The Qadri facade

Some two weeks after Dr Tahirul Qadri’s Long March to Islamabad, the farce he began then continues. Dr Qadri’s latest round of talks, with a high-powered delegation of the government and its partners, have, however, run into a deadlock — with the head of the Minhajul Quran now threatening to take the matter to the Supreme Court. While the coalition has agreed to a dissolution of assemblies before March 16, followed by polls within 90 days, as well as a scrutiny of candidates within 30 days, it has baulked at Dr Qadri’s demand that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) be reconstituted or that the distribution of discretionary funds be halted immediately. The ECP, headed by a reputable former judge, was of course constituted in consultation with the opposition. As Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira pointed out, while it agreed in principle that the handing out of development funds should stop, it had no means to impose this on provinces given provincial autonomy written into the Constitution.

There are other caveats. These may not have been pointed out at the latest dialogue, but have been raised by analysts more than once. Is a scrutiny of candidates truly possible within 30 days? Can loan defaults and tax-returns be checked within this limited period — and what is to happen if the complex process, involving a variety of institutions, is not completed as unrealistically scheduled.



The real and more relevant issue is why the government is talking to Dr Qadri anyway? He, after all, does not represent anyone at all. There must be some doubt as to whether the paper signed on that cold winter’s night in Islamabad has any legal value at all. What then is the power Dr Qadri wields? Why has he suddenly become such a powerful player on the national scene and why are his curious demands, his interventions, being catered to at all? These are matters to think about in depth as elections draw nearer. Too many suspicions lurk and these need to be dispelled so that all of us can be assured that polling will go ahead in the fashion laid down by the Constitution.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2013.