Of all the elections in Pakistan since 1970, the upcoming one is turning out to be the most lacklustre, even with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification by the Supreme Court.
Imran Khan accomplished the almost impossible task of toppling Mr. Sharif from power when he appeared invincible. There appeared to be nothing to stop Mr. Khan from coming to power, but Mr. Sharif turned out to be clever. He diverted the attention from the issue of his wealth and corruption to the “space aliens” fighting him for unknown reasons. He did not name the “aliens” but everybody knew that he meant the “establishment”, which is the term used in Pakistan to describe the military and the ISI. The latter two institutions are supposedly non-political, although the military has ruled the country for a few decades. Due to their constitutional non-political status, they don’t respond to the allegations levelled against them; although the ISPR (Inter Services Public Relations) acts like a Ministry of Information for the “establishment”, it dwells more on its accomplishments.
Resultantly, the corruption issue has gone to the background and the educated elite, instead of talking about the elections, has ended up being more obsessed with the establishment’s interference in the country’s polity. Mr. Khan is now being seen by many as the “establishment’s favourite child.” In the midst of all of this, Benazir Bhutto’s widower Asif Zardari, perhaps in order to remain relevant in the country’s polity, is trying to give an impression that he is actually the establishment’s favourite child; otherwise, his party is almost non-existent in the Punjab, which holds the key to power in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Mian Saqib Nisar has entered the field and added to the confusion by taking up almost every issue under his suo motu powers. He used to be critical of former Chief Justice Ifthikar Chaudhry’s style but has gone way beyond him in courting the media. He even hired a public relations officer, which perhaps is the first time that a Chief Justice anywhere in the world has done so. He definitely gets immense media attention but the credibility of the judiciary as an independent institution has suffered, and it has provided Nawaz Sharif with an opportunity to point finger at the bias within the institution. Many now see a nexus between the establishment and the judiciary. The more the Chief Justice goes after Mr. Sharif, who, ironically, appointed him as a judge in 1998 and as his Law Secretary prior to that, the more the impression of a nexus is reinforced.
The media has had a field day with all of this, and keep prompting Mr. Sharif and his daughter Maryam to say even more, but so far has not succeeded in getting them to actually name the military and the ISI. Mr. Khan has turned out to be the major loser in all of this as the attention of both the media and the public has shifted from the issue of corruption, and him, to “establishment’s interference in the civilian setup.”
To make matters worse, somebody seems to have advised Mr. Khan that he needs “electables” to win the election. Resultantly, the “lotas” (defectors) started joining the PTI in droves, reinforcing the feeling that there was some “alien” force behind these defections. As if this was not enough, the lotas were given preference over the old party workers, which left dejected his party PTI’s core elements, who thought that a revolution against corruption was in the offing. Now they wonder how a revolution can be brought about against corruption by the corrupt themselves.
It is a mind-numbing situation. The media, along with the people, keep looking for avenues to provide some excitement, like the stone pelting on Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Liyari, Karachi; or for comedy like people trying to kiss Bilawal or the former leader of the opposition Khurshid Shah. The youth of course have media and the latest exciting posts are of confronting the candidates while facing the mobile camera. The PTI social media wing is trying to add posts relating to Mr. Sharif’s corruption but now they appear repetitive. The PML-N wing is resting as it is no longer in power and Maryam Nawaz is out of the country.
Meanwhile, the people are left wondering if there is anything they could do to change all of this.
(The author is an Islamabad-based lawyer.)