Political merry-go-round to extend into new year

The year which started with the opposition alliance, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), threatening to unseat the government, saw some wins for the ruling party and some major losses that triggered a party restructure.

Just like threats of sending the sitting government packing fizzled out, the PDM’s joy over the win of Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani in the Senate elections over a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) candidate was short lived too as two of its allies the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) quit the movement to seek greener pastures.However, this was not the only loss the opposition alliance experienced as the PTI dished out several through the course of the year as well.

Putting election reforms under its belt, the PTI introduced Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) - a device that the opposition vehemently opposed. The same day, November 17, that the ruling party registered a win on EVMs it passed a record 32 other bills in one joint sitting of the parliament amid opposition parties’ protest.

President of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT), Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, does not see this as a win for democracy though. “Rushing bills through Parliament without proper scrutiny in committees and debate in plenaries shows total disregard for democratic norms. Lack of sufficient efforts to forge consensus on electoral laws is even more objectionable & dangerous,” Mehboob said.

Overall, in terms of legislation the PTI-led government bulldozed a major chunk of the legislative business and managed to pass a total of 61 bills from the National Assembly - 27 more than the previous year. Data obtained from Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), shows that 110 bills have been passed so far during the current government’s tenure, in contrast during the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) tenure from 2013 to 2018, a total of 192 bills were passed.

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Apart from the bills passed, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s absence from the National Assembly as well as from the meetings of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security remained evident. As opposed to his promise of frequently attending assembly sessions, the premier only attended four sittings, including one where he took a vote of confidence, between August 2020 and December 2021.

Data obtained from FAFEN shows that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan was present in 24 out of 269 sittings, 9%, compared with former PM Nawaz Sharif who was present in 40 out of 319 sittings, 12%.“It is a tragedy for Pakistan that at this critical time in the country’s history we have a PM who dislikes parliament, abuses the opposition, and has been unwilling to use the most important constitutional forum for forging consensus on key national issues,” PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said.Similarly, Mehboob, who is based in Lahore, expressed his displeasure by stating that this lack of interest sets a bad example and provides an excuse to Ministers and Members National Assembly (MNAs) to skip parliamentary sittings.

Mehboob’s assessment holds weight as the assembly was marred by a quorum syndrome throughout the year - quorum was pointed out by the opposition 54 times and it was found incomplete 39 times upon counting.“Quorum loss 39 times makes a mockery of the Parliament,” remarked Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, “it shows that the ruling party lacks interest or it has no control over its members.”

Apart from the economic woes, perhaps this lack of control, as asserted by Sayed, is what translated into two of the most significant losses that the ruling party faced during the year - Daska by-election, in which 20 presiding officers went missing mysteriously and, and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa local government polls, in which the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) dominated. Sayed, the veteran politician, was quick to term these losses as a prediction of the times to come. “2021 was the year of survival for PML-N, as even with the leadership either in exile or in jail, it still managed to hold itself together which shows its resilience,” he stated.

The Express Tribune contacted Fawad Chaudhry, the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting and PTI spokesperson, for a rebuttal on Senators Sayed and Rehman’s hard-hitting comments but he did not respond to messages.Mehboob, on the other hand, does not see the year as belonging to any particular political party. “2021 has seen further rise of political confrontation which is not a good sign for the future of mature democracy in Pakistan,” he despondently told the Express Tribune.