Senate polls and its credibility

No matter who gets majority in today's Senate elections on 52 seats, the most important thing will be its sanctity and credibility, which has badly been damaged during the past years due to some serious accusations of buying and selling of votes.

Senate, the Upper House of the Parliament, has to be the most credible institution in any democracy. However, the situation is questionable in case of Pakistan as serious reservations are expressed over its electoral procedure. But, credibility can be restored if political parties are sincere in making democracy functional in the country.

Political parties and leaders are causing serious embarrassment to those who have sacrificed their lives and faced hardship for safeguarding the constitutional rights. How such people could contribute to improving the democratic system is a key question.

The kind of precautionary measures which the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is taking or trying to take to prevent MPAs adopting unethical practices, is in itself a disgrace for the Parliament. But, one has to support the ECP in the backdrop of what had happened in such elections in the past.

The ECP can declare the vote invalid and even disqualify the MPA, in case it finds any parliamentarian indulging in foul practices. However, it is quite regrettable that never in the past, political parties themselves had taken any action against their legislators who had sold their votes.

Thus, if the ECP has banned mobile phone or other equipment, which could be used in such foul play, the media need to support the ECP. But, how far the ECP staff would implement its rules, will be a test and challenge.

Unfortunately, the ECP has also adopted an unconventional way to change the affiliation of candidates from the nominees of a political party to an Independent, as happened in the case of the PML-N candidates.

It is true that the ECP had two choices in the backdrop of the SC judgment, which not only disqualified former PM Nawaz Sharif as the president of the PML-N but also declared all his actions since July 28, 2017 as illegal. The ECP could have rescheduled the election process or rejected their nominations. What it did was unconventional because after issuance of the final list of the candidates, it had no legal authority.

It was a setback for the PML-N, as its candidates would be contesting the elections without an official symbol. And if they get elected, they would be called the PML-N backed Independent candidates. True, they will join the party after getting elected, but the whole controversy brought a bad name to the procedure and also made candidates and voters vulnerable to 'chamak’.

Corruption is deep rooted in our society, but it’s a dilemma that the leaders and the parties, which are supposed to lead from the front to discourage such trends and tendencies, are the ones who are leading from the front in promoting such corrupt practices.

Senate should be the most credible institution. But it would further lose its sanctity if some people with a tag of corruption would reach it, either individually or from a party platform.

In the last four years, its chairman, Raza Rabbani, brought a lot of grace, sanctity and credibility to the house, through his conduct of the house. I hardly found a senator, either from the government or the opposition, who accused him of being biased.

The outcome of today's election would be quite interesting and the big question will be whether the ruling party, Pakistan Muslim League-N, and its ally parties would be able to get majority in the upper house.

Similarly, the key opposition alliance, led by Pakistan People’s Party, which had the majority in Senate after 2013 elections, would try to retain its position and get majority in the house again.

Though, the PML-N received a setback about a month back due to a revolt in the party in Balochistan, the party leaders are confident that they would be able to get majority after today's elections on 52 seats.

The PML-N and its allies like Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and National Party (NP) are confident that they would be able to get enough seats to enable them to elect their chairman and deputy chairman in Senate, but it may not be as easy as it looked before the Balochistan crisis. Crucial will be the role of 11 senators, who will be elected from their platform, as they will be the PML-N members, but only on paper.

On the other hand, the PPP led by former president Asif Ali Zardari, considered as master of manoeuvring, is equally confident of getting majority in Senate again.

The situation, which has developed in Balochistan and Sindh accidentally as well as through manoeuvring, suits the PPP and Mr Zardari's plan for the post-Senate elections. He is also trying to get at least one or two seats of his likeminded in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). Thus, he wants to match the magical figure to either beat the PML-N and its allies or at least make the election of Senate chairman tough for the ruling party.

PPP's 18 senators retired on March 2, the highest number among 52 retired and thus it would be quite tough for its leadership to retain the top slot of chairman Senate. But, it is also true that it has given tickets to both experienced as well as those from workers. Except for Imam Bux, who recently joined the PPP from Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), all other candidates got tickets on merit.

Raza Rabbani could still be the most acceptable candidate of the PPP and the PML-N in case of a ‘hung Senate’. He is, perhaps, the only one on whom both government and the opposition could agree again. But, the PPP can nominate party's woman senator for the post. Therefore, today's election will also be a test for the PML-N and PPP's love-hate relationship.

As far as the other main opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is concerned, it will try to improve its standing in Senate, if they will be able to get at least six seats. Imran Khan and the PTI would face a challenge in the post-Senate elections. What happened on Thursday in Punjab during the election on Nehal Hashmi's vacant seat, clearly showed that the PTI would neither vote for the PML-N nor the PPP, as the PPP MPAs did not cast their vote in favour of the PTI candidate.

In KP, an understanding has been reached between the PML-N and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) along with other groups in a bid to get one or two seats. The JUI-F can also play an important role in both Balochistan and KP.

What has happened in Balochistan recently and what is happening in Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa currently, present a sorry state of affairs and no wonder why the voices of direct elections to the Senate through propionate representation is getting stronger. It is not a bad idea, but it has its own positives and negatives in a society where political parties are not democratic and not ready to improvement themselves.

How can one expect from those who would reach Senate with a tag of buying votes allegedly in crores to serve the people and fight for democracy. It is unfortunate for those who have remained committed to the cause of democratic rights and served Senate with dedication and retired with some grace like Senator Farhatullah Babar and some others, both from the ruling and the opposition parties.

So, there is a lot more at stake than mere election of 52 senators and it is the credibility of Senate and the democratic system.

The writer is a senior columnist and analyst at Geo, The News and Jang.

Twitter: @MazharAbbasGEO