The opposition’s procession from an Oktoberfest of opprobrium to a December of discontent has brought to the surface critical issues about our perception of democracy and the freedoms it promises to preserve. Amid a more lethal second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s obdurate insistence on continuing to hold massive public gatherings is fraught with danger for more reasons than one. Apart from the public health crisis this will engender, organising big assemblies in defiance of NCOC injunctions also presents grave repercussions for the rule of law.
The possible course of action for the government lies between the devil and the deep blue sea. On one hand, it could capitulate to the whims of PDM leadership and allow it to play havoc with the well-being of citizens. Conversely, any measures taken by the regime to compel compliance may precipitate violent encounters with the coalition’s activists, staining an already toxic political atmosphere with blood.
There is no denying that freedom of assembly is a fundamental constitutional right. However, the same document enshrines the inviolable obligation to abide by the law; a clause conveniently overlooked by political parties that pivot their entire narrative on the sanctity of the constitution.
This bull-headed assertion of one’s freedom that tramples on others’ liberty without realisation of one’s responsibility to the society is antithetical to public order and also to national security. The duty applies doubly on public representatives who have been woefully derelict and delinquent. Every few months, the capital is shut down by marching protesters of political parties or religious groups. Notwithstanding the validity of the causes they espouse, these demonstrations not only encumber the movement of ordinary citizens but also take a toll on every aspect of their usual operations.
Besides, agitators get off scot-free for the devastation they inflict on people’s property and their lives. Equally menacing are the messages transmitted from the microphone which sometimes verge on hate speech and incitement to violence or rebellion against the state and its organs. Because purveyors of unrest are seldom held to account, the resultant impunity has seeped through all segments of the society and is chipping away the government’s monopoly on the use of force. But which government? Who brings it about and who determines its legitimacy has remained a perennial contention in Pakistani politics. The past seven years offer an appalling case in point.
In 2014, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf held the Constitution Avenue hostage for four months on the pretext that Nawaz Sharif had stolen the election to come to power. Following the 2018 General Election, runners-up have been pejoratively calling Imran Khan the ‘selected’ prime minister and have now formed an alliance that has taken to the streets to purportedly restore civilian supremacy in the country. The paradox of this shop-worn narrative is patent - the results of the vote were tempered to abet the ruling party but the process was fair where other parties came out on top. In the same polls, the former was hand-picked by a notorious establishment whereas the latter were chosen by balloters.
The existence of irregularities and meddling cannot be ruled out entirely but what has kept political parties with multiple terms in power and sizeable representation in the Parliament from reforming this buyable system? It could either be lack of resolve or perhaps, an inclination to negotiate the price. The integrity of the electoral process is indeed a sine qua non of democracy but on its own, this does not constitute a republic. It is raised on a set of principles which are easier to declaim but difficult to live up to.
What sets an elective government apart from absolutism is primacy of law, not men. As such, accountability is integral to a vibrant democracy, not its nemesis and if anything, public representatives must hold themselves to higher standards. It is true that our legal system is rife with loopholes that require to be remedied – in the past, it has been used by some to victimise opponents and others to evade liability. And of course, justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done. It is not seen to be done when the long arm of the law does not reach friends of the existing dispensation.
Political interference gnaws away at its virtue and when it goes too far and becomes arbitrary as the National Accountability Bureau has, it paralyses entire bureaucracies and businesses. But every prosecution is not persecution as posited by former first families of Pakistan and their collaborators.
Placing the onus on people to defend their malversation instead of seeking vindication from courts and vilifying state institutions in the event of an adverse ruling is wholly unbecoming of a national leader. On part of party members, justifying the alleged wrongdoings of their bosses is despicable obsequiousness and undermines democracy instead of upholding it.
Everywhere, democracy is defined as a government of the people, for the people and by the people. Lamentably, our politicians only subscribe to the ‘by’ part, that too, quite imperfectly. The hypocrisy of proponents of monarchy in political parties who advocate for democracy in the country stares one in the face. The system they have installed is of the elite and works only for the elite. Whereas common people are used as pawns to further the political, rather personal gains of party leaders and their clique, the dividends never trickle down to them.
This was the case when PPP and PML-N were in power and under PTI, their problems have only exacerbated. The majority remains chronically deprived, their basic needs unmet and their interests disregarded due to avarice, ineptitude and wrangling at the top.
Over the last few years, the legislature has shifted to boulevards and the fate of the nation is decided atop containers. Parliament which is the central institution of democracy and embodies the will of the people has been stripped of its sanctity and rendered dysfunctional because instead of policy-formation and purposeful debate on the country’s issues, the National Assembly and Senate proceedings have been reduced to shouting matches containing expletives between so-called thieves of the exchequer and stealers of the election. The staleness of this stalemate is getting beyond the endurance of masses now.
Freedom is responsibility, power is duty and democracy without rule of law is chaos. It is about time political parties on both sides of the aisle realise their responsibilities as representatives of the people of Pakistan and guardians of national interest which cannot be sacrificed at the altar of partisanship and vested interests.
