Better late than never

The commission faces a formidable task, & the fate of the sitting government in power may be dependent on its outcome

The formation of a judicial commission to investigate the allegations of systematic and organised rigging of the 2013 elections is both overdue and welcome. The commission will investigate the claims by Imran Khan of the PTI that the results were falsified in favour of the PML-N. The PML-N has of course stoutly denied this, and the commission is going to have to move very fast indeed if it is to complete its task within 45 days. It has yet to be determined if the proceedings of the commission are to be public or in camera — and if the latter there are going to be immediate cries of ‘foul’ from all sides. The whole exercise is about political transparency, and hiding behind the ‘in camera’ fig leaf serves nobody well, least of all the ordinary people of Pakistan who have every right to know if their votes were in any way manipulated.



The commission faces a formidable task, and the fate of the sitting government in power may be dependent on its outcome — a considerable burden of responsibility. It is unlikely that the commission will get a smooth ride as its legality may be challenged under Article 184(3) of the Constitution. Another challenge is the much bandied about accusation by Imran Khan against some former judges, as well as prominent politicians of abetting the electoral fraud that the commission will be investigating, which could be a tricky prospect to deal with. There are real doubts that the job can be done inside 45 days, and a suspicion that its formation was an exercise in political face-saving in order to see the PTI back in parliament.

It is now going to be up to the PTI to present — and prove — its case. There appears to be agreement on all sides that some rigging did indeed take place, but whether it was at an extent so high that it determined the overall outcome of the election is the yet-unanswered question. If that is proven beyond reasonable doubt the PML-N government will be in serious trouble as far as its credibility is concerned and may fall. Given that proving anything beyond reasonable doubt in Pakistan is nigh impossible we await the outcome with interest.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th,  2015.

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