SYDNEY, 9 August — In the past few weeks, there have been several announcements regarding the constitutional changes in Pakistan. President Musharraf himself appeared on several occasions on the electronic media asserting his course of action as measures to bring genuine democracy and good governance to Pakistan. No doubt, the National Reconstruction Bureau’s amendment package includes some fair proposals. For example; the minimum voting age to be lowered from 21 to 18, minimum qualification for the contestant, changes in the number of seats in the national and provincial assemblies, cutting down the term of Parliament and prime minister from five to four years and the formation of a policymaking National Security Council (NSC).
However, history shows that military generals in Pakistan have been more skillful and diplomatic than the politicians. Analyzing the amendment package, one can also see that while Gen. Musharraf has been saying repeatedly that he wanted to see a prime minister with complete operational power; the proposed amendment empowers the president to sack the prime minister, unilaterally dissolve the Parliament and choose his own prime minister. While the prime minister has been restricted to two terms in office it did not say anything about the president
According to the latest news, Musharraf’s government is now softening its stance on changes except for the revival of 58(2)(B). Even the National Reconstruction Bureau is said to be ready to withdraw the minimum educational qualification restriction which has already been approved by the Supreme Court.
In a country where nothing is surprising anymore, politics is like Pakistani movies where the same old story is repeated endlessly with change of faces.
In politics, even the faces remain the same with repeated roles, which shows that while the world may have moved on we remain at the same place. President Musharraf promised to the people of Pakistan that he would rid the country of incapable, fraudulent and corrupt politicians, bar them from running the affairs of the country and bring a true democratic system.
President Musharraf may have done an excellent job for the country by boosting relations with the rest of world but returning the country to true democracy and good governance is a big challenge he has to meet. The question is has the internal system been overhauled to ensure genuine democracy providing freedom to the people to choose sincere leaders rather than the same old corrupt politicians in the upcoming election.
In a country where power-sharing deal with military rulers is considered legitimate and where Choudhrys, Waderas and Sardars never allow people to vote for the candidates of their choice, the same old politicians are flexing their muscles again to win the upcoming elections and secure seats in Islamabad in the name of democracy.
In March 1981 a similar exercise was carried out by another military figure, Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, whose promises to hold elections in 90 days were, if anything, more vociferous than Gen. Musharraf’s proclaimed determination to return Pakistan to the fold of ‘real’ democracy. Gen. Zia through his Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) ruled the country for more than a decade.
Interestingly, the mastermind behind Zia’s constitutional amendments was the same old judiciary guru Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada. Pirzada was also active in Gen. Ayub Khan’s government when many of us were in school. Today, he is serving the third military general (Musharraf) by providing him with legal counsel.
The painful aspect of our political system is that those who always clamor for democracy are unable to practice democracy in their own parties.
When the power-hungry politicians are ready to split their parties to retain their dominance or leadership, how can one expect them to practice true democracy in the country.
When one looks at the history of democracy, from 1988 to 1998, in Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif who, in many ways, represent a new generation of leaders, raised hopes for a democratic rule. Both in their own ways restored and reorganized their respective political parties, i.e., PPP and PML (N).
Both raised hopes that the rule of law will prevail. As opposition leaders, they contributed to the expansion of democratic process.
But both displayed strong, autocratic tendencies, as soon as they assumed power. Instead of upholding the rule of law, both flouted it, both showed little respect for minority rights and views, both suppressed dissent and restricted opposition. Both made little effort in engaging the opposition parties into a dialogue and create conditions for consensus-building.
Through personal projection-based policies and bad laws, both encouraged social attitudes that promote undemocratic norms rather than building mutual trust, accommodation and dialogue. So, when the same people — this time not Nawaz Sharif, but his nominated younger brother Shahbaz Sharif and the same two-time Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and their cronies whose only aim has been to occupy positions in Islamabad by hook or by crook — will take part in the democratic process for next civilian government and when the people of Pakistan will find the same Choudhrys in Punjab, Waderas in Sindh and Sardars in Balochistan to choose from, how can we expect President Musharraf to bring genuine democracy after the October elections.
