The Summer of our Discontent
Two decades ago the unadulterated ambition of our then leaders overwhelmed the integrity of the most beautiful experiment in nationhood of its time, we have not seemed to learn anything from that sorry episode. We are now in the midst of the most serious political crisis since 1971. The rapidly degenerating state of our economy seems to get only cursory attention while our leaders pursue their own selfish agendas. The Army may yet get over its “reluctant suitor” status before the country goes down the drain (and there is nothing left to defend). After all there is a difference between restraint and inaction. Martial Law is not a solution but the influence that the Army can bring to bear on the politicians should not be held in abeyance till Doomsday. Quick solutions to the political maelstrom will not cause the rapid rejuvenation of our economic situation, this will be a long and painful process adversely affecting the common man placed downstream at the fag end of the economy. Since only a small percentage of our population is privileged to be uncommon, a vast majority are bound to face acute hardship.
In a state of transition, the economy is very vulnerable to external factors. While privatisation was initiated by Ms Benazir Bhutto’s PPP regime, it commenced in earnest due to the dynamism and drive of businessman PM Nawaz Sharif. Along with Deregulation, Disinvestment and Denationalisation, the Nawaz Sharif regime carried out a series of far-reaching liberalising reforms, removing straitjackets from the economy and raising the confidence of the business community. Acclaimed as a genuine politician only post-April 17, 1993, Nawaz Sharif has been impatient to rid the economy of artificially imposed shackles, removing it from the clutches of a bureaucracy corrupted to its very core. In order to kickstart the economy and an ingrained political inclination to achieve economic results within his tenure, he embarked on a series of extremely visible public sector projects in the field of communications, mainly motorways and telecommunications. Like Stephen Leacock’s hero, he seems to have jumped on his horse and galloped off in all directions, the PM should have paid more attention to prioritization. Funds have been hard to come by and credits have only added to the burgeoning national debt, debt servicing already reaching 35.5% of the available annual government revenues. The PM’s enthusiasm may be genuine and not wholly misplaced but financial managers normally tend to be conservative rather than dynamic, cautious rather than creative, they have been caught unawares and thus unready to cope with the demands for more and more funds. The Nawaz Sharif regime thus suffers from the public perception of haste and waste at the very core of its leadership. What was the use of taking back the VIP aircraft from PIA? Whenever it was required PIA could have made it available. This perception is most unfortunate as besides becoming the focus of public censuring, it calls into question the efficacy of perfectly sound plans for the betterment of the communications system in Pakistan. The Islamabad-Lahore Motorway is an excellent scheme but scandal arose in the manner of the hasty award to Daewoo without international tender. Recently the single tenderer for the Sheikhupura-DG Khan motorway tried a fait accompli in trying to persuade the PM into accepting its bid. Thankfully enthusiasm failed to get the better of good sense as it did in the case of Daewoo. Wise and mature leaders do not let themselves be carried away by the shenanigans of the unscrupulous.
With Bated Breath!
The eloquence of Khalid Anwar and the pronounced filibuster of Aziz Munshi notwithstanding, the merit of the Petitioners case in the Supreme Court against the Presidential Dissolution Order of April 18, 1993 will probably hinge on one crucial finding, did the President have the Constitutional authority to dissolve the National Assembly once it had been called into Session by the Speaker given the fact that once the National Assembly was so-called by the Speaker only he could prorogue it? The extraordinary argument by the Respondent’s Counsel that the President does not hear radio or see TV and so he did not know about the Speaker’s summoning of the NA lends weight to the conviction that even the Respondents concede this point to the Petitioner. Logic would dictate that once the fact of the Speaker’s earlier calling of the National Assembly became known to the President later, his Order should have been subsequently withdrawn. Given this argument as a core of the entire case, one speculates that on this one point alone, the National Assembly will certainly be restored by the Supreme Court.
