Delayed oath

On April 16, the Punjab Assembly elected its new chief minister. Under normal circumstances, the oath to CM-elect Hamza Shehbaz should have been administered soon after and by now he should have been running the affairs of the largest province. But as things stand, Punjab has now been without a chief executive for more than three weeks. This is despite the fact that the Lahore High Court had directed President Arif Alvi to appoint a different representative to administer the oath to CM-elect since Governor Punjab Omar Cheema refused to do so, excusing himself on account of illness. President Alvi, who finally administered oath to four members of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's cabinet on April 22 -- after having been ill for a few days -- has only responded to PM Shehbaz Sharif’s summary pertaining to Hamza’s oath by tweeting that it is “under consideration of the Honorable President as per the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan”.

It is bizarre that even after a week of the CM Punjab election, the president of the country and the governor of Punjab are unable to discharge their constitutional obligations. The excuses seem flimsy at best and it seems this is just two officials holding constitutional positions in the state toeing their party line. There has also been talk that all this is being done because the PTI is waiting for the Election Commission of Pakistan to decide on the reference against those PTI members who voted for Hamza Shehbaz in the CM Punjab election. Though their vote will still be counted, if they are de-seated under the reference, the newly formed government would be left without a majority -- therefore leading to yet another crisis. It could also be that Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and the PTI are banking on the disqualification of these members to ask for fresh elections in Punjab. It seems the PTI and the PML-Q are not yet ready to call it a day. While political maneuverings and alliance formations may be justified, however cynically, openly shirking from one’s constitutional responsibilities to settle political scores and throwing governance of the country’s largest province into disarray is plain irresponsible, unparliamentary and against the spirit of democracy. It, however, is hardly surprising given the way the previous government in the centre didn't blink twice in violating the constitution.

As another pressure tactic, the PTI has also given a countrywide call to protest outside the ECP offices on April 26 because the ECP has not yet decided on the future of the dissident PTI members. It is quite apparent that the PTI has decided to go to any length in order to not let the new government function. It is already going to be an uphill task for the new government to manage the economic mess left behind and on top of that, the country’s largest province is not being allowed to run at all. It seems the only ideology Imran Khan and his party truly adhere to is authoritarianism that just can't see any way other than what the PTI's wish list decrees. They have been deflecting -- via a superbly conducted PR and propaganda campaign -- questions about their lack of performance while in government by very successfully managing to use the foreign conspiracy angle for any dissent they face. One would hope the PTI and Imran Khan realize the very dangerous repercussions their choice of politics is having on society. Unfortunately, at the rate things are moving, it doesn't seem like any course correction is forthcoming.