During the course of the Supreme Court (SC) hearings, some learned judges insisted they were only concerned with what had happened prior to April 18th and not with what was likely to transpire ahead. In its infinite wisdom, the SC finally determined on May 26th that there had been no deadlock between the President and Prime Minister which rendered it impossible for the federal government to function constitutionally without the necessity of appealing to the electorate afresh. As a matter of fact, some of the more outspoken though honourable judges seemed to spurn the idea of appealing to the electorate whenever the rulers couldn’t get along with one another. Noted the Chief Justice rather succinctly: “Elections can be a very traumatic experience for the political sovereign, (ie, the people) who cannot be relied upon to deliver the goods”.
Well, well. Even before the ink has dried on the SC’s short judgement, the constitutional deadlock between the President and the PM has become transparent even to the purblind; and the observations of all the good judges save one may have already been dumped into the dustbin of “history”: The elected representatives of the political sovereign in the provincial assemblies have determined, after consultations between the Leaders of their respective Houses and the Head of State that they can no longer live with the chosen one, Nawaz Sharif. In consequence, a mere three days after the SC has finished imparting uncommon wisdom to us all, the Representatives of the political sovereign have been left with no choice but to voluntarily and constitutionally opt for the trauma of fresh provincial elections within 90 days!
The deadlock is all over the constitution, devouring it like an insatiable and invincible monster. It is in the Punjab and in the NWFP where the chief ministers have desperately dissolved their assemblies and rushed to embrace the “political sovereign” for solace, advice and comfort. It is in Balochistan where a hapless new chief minister has scraped through the vote of confidence in the assembly with the grand margin of one, only to find himself seconds later with a vote of no-confidence staring him in the face. It has existed in Sindh since 1990 in the shape of Jam Sadiq and his unholy legacies, irrespective of what the Pakistan army has done to try and sweep away its smelly droppings. And it haunts Mr Sharif in the national assembly where he hangs on by the skin of FATA’s false teeth.
Of course, the indefatigable Mr Nawaz Sharif doesn’t see it that way. He has abiding confidence in the power and supremacy of the honourable judiciary to bail him out of all his teething troubles. Never mind that the chief minister of the Punjab actually dissolved the assembly on May 29th before a vote of no-confidence had been moved against him. What is this insignificant indiscretion of the secretary of the assembly being kidnapped by some over-zealous supporters of Mr Sharif in the dead of night and somehow being persuaded to acknowledge receipt of an order requisitioning the assembly for a vote of no confidence nearly twelve hours earlier? So what if the notice of a vote of no confidence was not lodged before the Speaker? Surely, the Supreme Court’s observation that the 88 resignations of members of the national assembly should have been handed over to the Speaker and not to President Ishaq Khan is an irrelevant analogy. How can the High Court conceivably stand on irrelevant technicalities and condone perjurers in high offices (Speaker, CM and Governor of the Punjab) when the honourable judges of the Lahore High Court can immediately spot the substantive evidence of a majority of Punjab donkeys obediently lined up behind the inscrutable Mr Pervez Elahi?
Mr Sharif must think Balochistan is a God-forsaken province, so it can flounder a while without his beneficence. Sindh can go to the dogs, (by that he means the PPP) if it should come to that. And he can always console his dear, beloved Wali Khans to tarry a while longer while the NWFP readies for elections. But as long as Mr Sharif can grasp Punjab and Islamabad, he must believe he will be able to rule the world. Is that realistic?
The consuming presumptions here are as follows: that President Ghulam Ishaq has been shorn of all his dentures; that Ms Bhutto can be eventually brought around, thanks to the silvery Mr Iftikhar Gillani, to see the error of her ways of allying with a spent President; that COAS Gen Abdul Waheed, the professional soldier that he is, can be relied upon to endlessly uphold the glittering virtues of democracy.
Even if, for the sake of God, the last assumption can be ascribed heroic proportions, we can report that the first is hopelessly misplaced. The monstrous deadlock has just begun to exact its toll. President Ishaq has rolled up his sleeves for a fight to the finish. And damned be him who first cries “Hold, enough”! Ladies and Gentlemen, faites vos jeux, s’il vous plait!