With a real estate tycoon (take a wild guess?) buying up votes with his tax-free money in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Assembly for PPP candidates, “horse-trading” for the upcoming Senate elections went into overdrive. While cause for anxiety for the PTI-JI ruling Alliance in KPK, five PML-N legislators in Balochistan failed to show up for a party meeting chaired by Mian Nawaz Sharif during his last visit to Quetta in an open act of defiance. Notwithstanding Punjab (PML (N) and Sindh (PPP) being safe for the incumbent ruling parties, the PM realized his party could well lose some safe seats and possibly even the Senate Chairmanship (take another wild guess about PPP’s likely dark horse?). The ultimate “Constitutional” irony, the politicians levy taxes on the population and even though they (and their cronies) don’t pay taxes themselves, flush with illegal money they can buy up Senate votes. Is NAB listening? Will the Supreme Court possibly take notice of this blatant violation of the Constitution? Is this what democracy is all about?
To avoid possible humiliation the PML-N proposed the 22nd Amendment for the Mar 5 Senate elections, voting through a show of hands instead of secret balloting. Meant to stall the PML (N) initiative, the “Anti-amendment bloc forms coalition” newspaper headline said it all. Not surprising that the tax-free coalition political parties (just add up all their taxes paid in the past 5 years) consists of the PPP, JUI (F) and the ANP. Claiming “tongue-in-cheek” that they were against “horse trading”, the PPP said they would welcome steps to stop it. A PPP handout underscored their own hypocrisy, “the govt decision to amend the Constitution for Senate elections by show of hands is a quick and inconsiderate move bereaved (did they mean “bereft”) of “bottomless thought and likeness” and seems aimed at political point scoring”. What mind-boggling verbiage!
Asma Jahangir described not holding a secret ballot as a unique spectacle of mistrust and ignorance violating the basic principles of secrecy and sanctity of the ballot. A Parliament whose members must qualify as “honest” and “Ameen” (according to Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution) are not trusted to be “honest” and “Ameen” by their own leaders. Democracy is thus made a farce under the camouflage of the Constitution by those engaged in looting the public till, nothing more representative about the daylight fraud than the present Senate elections. Everyone and his uncle (and auntie) knows that 90% of those buying Senate seats by this manipulative electoral process can never get elected directly. Yet Constitutionally they will “represent” the Provinces and, by default, the electorate in the Federation.
“Horse-trading” is not new to our political culture. Mian Nawaz Sharif conveniently forgets purchasing the loyalties of several PPP and ANP members and hiding them in the Changa Manga Forest Rest House in the 90s to prevent resiling from their paid commitment for a vote of “no-confidence” in an unsuccessful effort to topple the then Benazir government.
My article “Direct Vote and Democracy” of May 5, 1995, said, “The basis of democracy is that every individual has occasion to exercise his or her vote freely to choose individuals for a particular seat or post. This vote is not transferable and cannot be exercised by proxy. Any indirect vote in the concept of adult franchise is controversial because it transfers the basic individual right of choice of electors of one constituency to another individual who then takes a solitary decision on behalf of others which is not really representative. A small number of individuals being susceptible to the influence of power and money, etc the indirect vote is invariably cast against the actual aspirations of the individual citizen, the basic unit of a democracy. Inculcating an element of corruption at its very inception, it circumvents the candidate’s exhaustive accountability by the masses inherent in a full-fledged election campaign. The basic principle of democracy is the exercise of adult franchise to fill all electable slots. Those who have made their tax-free money illegally get elected to the Upper House by purchasing a few votes. Being a higher body than the National Assembly (NA), the Senate’s claim to legality is only legitimate if its members are directly elected by the populace.” unquote.
“Reality TV” was the spectacle of convening the Joint Session of the NA and Senate in August 2014 “to save democracy”. Ostensibly meant as a show of unity against the “Dharnas” of Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri in Islamabad, the inflammatory rhetoric delivered by the politicians from within the safe confines of the NA venomously targetted the Army. Keeping their cool the khakis refused to be provoked. Because counter-terrorism needed the 21st Amendment, the Army is now sitting Constitutionally pretty calling the shots on “national security” while PM Mian Nawaz Sharif is content not being given his marching orders, at least not yet. Without “national security” in the hands of the so-called “democratic representatives” of the people, whatever “democracy” can function is still functioning only to avoid being prosecuted for corruption. With control of Sindh slipping out of his hands Zardari’s creative land-grabbing in Karachi is at risk. Discretion being the better part of valour, Zardari swallowed his self-respect during “Apex Meetings” and passed notes for proxies to protest “going off the track”. Zardari must have been in the infantry in an earlier life, he knows when to keep his head down when “under fire”. Because corruption undercuts national security and the (did somebody call them “impotent”?) Sindh Govt being also inefficient from top to bottom, is being “put back on track” in no uncertain terms. On cue from his boss, Khurshid Ali Shah bemoaned the partial of governance by opposing “Apex Committees trying to govern the Provinces”, carefully airing this only within the NA (without being emotional about it).
Zulfikar Mirza’s tirades and Zardari’s response of calling him a “Farooq Leghari” adds spice to political life. Instead of retaliating himself in kind, Zardari commissioned his “more loyal than the king” minions to counter Mirza’s accusations. The term ‘thieves fall out’ implies an association based on shared dishonesty is likely to be disrupted, when thieves start quarrelling they are likely to be caught out. While the allegations and counter-allegations need forensic investigation, Zardari and Mirza are for once thankfully telling the truth about each other. NAB cannot remain selective and holier-than-thou deaf, dumb and blind targetting the nouveau-rich corrupt political elite.
How did “friends” PML (N) and PPP fall out within 6 months after vowing in Parliament not to do so “till death do us part”?
