Nawaz, Tareen in

While the threat of minus-Imran Khan looms large, a fresh legislation has paved the way for the re-entry of his archrival, Nawaz Sharif – as well as Jahangir Tareen – into parliamentary politics. The National Assembly yesterday passed a bill seeking an amendment to the Elections Act 2017, aimed at limiting the disqualification of lawmakers to five years with retrospective effect.

Both Nawaz, a three-time prime minister, and Tareen, a former MNA, had been disqualified under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution – which sets the precondition for a member of parliament to be ‘sadiq and ameen’ i.e. honest and righteous – in July 2017 and December 2017 respectively. The Constitution then was quiet on the length of disqualification under the mentioned article, but in a later order that came in April 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that it would be for life. And while the top court ruling had been challenged by the Supreme Court Bar Association which pleaded to the apex court that the constitutional provision did not entail a perpetual bar, the law enacted yesterday has put an end to the debate.

The draconian Zia-regime law has hitherto been used as a tool for settling political scores. It was quite common for politicians to seek political death for their rivals by moving the top court to enforce pre-conditions of Article 62 for a permanent ban from contesting elections. Apart from Nawaz and Tareen, a significant number of politicians, including former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, have been disqualified from holding public office – in what had been widely denounced as legal verdicts meant to serve political interests. It goes without saying that elected representatives must exhibit a high level of integrity and honesty and depict a high moral character, but these traits should be enforced by inculcating a healthy political culture. There can be no quick fixes in the context.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2023.

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