Pakistan: Lesson for the PTI

The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed all the three petitions seeking the annulment of the 2013 general elections on the grounds of rigging. According to the SC, it cannot entertain a petition based on mere allegations, unless there is proof that the 2013 general elections were rigged. The court opined that it is not the job of the SC to investigate allegations of rigging. On the issue of maintainability, the court stressed the importance of the election tribunals as the right forum to file such petitions. The petitioners, according to the court, also lacked locus standi to file the petitions, and unless the parliamentarians were made a party to the petition, since they would be the direct affectees of any decision given in the case, the petition could not be taken up.

According to legal experts, the SC should not have been involved in political matters and it was a wrong step by the petitioners to knock at the doors of the SC. However, by dismissing the petitions the court has closed the door to the elements trying to gain concessions from the court. After the ending of the sit-in by Dr Tahirul Qadri, all eyes were set on Imran’s expected decision to call it a day. Imran’s persistence to the contrary is now being seen as a tactic to wait for the SC’s decision on the petitions filed to render the 2013 elections null and void. There were speculations that any hint about rigging in the general election by the court could be used as another launching pad by Imran to intensify his protest and agitation against the government. The SC has done the right thing by refusing to be dragged into political matters for which other forums for redress of grievances exist. For the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), the lesson is that it should agree to the proposal floated by the government of appointing a judicial commission to probe into the allegations of rigging. This straightforward and simple formula could have ended the animosity between the PTI and the government right in the initial days of the dharnas (sit-ins) but the PTI has irrationally stuck to its demand for the resignation of the prime minister. Such petulance is not a sign of mature minds. Imran Khan should revisit his maximalist demand before he loses totally loses credibility on the touchstone of being a responsible politician.