ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed on Thursday emphasised the need for bringing democratic values in political parties, instead of party head behaving like a dictator.

“The political party heads should not act like dictators and convert the political party into one-man party,” observed the chief justice while heading a five-judge SC bench that had taken up a reference through which President Dr Arif Alvi has sought explanation whether the condition of secret ballot under Article 226 of the Constitution applies to Senate elections or not.

The chief justice acknowledged that there was no dearth of members of political parties who voted according to the dictates of their conscience and then admitted it openly.

He said that a political party in the country was run in the name of its leader, but every member of the party should have the courage to express his/her views openly.

AGP says if Senate polls are held on open ballot, a group of conscientious parliamentarians will emerge

Attorney General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan said that if the Senate elections were held through open ballot then a conscientious group would emerge among parliamentarians in future to challenge wrong decisions of party heads.

Citing a case from India, the AGP argued that time would come soon when political party heads had to consider fielding better candidates of good repute for the elections.

In case a member is removed from the party for taking a conscious stand then time will come when he/she will stand up and challenge the removal in a court of law, Mr Khan said.

He added that political stalwarts like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Wali Khan, Maulana Mufti Mehmood, Professor Ghafoor Ahmed or Shah Ahmed Noorani would be shocked if they were told that open ballot for the Senate elections was being sought to discourage vote buying because horse-trading would be a new phenomenon for them.

Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, a member of the bench, wondered when the Constitution itself stated that all elections should be held under the Constitution through secret ballot then was there any corresponding provision to provide for open ballot also.

The AGP said that in the elections of this nature (like Senate polls), the number of voters was very limited and, therefore, their identification became relevant because they were acting as the proxy of the political parties they belonged to in an indirect election.

At this, Justice Ahsan observed that what the AGP was stating was that a member of provincial assembly during the Senate elections might not necessarily be a free agent because he was a member of a political party and could not betray the trust of his party.

“If the party discipline has to be kept at all cost, will the results of the elections not be a foretold conclusion?” asked the chief justice.

The AGP explained that the intention behind the entire scheme was to reflect the complexion of a particular party in the Senate.

Then an independent candidate would not get a vote, the chief justice said.

The AGP explained that an independent candidate would need endorsement of the members of the assembly of the province he belonged to.

Citing the 1998 Benazir Bhutto case, Mr Khan recalled how the Supreme Court had emphasised the role of the political parties and how important the political parties were for a democratic system since they were lifeline of the parliamentary form of government.

The voter for the Senate elections was not voting for a particular individual but for a particular manifesto which would become the law of the land, he said.

Justice Ahsan observed that the scheme of the Constitution itself suggested that if a political party enjoyed a majority then this majority should also reflect in the Senate, otherwise the system could be stalled.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial, another member of the bench, asked the AGP to draw a distinction between the role of the upper house and the lower house of parliament.

“When the National Assembly reflects a storm in society, the upper house brings stability and calmness and shows maturity. When the upper house is a mature house then why its elections cannot be held through secret ballot,” Justice Bandial wondered.

Further proceedings were postponed for Monday.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2021