The PML-N mandate

Pakistan is in the grip of yet another internal political crisis. The right to rule by the PMLN has been challenged by a section of the opposition despite its much trumpeted electoral mandate. Two opposition parties — the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by Imran Khan and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) led by Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri — want to knock out the federal government led by Nawaz Sharif. The PAT also wants to remove Shahbaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab, and institute criminal proceedings against both Sharif brothers for killing 14 of its workers and injuring more than 80 people outside its party headquarters in Lahore by the Punjab Police.

The PML-N leadership and their supporters reject the resignation demand, claiming that they have the popular mandate from the May 2013 elections coupled with the resolution of the PML-N dominated National Assembly fully supporting the Nawaz government.

In two earlier instances in 1993 and 1999, the PML-N electoral mandate and the support in the National Assembly could not avert the removal of the Nawaz government. The military played a key role in removing the Nawaz government and salvaging internal political situation. Now, in August 2014, history seems to be repeating itself. The stalemate between the Nawaz government and the opposition can be resolved either when one side succumbs to the pressure of the other side. The military can use its political clout to facilitate, if not impose, a solution.

The most important question is why the Nawaz government runs into problems after winning an electoral mandate? Why can’t its leadership work smoothly with its allies, maintain a working relationship with the opposition and pursue a stable and trustworthy relationship with the military?

Pakistan has a democratic parliamentary system of government but the quality of democracy is poor. In the absence of democratic political culture, the political leaders and political parties often violate the basic principles of democracy. The fact that two political parties on protest in Pakistan are threatening to knock out the existing political system shows that there are serious problems at the operational level. Pakistan’s experience suggests that internal peace, stability and political continuity cannot be ensured simply by organising general elections.

The election process should be fair, free and transparent. A large section of the politically active populace must feel through their experience that the elections provide a fair opportunity to elect the leaders of their choice. The complaints regarding the electoral process must be addressed quickly and to the satisfaction of the principle of justice. In the 2013 general elections, the PML-N candidates had a clear, and in some cases, a decisive advantage because the long years of the PML-N’s rule in Punjab enabled Shahbaz Sharif to cultivate a politically loyal cadre of bureaucrats. Their role in influencing other officials was strengthened by the widely shared perception that the Shahbaz Sharif government would return to power. Most provincial bureaucratic machinery and other ambitious groups wanted to be on the winning side. As the PTI was viewed as a bigger challenge than the PPP in the Punjab, the former faced more problems.

Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif are in the habit of running their respective governments as a personal and family business empire, appointing loyalists to key bureaucratic and political positions. As loyalty is assigned a higher premium over professionalism, trustworthy family friends or members of the family call the shots, creating a circle of sycophants around them. It has traditionally been difficult for parliamentarians to meet Nawaz Sharif or Shahbaz Sharif. The parliamentarians could approach the bureaucrats working for the Sharif brothers to get their share of patronage. This style of governance has alienated a large number of people inside and outside the ruling party. This policy also denied the Sharif brothers of sane and independent advice on state affairs.

Now, after the launching of the agitation by the PTI and the PAT, the Sharif brothers have become more available to the parliamentarians and adopt a liberal approach to distribute state patronage to sustain support in the National Assembly. They are paying special attention to keeping the PPP and the ANP on their side in the current political confrontation.

The economic priorities of the governments in Lahore and Islamabad were misplaced. These governments focused more on publicity-oriented projects like building roads, starting bus services, building overhead bridges, underground pathways, distribution of free laptops and youth loans. All were managed as personalised affairs. The beneficiaries of such projects were those constructing and managing these projects. Only a small section of the ordinary populace benefited from these projects. The issues and problems that hurt the common people most were pushed to the background. These were electricity and gas shortages, price hike, inflated electricity bills and personal security. On countering terrorism, the civilian government dragged its feet until the military forced its decision to start a security operation in North Waziristan.

The government was more interested in macroeconomic indicators that benefited the business and trading classes and affluent people. The distributive aspect and socioeconomic equity were ignored. It made two additional blunders due to arrogance of power. Firstly, Imran Khan’s demands for verification of electoral process were rejected. Whatever checking was done by the Election Tribunals strengthened doubts about the fairness of the electoral process in Punjab. Secondly, ill-advised use of violence against Dr Qadri’s loyalists in Lahore on June 17 eroded the moral basis of the Punjab government. Lastly, the federal government could not maintain cordial relations with the military top command on several issues.

The PML-N government’s failure to gauge the growing resentment at the common-man level enabled Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri to mobilise the alienated populace. If the PML-N overcomes the current crisis, it will have to totally review its governance and political management and opt for the depersonalisation of power, emphasis on professionalism and delivery of services in view of the day-to-day problems of the common people.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2014.

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