DESPITE having been asked to step up to clear the mess created by those staking a claim to being clean, incorruptible, judicious, and the most patriotic among us on more occasions than one can remember, Pakistani politicians are the most reviled and the most policed entity in the country.

Yes, yes, yes, I will say it myself before being reminded that the politicians too have not done themselves any favours and often acted in a manner unbecoming. But are all the factors taken into account when they are being assessed and judged?

Politicians and the elected ones in particular may have done a lot wrong but they have not dismembered the country, alienated large swathes of the population and abrogated ‘that useless pile of paper’, the Constitution. Have they been guilty of extrajudicial excesses?

Neither have they endorsed extra-constitutional measures or held sham proceedings which, according to the belatedly awakened conscience of one of their own (Justice Nasim Hasan Shah) led to the judicial murder of an elected prime minister. Nor have they led what look like witch-hunts.

Admittedly, it would be dishonest to say that desperate politicians have not willingly aligned themselves with powerful forces in the country in order to pick the crumbs off the table, even if they later complain that they were hamstrung in decision-making from the word go.

The rot is deep and, for anyone prepared to see it, it is also clear why.

Worst still in different phases of their evolution, politicians have vilified and hounded their political opponents, independent media and even the committed political workers/ activists not in sync with their agenda. This trampling of rights, to me, is an unpardonable sin. Basic rights should never be negotiable in any dispensation let alone one with a civilian façade.

To ignore this is like cutting the branch you are sitting on. For each politician who has followed this path when in office, the exit brings consequences they happily inflicted on their opponents. When the shoe is on the other foot, they cry out in pain but their protestations fall on deaf ears as most see it as comeuppance.

Each such cycle brings with it a realisation, a learning experience for the politicians. The Charter of Democracy concluded between the PML-N and PPP leaders during the Musharraf era was a major manifestation. To me, this also led to the 18th Amendment through which the supremacy of parliament, as spelt out in the 1973 Constitution, was restored.

The Leader of the House was unambiguously made the country’s effective chief executive and the arbitrary authority snatched by a military dictator in 1985 to send parliament and the government packing, among other similar travesties, was taken back.

From the perspective of the all-powerful establishment, this was unacceptable. So, it had to innovate and did. Another Sword of Damocles was found to dangle over the heads of the elected politicians via weaponising the judiciary.

A judiciary whose past can’t be a matter of pride for most of its own august members, somehow seemed willing to step up to the plate to police the executive. If it is merely to ensure that the Constitution and the rule of law are followed in letter and in spirit, nobody would have any objections. But if its purpose is to make sure the executive is kept reminded of where the real power flows from, then it can’t be acceptable. For nearly four years, the judiciary seemed to have stayed away from policing the executive until the hybrid harmony was ruptured. Its new-found enthusiasm is leading to misgivings because it coincides with a change in government. Hopefully, these turn out to be misplaced.

Before anyone jumps to the conclusion that the argument here is being made to condone corruption by any stretch, let me set the record straight. Corruption of all sorts be it financial, intellectual or moral is wrong. Politicians in particular as they represent the public trust should be held to account, investigated and convicted whenever they commit a cognisable offence.

In fact, if it were left to me, the bar for elected public office holders would be set even higher. It is incumbent on the elected representatives to legislate laws to reflect the heinous nature of corruption. In our poverty-stricken country, corruption is no less than a crime against humanity.

Such crimes should be investigated and those found guilty punished. Equally, let’s stop pretending that an allegation in a politically charged environment is always credible and not forget there have been such orchestrated campaigns to demonise the politicians.

Also, given our experience of how such issues are used to twist the executive’s arm or to paralyse its decision-making abilities, there is a need for a credible system for the dispensation of justice. Without such a system, public confidence will continue to be eroded.

What else do instances such as Justice Nasim Hasan Shah’s statement about the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto appeal case before the Supreme Court, or more recently the leaked video of Judge Arshad’s statement after Nawaz Sharif’s conviction in the Avenfield case, demonstrate?

The current coalition government came in through a constitutional process and has embarked on the unenviable, some say impossible, task of doing what it takes to set the economy in order. The rot is deep and, for anyone prepared to see it, it is also clear why.

It is incumbent on all political parties to at least agree on a minimum common programme in terms of how best to deal with challenges rooted in the economic meltdown, a burgeoning youth population and the impact of continued political instability on the economy.

For this the politicians need to be given breathing space and should not be policed. If anyone has to be policed it is other entities that have forced us into today’s crisis. They have learnt pretty much nothing from their follies. Let us also agree corruption is bad wherever it is regardless of its shape, form.

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.
abbas.nasir@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2022