While his mind has been functioning as sharp as a razor, Aziz Munshi’s heart was quite apparently not into a vigorous Presentation of the Respondent’s arguments. It is demeaning to see a brilliant lawyer searching to establish credibility in the face of the obvious, his arguments did not carry the weight of his own conviction. He seemed to be besieged, fighting a losing battle, probably the best he has been hoping for is a finding by the Honourable Justices of the Supreme Court that Nawaz Sharif may have to seek a fresh vote of confidence from the Members of the National Assembly before he can resume his interrupted stint as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. One can only guess that the in-camera proceedings would carry weight but would not sway the Court. It may be pure speculation but a positive verdict happens to be generally the perception of the intelligentsia and the masses, a street-smart population is almost never wrong. For over four decades they have despaired of being the masters of their own destiny, their so-called public servants having usurped that right and turned them into slaves. Now they see a pronounced ray of hope, any attempt to try and extinguish this by means other than Constitutional would amount to sacrilege, of the ethical and moral kind.
Benefit of Doubt
Aziz Munshi temporarily succeeded in delaying the judicial process in the Supreme Court by his dedicated filibustering, if it had not been so annoying it would actually have been amusing. As it is he did not succeed in impeding the march of impatient history and since nothing fails more than failure, he has been temporarily consigned into oblivion from which no doubt he will soon rise Phoenix-like. It is most demeaning to see a man of substance squirm under the knowledge that his Brief his hollow, the pressure was such that he was reduced to dithering on reasons of no consequence to delay the inevitable. Aziz Munshi found himself symbolically in the dock in place of his Client and fighting a losing battle, he came off the worse for it. Defending the indefensible one has to accept the approbation that goes with it, in the face of adversity though, one must commend Mr Munshi in not resorting to the ultimate fall-back position, histrionics. That by far was his most saving grace, accepting with equanimity the historic Supreme Court verdict. The detailed judgement in the case is now more than overdue.
Flush with victory in the Supreme Court, in the face of existing realities which was his to lose if he faltered, eloquent Barrister Khalid Anwar seems to have gained an infallible reputation. With the utmost respect for the Honourable Judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC) one has to observe that in the matter of Elahi Vs Wattoo, it has led them to re-defining the meaning of limbo and opened up a legal Pandora’s box. The Province of Punjab finds itself in a state of suspended animation because of the Interim Order given by the LHC on Wednesday last as well the plea of Counsel Abdul Hafeez Pirzada of vertical bias and the application for shifting thereof. Born Again – Chief Minister Wattoo’s state is that of betwixt and between, as an incumbent not illegal but being insecure hardly stable. His new ally in the Governor’s House, PPP Stalwart and Presidential confidante, Altaf Hussain (not to be confused by the gentleman in London), finds his seat of power itself under threat. According to the Interim Order issued by the LHC, the Constitutional position in Punjab reverts to what it was before the Honourable Governor dissolved the Provincial Assembly (PA), with the stipulation of status quo, that the advice of the CM to dissolve is not to take effect nor can he give any such advice till further notice, to balance off it has been mandated that a vote of no-confidence moved by the Petitioners cannot be further processed. In effect it does not prevent MPAs other than Pervaiz Elahi, the Petitioner, from requisitioning the PA and proposing a vote of no-confidence in the CM, except that if its result could not be applied till a final decision of the LHC. According to our much differently interpreted Constitution, the Assembly is supposed to dissolve automatically at the expiry of 48 hours after the advice is tendered, this raised another anomaly promptly exploited by the Speaker. The pressure cockpit of political currents seemed to have rushed the Honourable Judges into a rather ambiguous position. One surmises respectfully that in hindsight the Honourable Judges would come to the conclusion that judicious discretion required a more thorough negotiation through this legal minefield to avert this potentially Catch-22 situation. One does not live for an instant under the impression that the motivation of the LHC was anything but sincere, however since one cannot please everybody with a Judgement, an Interim Order is twice complicated. It has opened up a window of opportunity for those who are prone to fomenting anarchy, this time by casting undue aspersion on the judiciary.