After the 26th and 27th Amendments, the Constitution of Pakistan is now neither parliamentary, nor presidential, nor democratic. It has turned the judiciary from an independent organ of the state into an adjunct of the Executive, with the Judicial Commission of Pakistan vested with powers to appoint judges. The establishment of the Federal Constitutional Court has robbed the Supreme Court of its powers to adjudge matters of public importance; to interpret constitutional clauses; to carry out judicial review of laws passed by the legislature; or to adjudge disputes between the federation and federal units.
The Apex Court has been reduced to the hearing of appeals in criminal and civil cases. The person-specific amendments have no precedent in the annals of democratic and constitutional governance. The irony of the country is that the elected representatives of the people have been complicit in this process. These amendments have nothing for the common population living under the poverty line. The politicians have been axing their paws since the birth of the country by being complicit in extra-constitutional interference in the political process.
The PRODA (Public Representative Office Disqualification Act 1949) and EBDO (Elected Body Disqualification Ordinance 1959) hung as a Damocles’ sword over the heads of politicians for almost three decades. The PRODA was used by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan to get rid of the defiant Chief Minister Muhammad Ayub Khuhro of Sindh in April 1948. Muhammad Ayub Khuhro was dismissed from his elected office for having opposed Liaquat Ali Khan on the settlement of an unsustainable population of refugees in Sindh and the proclamation of an unjust quota system with a special share (2%) for Karachi refugees.
Ayub Khuhro also took strong notice of the incompetent handling of the violent protests of refugees in Karachi by the local administration under Commissioner Syed Hashim Raza. There is evidence that the disturbances were deliberate and planned to drive the Hindu residents into a panicked flight from Karachi. Mr Khuhro controlled the disturbances with the help of the Sindh Police, risking his own position as the Provincial Chief Executive, but could not stop the nervous flight of Hindus. He was replaced by Pir Illahi Bux.
Under the EBDO, over 100 politicians were disqualified for ten years by the military regime of General Ayub Khan. The list included many prominent names among the pioneers of the Pakistan Movement, including former Chief Ministers of Sindh Muhammad Ayub Khuhro and Qazi Fazalullah; two Chief Ministers of Bengal, Husein Shaheed Suhrawardy, Moulvi A. K. Fazal Haq, and Shaikh Mujibur Rahman. Many politicians, under pressure, opted for voluntary retirement.
The politicians have been complicit in the manipulation of the political process, derailing democracy, free and fair elections, representative and legitimate governments, capturing state resources, and depriving the common population of their basic constitutional rights
The authoritarian rule of General Ayub Khan (October 1958–March 1969) patronised the highly influential dynasties, including feudal chiefs, landlords, spiritual leaders, and Sajadahnashins, all clustering under the umbrella of the Convention Muslim League. The bureaucracy, Basic Democrats, and the military were the main pillars of his regime. When he became unpopular, he was jettisoned by the military, and General Yahya Khan took over. He acceded to the popular demands for the restoration of provinces, the replacement of Basic Democrats with adult franchise and direct elections, and the release of political prisoners, including Shaikh Mujibur Rahman.
The agony caused to Bengalis by our biased and supercilious behaviour right from the beginning hugely manifested itself in the general elections of 1970. But our politicians misjudged the gravity of the situation and were apathetically silent over the inept handling of the post-election scenario by the military junta, or remained hand in glove with the ruling junta to deny power to the majority party from Bengal. Wasn’t the confederation better than disintegration? Was Dhaka so bad as a capital for a few years? Had Bengalis given fewer sacrifices for Pakistan than their West Pakistani brethren? Moulvi A. K. Fazal Haq and Husein Shaheed Suhrawardy had left the Chief Ministership of United Bengal.
Z. A. Bhutto paid a heavy price for collecting the pieces of the broken ship and repairing it, then launching it as a vibrant, viable, confidence-inspiring vessel to sail in the sea of the global community with a Constitution, parliamentary governance, and democratic institutions. The defence of truncated Pakistan was made impregnable by refurbishing its arsenal and launching a clandestine nuclear programme. Within seven years of the humiliating debacle in the former East Pakistan, the praetorian forces were again in charge of the country. What ensued after 5 July 1977 is a painful – rather shameful – tale to narrate repeatedly.
After the so-called divine intervention, we had general elections in 1988, and the PPP (treated earlier by the generals as anti-Pakistan) was chosen. The game of musical chairs between the PPP and PML-N, managed from behind the scenes, continued up to October 1999, resulting in the takeover by General Pervez Musharraf. The same experience of fake referendums, rigged elections, and fake governments was shamelessly repeated, plunging the country into the Afghanistan war and losing over 80,000 lives. The United States aid of $25 billion, as claimed by them, could not trickle down to strengthen the chronically weak economy or the cash-starved social sector to benefit poor people. The Americans also claimed to have aided Zia’s regime with $15 billion.
The bitter experience encountered by General Musharraf during the PML-N regime changed the modus operandi of the unelected forces from direct intervention to the destabilisation of political governments through the judiciary. Mian Nawaz Sharif was hounded out of power by the Supreme Court. The no-confidence motion against PTI, declared invalid by the Speaker, was saved by the Supreme Court. The superior courts were not fully toeing the directions of the powers behind political manipulations and sometimes adjudged matters with an independent mind, turning tables on the puppeteers. As good strategists, they had to fix this judicial gap. The recent amendments served this purpose.
The politicians have been complicit in the manipulation of the political process, derailing democracy, free and fair elections, representative and legitimate governments, capturing state resources, and depriving the common population of their basic constitutional rights. Fear the day when the anger of the common people turns into a tsunami to deluge your palaces.