Time and time again, it has been demonstrated that the custodian of the constitution, that is, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, is enemy number 1 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
Of all the violators of the constitution, it’s the judiciary that tops the list. Then comes the military. The last on the list are the politicians.
No doubt, the political game that the security establishment played for and/or by installing Imran Khan as the prime minister resulted in a crisis that has engulfed all the institutions and is playing havoc with the very existence of the state.
After the constitutional toppling of the Imran Khan government, it has been my considered and consistent view that it is only the establishment that can deal with the crises upfront, that is, it is only the establishment that can put the genie of the IK-PTI it created back into the bottle, and it has its heavy cost that Pakistan is paying and will have to pay in the future also.
Those who think and are convinced that it is a political issue are in the dark. They must have a look at the Munir Inquiry Report (1954). The Report concluded that the disease that has afflicted Pakistan is the ‘political expediency’ and a lack of implementation of the rules and laws in its place. Add political appeasement to it.
That means, in the practical order of things, politics has been and is placed at the top, and all other things are made subservient to it. Be it the basic law, the laws, the rules, the procedures, etc., all have been pushed under the carpet now. Political value reigns supreme (at the Supreme Court, too).
The recent judgment by the Supreme Court regarding the allocation of reserved seats in the assemblies is a case in point, that is, how the Supreme Court has politicized itself and trampled the Constitution, which it must preserve. Go backwards, and the list is unending.
That is why I have been saying that it is the people of Pakistan who are the real custodians of the Constitution of Pakistan.
Clearly, by not putting things in their proper places, the constitutional scheme of things disintegrates. And it has already disintegrated.
Under the circumstances, for the security establishment, apparently, two ways are left:
- Let the judiciary and the IK-PTI ride the rollercoaster and meet their logical end, that is, the crashing of the rollercoaster.
- Declare the constitution null and void, which for all practical purposes already stands null and void, and impose a dictatorship or a dictatorial government.
Other than that, there still remains a path open to the politicians and the civil society of Pakistan.
- Hold a Grand Dialogue among the existing stakeholders – politicians, judiciary, military, and Civil Society as an observer – and have a Truth and Reconciliation Commission attached to it, and thus, begin a new era of constitutional rule where no lapse is tolerable.