Law and obedience

Lawmakers are not just responsible for making laws but obey them too, in letter and spirit. The recent altercation between a PML-N MPA and Punjab police officer in Lahore hints at the precarious legislative system whereby the lawmakers become the lawbreakers.

Of course, there are numerous warning signs that should be kept an eye on when law is threatened in a democratic state. One of them is when some people, especially the legislators, have and can exercise power above the law.

Another significant area is when the judiciary fails to commit to imparting equal, fair and transparent justice to everyone, which instills trust among citizens towards the justice system itself. When the Punjab Chief Minister took a prompt notice following the video of the MPA threatening the police officer, it marked one of the first such moves.

The consequent issuance of a show-cause notice was rather surprising, for we are not quite accustomed to such responses in similar cases. It reminded me of the fact that politicians are supposed to act as public servants and are liable to not just make laws for the public, but be the first ones to implement those on themselves.

However, unfortunately, our country hosts a lord culture that privileges the elites — a space where lawlessness is justified by political power at the stake of democratic power. Obedience of the law across vertical and horizontal hierarchies is determined by what is fed from the top.

The MPA’s action was long pre-determined by the cult of Pakistan’s political lineage, which branches out in all directions.

On the other hand, one of the first transformative and progressive moves in unbiased ac[1]countability of an elected representative at equal levels to an ordinary citizen also sets — or at least should — a precedent for a justice system that sits on trust, liability and systemic democratic paradigm. After all, there is no system too difficult to revisit for a different outcome.