sometime in the future by the solemn pledges of people like Benazir Bhutto. Independence of the judiciary is an evolutionary concept. If Benazir Bhutto thinks we can achieve it merely sometime in the future again by providing to the judiciary all the essential pre requisites like a fair appointment system (which is inconceivable considering the numerous judicial appointments to party sympathizers), security of tenure and the like she would be wrong. The deposed members of the judiciary had something more which allowed us to affiliate them with an independent judiciary which is required. That was a conscious mind, the embryo of which was planted through the impetus and resolve of the members of the bar, the black coated and officers of the law-the lawyers.

To defy logic itself, one needs to be illogical. And that’s what Benazir Bhutto has been doing to justify her opposition to a reinstatement. One such reason has been that since the deposed judges had took suo moto notice of the Lal Masjid issue and compensated its victims, how can she support the reinstatement? Of all the people, Benazir Bhutto would know this that the very judges who took such action as well as ordered release of detainees who were being held under no law are the part of the PCO-administered judiciary. It is therefore seriously doubted that she was not part of this grand conspiracy in collaboration with Musharraf to oust a judiciary which would declare the NRO illegal since it denied the very ‘equality’ that is part of her election manifesto as well as guaranteed under the national constitution to all citizens of this country. Now however, she seeks to gain the maximum from the Musharraf friendly judiciary which she backs and which would probably rediscover the doctrine of necessity to be applicable to the mass looting cases against her over which millions have been spent out of the taxpayer’s money. But who cares. It is national reconciliation and Benazir Bhutto enjoys support of the U.S. And everything is possible in this country once one has that.

(Continued....Election games and manifestos(2))