Defections ruling

Defections stand buried for good. The Supreme Court has strengthened the fundamentals of parliamentary governance. In a detailed 95-page judgment on a presidential reference pertaining to the interpretation of Article 63A, the apex court ruled that defections are an attack on the integrity and cohesion of the political parties and represent, in an acute form, unconstitutional and unlawful assaults. These are big words, indeed, and go on to seal the jingoism of opportunists who make use of their clout to further petty interests at the cost of national downslide. The majority verdict by 3-2 noted that such encroachments and erosions constitute a direct negation and denial of the rights encompassed in Article 17(2).

There are some valuable observations in the judgment that will surely act as policy measures for the elected representatives. It said while the constitutional system can accommodate the occasional maverick or eccentric, that would be tantamount to turning the system on its head. Which is why defections by members of a political party tend to disrupt the ‘healthy’ political competition in a parliamentary system, the judgment confirmed.

The court, likewise, has resolved for all times the hiccup whether defection vote should be counted or not by saying Article 63A ensures fundamental rights of a parliamentary party, thus a vote cast contrary to the party line should not be counted. Moreover, the considerate order that parliamentary parties could not delegate, transfer, assign or outsource the power conferred on it to anyone, including the party head, has brought the curtain down on so-called dictatorial trends in political parties and strengthened legislative discipline.

On the footprints of Magna Carta, this judgment too will be counted as a great service to Westminster democracy, and usher in discipline and legislative regulation. From this day onwards political adventurism to put on sale party loyalism shall be seen as an act that negates the necessary attributes and qualities of honesty, trustworthiness and sagacity. Defections over the period of time have undermined the spirit of parliamentary proceedings, and it is a great achievement that it has now been laid to rest.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2022.

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