‘Politicians learnt from past, institutions did not’

Seminar on caretaker govt’s role in elections brings up role of non-state actors.

ISLAMABAD:

Besides condemning pre-poll rigging by non-state actors in conflict zones, speakers at a public dialogue on Saturday criticised the role played by unelected institutions such as the judiciary and the media at this political juncture.

These views were expressed by representatives of political parties and intellectuals at a public dialogue titled “Constitutional role of caretakers and other state institutions in electoral process”, organised by the School of Political and Strategic Communications on Saturday.

Military analyst Ayesha Siddiqa said strong democracy could be ensured through parallel advancement of liberalisation and democratisation of society. She said there is no doubt politicians learnt lessons from the past and the political parties of today were behaving and performing better than before.

She set aside the impression created by “overactive” unelected institutions that claim the corrupted political system requires such institutions to play an additional role and encroach upon the domain of Parliament.

Raza Rumi — a political analyst and journalist — said unelected institutions were administrating the caretaker set up. Rumi was of the view that the country’s civil and military bureaucracy were even against sharing, let alone returning, the powers they grabbed in the past.

He said recent events exposed the judiciary and media’s biases towards some politicians, while the courts not only managed the scrutiny of candidates, but also influenced the whole process.

He said proxy groups created at the time of the Afghan War (1979-89) were now influencing popular opinion and the people’s right to vote. “Such non-state actors include the notorious Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are now involved in pre-poll rigging and ‘asking’ people to vote for their nominees.”

“There is no level playing field, as some candidates in FATA and remote areas of K-P were threatened by terrorists and consequently withdrew their nomination papers,” Rumi said.

Senator Rafique Rajwana of the PML-N called for a shift in policy to create a stable law and order situation in the country. He also said Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution were not properly understood by the public at large, especially the clause added to it via the 18th Amendment.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 21^st, 2013.