Courtroom dramas and Pakistan’s election campaign
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With general elections looming, the contest seems to be as much in the courts as in the electoral arena. Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) has been petitioning the Supreme Court urging it to ensure a level playing field for the poll. It also challenged the decision by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to deprive it of its election symbol, which is how voters usually identify political parties on the ballot paper. The Peshawar High Court suspended the ECP decision but days later it revoked its own ruling in response to a review petition by ECP, leaving PTI without its election symbol of the cricket bat. PTI then moved the Supreme Court against the PHC ruling but then withdrew it and reverted back to the PHC. The PHC then declared the ECP order as unconstitutional and restored PTI’s election symbol.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League, Nawaz Sharif won a major legal victory when the Supreme Court overturned a life-time ban on lawmakers disqualified for not being “honest and pious.” That meant revoking its 2018 judgment whose interpretation of a constitutional clause had led to such a sweeping ban. This cleared the way for former prime minister Sharif, disqualified in a 2017 legal case, to contest the election. It also meant the leader of the new Istehkam-e-Pakistan party (IPP), Jahangir Khan Tareen, who was also disqualified, became legally eligible to run in the election.
These courtroom dramas seem to have affected election campaigning which is yet to get underway even though elections are less than a month away. This is unusual as by now election activities are expected to be in high gear. For PTI at any rate, the legal path is its only chance of getting a reasonably fair run in the election. For now, most of its leaders and many activists are incarcerated and the party’s efforts to hold meetings are constantly disrupted by the authorities. Even its attempts to use social media for fundraising and mobilizing support have been disrupted by deliberate suspension of the Internet and blocking of its social media platforms. The party has again turned to the apex court to take notice of these impediments to its political and ‘digital’ rights.
For PTI at any rate, the legal path is its only chance of getting a reasonably fair run in the election.
Maleeha Lodhi
Meanwhile, a bizarre attempt to delay the election took place on the floor of the country’s upper house last week. A bunch of Senators in cahoots with the Senate chairman moved a controversial resolution calling for elections to be delayed on the grounds of the weather and security situation. Introduced by an independent member of the Senate it was adopted even though there was no quorum in the house with only 14 members present. The resolution is non-binding and has no legal value. It was slammed by almost all political parties while a petition was filed in the Supreme Court to declare the motion illegal and take action against its backers.
This move will not in any way obstruct the election schedule with the poll date of Feb. 8 now cast in stone. Yet the party tipped to win the election, PML-N, has yet to launch its campaign. This may be due to complacency that it is the front runner in the election. But another reason why it has not kicked off its campaign is the party leadership’s preoccupation with distributing tickets and forging seat adjustment deals with other parties. Its seat adjustment efforts with IPP seem to have run into problems which the two parties are still seeking to resolve. PML-N leaders are also trying to deal with disquiet within the party over the distribution of tickets.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has been the most active in electioneering with its leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressing election rallies across the country. While the PPP hopes to regain some of its long-lost ground in Punjab – the electoral battleground – it is unlikely to make more than modest progress and will remain a regional party with its support base mostly confined to Sindh. Still Bilawal’s whirlwind tour of the country puts his party ahead in campaign activities.
Delayed campaigning by the others has meant that voters are still waiting to hear where the parties stand on issues that are consequential to the country’s future. The PPP has yet to issue its manifesto. But it has announced a 10-point program, which consists of policy actions to provide “relief to people”, without however indicating how it proposes to deal with economic, security and foreign policy challenges. PML-N has yet to unveil its manifesto or announce its party platform. It is now expected to issue its manifesto next week. A party leader has said this will coincide with the launch of its campaign.
So far then, a somewhat listless and issueless run up to the February election is in progress at a time when people expect their leaders to explain how they propose to address the multiple crises the country is facing, especially on the economic front.
- Maleeha Lodhi is a former Pakistani ambassador to the US, UK & UN. Twitter @LodhiMaleeha
