The people of Pakistan and the main political parties have demonstrated for the third time in our history that they have awareness, character and strength; and that they are far superior to the dictators who have ruled at the expense of every key national institution, and even the country’s honour
Pakistan is on way to a third democratic transition, which is significantly different from the past two. The first happened when a military regime led by General Yahya Khan lost half the country along with national morale and confidence. The civil war in then East Pakistan was the result of a long spell of dictatorship under Ayub Khan and the refusal by his successor to accept the popular mandate and hand over power to the elected parties.
Some military generals, thinking that any further delay in the transfer of power would do more damage to the country and the military, forced Yahya out. The General left reluctantly — he still thought that he had unfinished business of giving a new constitution and building an appropriate democracy for the country.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto took over the country as his People’s Party had a majority in what is now Pakistan. He inherited a host of problems from the two consecutive military regimes — bad economy, political and ethnic polarisation and national disunity.
Bhutto’s was the first genuinely popular government since independence, and after decades of political manipulation by the bureaucracy, military and civilian collaborators. The political parties, which we often malign, rebuilt political institutions that had suffered decay and distortion under the Ayub and Yahya dictatorships.
Even in the face of enormous challenges, the elected government did remarkably well in achieving national consensus on a new constitution, which anyone familiar with state and nation building processes would regard as a foundation stone. More importantly, the nation regained hope and optimism and a sense of ownership of the country and the state.
Pakistan’s first democratic experience did not last a full term and was terminated by a third military intervention, on the familiar flimsy pretext that the country had to be secured, stabilised and an appropriate democracy had to be cultivated. The third dictator hanged an elected prime minister and destroyed all institutions, including the judiciary. In the name of striking a balance among institutions, Zia-ul Haq disfigured the Constitution by giving himself the power to dissolve elected governments.
Zia’s departure from power was possible only through divine intervention, after countless political activists were publicly flogged and suffered prison terms for raising their voice against the regime, and after the political polarisation worked to Zia’s advantage. The country continues to suffer from the troubled legacy of the Zia years — religious intolerance, militancy, sectarianism and a culture of violence.
The second democratic transition in 1988 that transferred power to the PPP led by Benazir Bhutto was incomplete and partial. Successive presidents, empowered by Article 58(2)(b), dismissed four elected governments, belying the claim that such an amendment to the Constitution was a guarantee of political stability.
The Eleventh National Assembly, in which the Nawaz Sharif-led Muslim League had a two-thirds majority, restored the parliamentary character of the Constitution with a unanimous vote in the Parliament.
The political parties in 1997 had resolved to re-establish the sovereignty of Parliament and supremacy of elected governments, which incomplete democratic transitions had earlier denied them.
The fourth military intervention by former army chief General Pervez Musharraf came in 1999 when, in response to the attempt by then-prime minister Sharif to sack Musharraf while he was not in the country, the army struck to defend its organisational interest.
While the prime minister was within his constitutional right to ask the army chief to go home, the tension that has always marked civil-military relations in Pakistan was manifest in the timing and method of the attempt to get rid of the army chief. Pakistan was conquered for the fourth time by the army.
Constitutionally, coup-making is an act of treason and it is important that that act must be reviewed, re-examined and opened up for legal and judicial probe as the third transition makes progress.
Musharraf then went on to run the country by tailoring the constitution as he pleased. With the absolute power to do whatever he wanted, he has pushed the country to the brink of disaster.
But then something unexpected happened. Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry defied Musharraf on March 9, 2007 when he was pressurised to resign from office. Everyone knows about the reasons behind the demand for the CJ’s resignation and his continuing detention since November 3, 2007.
Justice Chaudhry’s act of defiance has provoked a national resistance to the Musharraf regime, led heroically by the lawyers, civil society, media and the intelligentsia of Pakistan.
The third transition, still in its initial stages, would not have been possible without this movement: the general had lined up a laundry list of projects and goals till 2016 and was in no hurry to leave office.
The people of Pakistan and the main political parties have demonstrated for the third time in our history that they have awareness, character and strength; and that they are far superior to the dictators who have ruled at the expense of every key national institution, and even the country’s honour.
It is wonderful how political leaders have turned a hung parliament into a two-thirds majority — a mandate that can restore the Constitution, the dismantled judiciary and the sovereignty of Parliament.
Let us not forget that political parties are about to take control at a time when the country has hit rock bottom in many sectors: there are shortages of energy and food, rising inflation, and, worst of all, rampant violence and terrorism. The greatest challenge among the many left by the Musharraf regime is the restoration of the Constitution and the judiciary.
There is an emerging debate in the country about the treason committed on October 12, 1999, and that the perpetrators should be brought to justice. That call must be heeded, because a vigilant civil society, free media and the accountability of coup-makers are essential to saving the country from military takeovers in the future.
The author is a professor of Political Science at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. He can be reached at rasul@lums.edu.pk
courtesy: Daily Times, 25/3/2008
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