Part of the reason that on August 30 the authority of parliament was challenged by a mob is that in the past much of the damage to the democratic system came from within. Political parties and factions have feuded and undermined each other consistently leading to martial law or allowing vested interests, including the military, to manipulate parliamentary politics from behind the scenes. Blaming this solely on the machinations of the military or the deficiencies of parliamentarians is a failure to view the historical context in which Pakistani politics developed. Throughout its history after independence, Pakistan developed a ruthless political culture in which blood feuds, personal attacks and collaboration with the military was more often than not the norm. Often the Constitution was seen as a hindrance rather than the foundation of the state. The country has also been divided on the form of political society we hoped to achieve. Many people have in the past genuinely believed that a dictator could solve the country’s problems because of the perception that parliament was built on selfish interests. The inability of parliamentarians to come together strengthened this perception.
The question of form was answered by the mass movement against President Pervez Musharraf, and much of the credit for this and the current consensus on the supremacy of the Constitution goes to the higher judiciary and the lawyers’ community. Parliamentarians have only recently learnt that the strength of parliament is built on the foundations of the constitution. Similarly the government appears to be learning that its strength depends on parliament and democratic convention, which it previously ignored. If anything was clear after August 30, it was that parliamentarians had been shaken by the events of that night. Demagoguery, incitement and lies led a mob to attack the houses of parliament that are meant to represent the will of the people. In the joint session of parliament called by the Prime Minister (PM) on Tuesday, what became visible was the unity of parliament in the face of a challenge to the authority of an elected government. PPP Senator Aitzaz Ahsan addressing the house on Tuesday told an illustrative story that at once reminded the PM that parliament is the source of his authority and rebuked him for ignoring the democratic conventions from which it derives strength.
The change in parliamentary politics began with Benazir Bhutto, when she formulated a policy of “reconciliation”, the visible outcome of which was the 2006 Charter of Democracy. During the 1990s the PPP and PML-N were unable to come to terms with each other repeatedly. If Benazir Bhutto was alive today she might not recognise the political class that came together in the last two days in the face of violent protests by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT). The unity across party lines is unprecedented: whether it is a sign of better things to come remains to be seen. What is apparent is that the centre of political gravity seems to be shifting from traditional power centres towards parliament, with the democratic conventions and norms that implies. Parliament it seems is beginning to understand its own powers, and the government appears willing to respect the authority of parliament. A new political paradigm may be developing in Pakistan, one where parliamentary politics is the platform where problems are solved. As parliament debates a resolution to clear the red zone of protestors, while its authority has been challenged, the unity of parliamentarians means that the government may be empowered to enforce its writ, beginning with clearing the red zone and following this by ensuring that no similar incitements threaten to bring down the democratic system in one night of violence. Though the PTI shares responsibility for those events, and its members have handed in their resignations to the Speaker of the NA, there appears to be no rush to process them. This along with the government’s repeated calls for negotiation might indicate that the PTI hopes for some reconciliation as well, and in the interests of parliamentary sovereignty that is the best outcome it can hope for.
No comments:
Post a Comment