Of politics and morality
by
Javed Hafiz |
Survival by any means is the criterion
Politics is generally perceived to be the domain of immoral, pursuing their objectives recklessly. It is seen as a vocation where ends justify means. In this calling promises are made and rosy pictures painted during election campaigns, to be forgotten later. Alliances are entered into with the foes of yesteryear to ensure survival. Double standards and double talk dominate the horizon. Writing in the daily Dawn, veteran columnist Kuldip Nayar said recently, “Crime has been politicised and politics criminalised.”
In Pakistan, religion and politics are not separate since Pakistan is perceived to be an ideological state, more so by the religious parties. It is also argued that if politics is stripped of religion it will become totally Machiavellian. Have the religious injunctions made Pakistani politics more moral? The answer is perhaps in the negative.
In recent weeks some lawmakers have had to resign their parliamentary seats because of their fake degrees. A glaring case is that of Jamshed Dasti who had to resign his National Assembly seat. Dasti claimed to have a master’s degree in Islamic Studies. Perhaps he arranged it as university graduation was mandatory when he contested elections in 2008. When Justice Ramday asked him to tell the title names of the first two chapters of the Holy Quran, he was at a total loss. This question could have been easily answered by a primary school Pakistani student. Dasti has been made an advisor by the prime minister who has fielded his brother for the vacated seat. PM wants Dasti’s support for his brother. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours — that is the evergreen rule of politics. This is dirty politics at its worst as it has rewarded a culprit.
When General Zia ul Haq assumed power in 1977, he undertook to hold elections in 90 days but continued to rule for eleven years. He also introduced the 8th amendment to the constitution. This amendment included two interesting sub-clauses. Under Article 239, a sub-clause number 5 was inserted which reads,” No amendment of the constitution shall be called into question in any court on any ground whatsoever”. By doing so he injected extraordinary powers into the parliament. However, through the same amendment he also inserted the infamous sub-clause 58-2(b) which empowered him to sack an elected prime minister and all the assemblies. What he gave with one hand was taken away by the other. Nobody wants to surrender powers and President Zardari is no exception.
Before discussing Zardari’s latest political moves, a word about General Musharraf. As per directive of the apex court, Musharraf conducted general elections in 2002. Soon after, he cobbled a political party to enhance his legitimacy. Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, a gentleman to the core, was elected prime minister. When a journalist asked him as to how he would spend his time as Jamali would run the government, Musharraf quipped,” I shall play golf.” Of course he did not really mean it. All the three prime ministers, who worked with him, were regularly directed from the presidency.
Coming back to Zardari, he has introduced the much touted 18th amendment to the constitution. The idea was to bring Pakistan back to the parliamentary system and do away with various mutilations of the constitution by the military governments. The abhorred sub-clause 58-2(b) has been done away with. So the president will no longer be able to dissolve the parliament. Three chiefs of the armed forces will now be appointed by the prime minister. It looks great on paper and President Zardari looks like the greatest supporter of true parliamentary democracy in Pakistan.
In actual effect, the 18th amendment has also done away with a very democratic clause of the 17th amendment. Through this clause President Musharraf had made it mandatory for all political parties to hold their own internal elections, at all levels regularly. By doing away with this clause Zardari and indeed also Nawaz Sharif have betrayed their anti-democratic thinking. They will, from now on, unquestioned chiefs of their respective parties. Those who talk for democracy day in and day out do not want democracy in their own parties. What a contradiction!
As if that was not enough, the 18th amendment also gives the party bosses power to unseat any member of the parliament who may vote against party line. This means that Asif Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Nawaz Sharif etc would be in a position to remove any of their respective party MPs who may dare to take a different position than theirs on any issue in the parliamentary voting. Pakistan, it seems, is still far from real democracy. In the given situation Prime Minister Gilani will not dare to defy his party bosses. So who will be more powerful, Gillani or Bilawal Zardari?
The problem is that educated classes, by and large, sit at home on the election day. The political parties transport the uneducated in droves to the polling booths. Pakistani society has moral standards comparable to any other developing Muslim nation. However, time has come for the educated middle class to stand up and be counted. Apart from speaking through the media and civil society, it should also participate actively in the political activity at the national level.
(Javed Hafiz is Pakistan’s former ambassador to the Sultanate)
Oman Tribune
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