Pakistan: Events of yesterday

The country is thrust into deeper uncertainty. Tuesday, January 15, was a day of high drama and an interesting, if not intriguing, coincidence in Islamabad. Only on the night before Dr Tahirul Qadri had arrived in the heart of the Capital at the head of a massive rally seeking instant dissolution of parliament, to be followed by drastic electoral reforms. His rally was not in millions that he had promised yet it was big enough and apparently charged enough, to jolt the residents of the city out of their usual nonchalance about national politics. But what really made the day singularly different from any before were the proceedings in the Supreme Court. During the course of hearing of a petition about electoral reforms Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry made an observation that the general election should be held on time - to be interpreted by some as an indirect warning to Dr Qadri not to fiddle with the electoral process and election schedule as mandated by the constitution. We don't know whether or not Dr Qadri felt the heat of the CJP's observation. But the apex court's order in another case thereafter for the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf along with other co-accused sat so well with Dr Qadri and his fellow-marchers that it sent the entire rally into a trance. As soon as Qadri heard the Supreme Court order he ended his speech, announcing that 'half of my mission has been accomplished, the rest would be over by tomorrow'. Undoubtedly, to those who keep finding some kind of a 'conspiracy' behind Dr Tahirul Qadri's out-of-season march on the Capital to create chaotic conditions justifying intervention by those who open their innings uttering words 'my dear countrymen'. They also cite Dr Qadri's comment of the night before when he prefixed the present governments and their chief executives as also the president of the country with the word 'former'. Was he in know of the 'conspiracy' to wrap up the present democratic dispensation. And if he was, was he also a partner in it, there were some conjectures? But seen independently and objectively, there is just no connection between these two narratives, except that they happen to have come in train. These situations - Dr Qadri's march on Islamabad, Supreme Court's observation on his call for new Election Commission of Pakistan and the same court's order to arrest the prime minister and others for their alleged involvement in the Rental Power Plants scam - could be defused before they came to the cusp. Dr Qadri's march should not have been entertained by the authorities. If the Punjab government and its federal counterpart and their intelligence agencies had failed to figure out the purpose of Dr Qadri's long march especially as he had left no one in doubt he is out to disrupt the ongoing election preparations the Capital's administration miserably failed to handle it. From the word go it was on the defensive, retreating before the marchers till they reached the D Chowk. Here is a man who wants to impose his will by force and thus derail the electoral process so painstakingly stitched up and the governments allow him to do so by holding that it is every Pakistani's right to hold demonstration at the D Chowk in front of the parliament. It was a big mistake; he should have seen the difference between a lawful demonstration and the one being held in violation of the Constitution. By conceding him the facility of reaching the parliament without much of hindrance the authorities tend to convey that whosoever can manage a crowd of some thousand protestors in front of the parliament has the right to subvert the will of other 179.9 million Pakistanis. As to Dr Qadri's take on the poor quality of political leadership one has no beef; yes it lacks all that is expected of it and it's not there. But it is not for Dr Qadri to decide who should be elected, let the people make their choice through a fair, free and transparent election. That Imran Khan's PTI has a strong feeling that it is being overshadowed by Qadri's game is a strong reality that has translated into former cricket captain's 7-point agenda. Addressing a press conference, he demanded, among other things, President Zardari's immediate resignation. There are few takers for an imminent change in the leader of the house and jurists maintain that the government can employ delaying tactics that may well lead to the natural demise of the present parliament on 16 March 2013. Many argue that under the NAB Ordinance, arrests can only be made if investigation is complete and the person has been found guilty. The NAB investigators have not finished their job as yet. The court has ordered them to finish it in 24 hours and then proceed "without hesitation." The ball is in NAB's court. They were so far avoiding it. Now they will either say the PM has not been found guilty or, if found guilty, order his arrest. In the meantime, the President has called a meeting of its coalition partners in Karachi and it seems unlikely that even the PML (N) would support a change in the status quo, however superficial, at this late stage, a scant 55 days prior to the scheduled dissolution of the federal and provincial parliaments. Greater the crisis, more the need for dialogue. The situation underscores the need for reflecting deeply and mulling over the events of yesterday in particular.