In yet another controversial judgment, the Supreme Court bench headed by CJP Saqib Nisar has suspended an order by the Lahore High Court for a vote recount in NA-131 Lahore where Imran Khan, the prime ministerial hopeful, has claimed victory over PMLN stalwart Khawaja Saad Rafique by a margin of 608 votes. The judgment is extraordinary because of the circumstances relating to the election in this constituency.
Punjab is the bastion of the PMLN and Lahore is the jewel in the crown. A loss for Imran Khan in Lahore after seeming to win the Punjab would have been grist for the mills of naysayers alluding to massive rigging in the province.
Saad Rafique had earlier justified his demand for a recount of rejected votes when Imran Khan’s lead was whittled down from 680 to 608. But his subsequent demand for a full vote recount – given the narrow margin of victory — was inexplicably turned down by the Returning Officer despite the law allowing for a full recount where the margin of victory is less than 5% (total votes cast were about 170,000). Saad Rafique’s appeal against the RO’s decision was upheld by the LHC which ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to withhold the result until the recount. Now the SC has stayed the LHC order (which means that Imran stands elected) until it hears both sides at its convenience. In effect this means that Imran will be well and truly ensconced as prime minister of Pakistan without the negativity attached to a possible loss in NA-131. Indeed, the likelihood is that he will shortly ditch NA-131 in favour of a constituency where his winning lead is unchallengeable, thus making the SC writ infructuous after the ECP calls for a fresh election in this constituency. So we will never know whether he was a true winner or a sore loser in the first place, a neat solution that protects him from being tarred by a loss while enabling Saad Rafique to have another go at testing his fortunes in the more difficult environment of a post-PTI government in Punjab.
This is just the latest example of the charmed fortunes of the “ladla” of this generation. Imran has emerged unscathed from a battery of perfectly reasonable cases challenging his morality, his declaration of assets, his contemptuous remarks about the ECP, and other “careless” omissions and commissions, etc, while lesser mortals like Nawaz Sharif and Mariam Sharif have been shunted to prison and disqualified from parliament for failing to declare petty “unreceived” incomes (construed as assets!) or using type fonts not generally in the free public domain in certain property trust deeds.
If Imran leads a “favoured” life, why is he looking so deadbeat and forlorn these days? One would have thought his life’s ambition to be prime minister and change Pakistan for good would have brought colour to his face and a glint in his eye as he nears his objective. But the challenges ahead are truly formidable and these seem to be dampening his spirit as they dawn on him.
Imran’s victory is due to many compromises for which he must now atone. For starters, the “electables” and independents who have cleaved to the PTI’s bosom are already clamouring for a slice of the ministerial action even before they have given him their formal vote of confidence in parliament. Most of them are corrupt and disreputable to their Peshawari chappals, which makes it difficult for Imran to scratch their backs. If the power grab over the KPK CMship is any indication of what lies in store, he is in for a lot of soul searching in Punjab and Islamabad for “neat and clean” candidates to fit the bill. The Miltablishment, which has invested heavily in him, is also breathing down his neck (albeit discreetly) for its own pound of flesh. Say this, don’t do that, select her, drop him, seems to be the whisper of the day. On top of it, Mrs Peerni Khan’s invocations can only be ignored at peril. The constant jostling between Jahangir Tareen and Shah Mahmood Qureshi must take a toll too as must the shrill reprimands of the PTI ideologues who are swamped by turncoats and opportunists. No wonder Imran has kept his “lists” of favoured sons of the soil close to his chest. Any premature revelations may spark revolts that could breach the narrow voting on D-Day. What follows that hallowed point for the first 100 days in which unpopular decisions about the economy have to be taken is too painful a prospect to contemplate.
Imran means well. There is no doubt about it. That is the sole reason why many have voted for him despite misgivings about his “end justifies means” approach and controversial personal life choices and standards. Even if he succeeds in half-fulfilling his mission, it will have been worth the price we have paid in mocking democracy and constitutionalism. But if he should fail, the tab will be greater because there is no back up except takeover by The Aliens.
Punjab is the bastion of the PMLN and Lahore is the jewel in the crown. A loss for Imran Khan in Lahore after seeming to win the Punjab would have been grist for the mills of naysayers alluding to massive rigging in the province.
Saad Rafique had earlier justified his demand for a recount of rejected votes when Imran Khan’s lead was whittled down from 680 to 608. But his subsequent demand for a full vote recount – given the narrow margin of victory — was inexplicably turned down by the Returning Officer despite the law allowing for a full recount where the margin of victory is less than 5% (total votes cast were about 170,000). Saad Rafique’s appeal against the RO’s decision was upheld by the LHC which ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to withhold the result until the recount. Now the SC has stayed the LHC order (which means that Imran stands elected) until it hears both sides at its convenience. In effect this means that Imran will be well and truly ensconced as prime minister of Pakistan without the negativity attached to a possible loss in NA-131. Indeed, the likelihood is that he will shortly ditch NA-131 in favour of a constituency where his winning lead is unchallengeable, thus making the SC writ infructuous after the ECP calls for a fresh election in this constituency. So we will never know whether he was a true winner or a sore loser in the first place, a neat solution that protects him from being tarred by a loss while enabling Saad Rafique to have another go at testing his fortunes in the more difficult environment of a post-PTI government in Punjab.
This is just the latest example of the charmed fortunes of the “ladla” of this generation. Imran has emerged unscathed from a battery of perfectly reasonable cases challenging his morality, his declaration of assets, his contemptuous remarks about the ECP, and other “careless” omissions and commissions, etc, while lesser mortals like Nawaz Sharif and Mariam Sharif have been shunted to prison and disqualified from parliament for failing to declare petty “unreceived” incomes (construed as assets!) or using type fonts not generally in the free public domain in certain property trust deeds.
If Imran leads a “favoured” life, why is he looking so deadbeat and forlorn these days? One would have thought his life’s ambition to be prime minister and change Pakistan for good would have brought colour to his face and a glint in his eye as he nears his objective. But the challenges ahead are truly formidable and these seem to be dampening his spirit as they dawn on him.
Imran’s victory is due to many compromises for which he must now atone. For starters, the “electables” and independents who have cleaved to the PTI’s bosom are already clamouring for a slice of the ministerial action even before they have given him their formal vote of confidence in parliament. Most of them are corrupt and disreputable to their Peshawari chappals, which makes it difficult for Imran to scratch their backs. If the power grab over the KPK CMship is any indication of what lies in store, he is in for a lot of soul searching in Punjab and Islamabad for “neat and clean” candidates to fit the bill. The Miltablishment, which has invested heavily in him, is also breathing down his neck (albeit discreetly) for its own pound of flesh. Say this, don’t do that, select her, drop him, seems to be the whisper of the day. On top of it, Mrs Peerni Khan’s invocations can only be ignored at peril. The constant jostling between Jahangir Tareen and Shah Mahmood Qureshi must take a toll too as must the shrill reprimands of the PTI ideologues who are swamped by turncoats and opportunists. No wonder Imran has kept his “lists” of favoured sons of the soil close to his chest. Any premature revelations may spark revolts that could breach the narrow voting on D-Day. What follows that hallowed point for the first 100 days in which unpopular decisions about the economy have to be taken is too painful a prospect to contemplate.
Imran means well. There is no doubt about it. That is the sole reason why many have voted for him despite misgivings about his “end justifies means” approach and controversial personal life choices and standards. Even if he succeeds in half-fulfilling his mission, it will have been worth the price we have paid in mocking democracy and constitutionalism. But if he should fail, the tab will be greater because there is no back up except takeover by The Aliens.