Constitution under Attack

Never before, in the 75-year history of Pakistan, have there been any attacks on the Supreme Court and the Constitution at the same time. The Supreme Court was physically attacked in November, 1997 when the then government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, because of its confrontation with the then Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, decided to teach him a lesson. To make it happen, the PML-N supporters and party workers attacked the Supreme Court premises, which led to the resignation of Chief Justice. In 2023, the coalition government, which is led by PML (N) along with its allies, has resorted to worst type of verbal attacks against the Chief Justice (CJ) of Supreme Court (SC) and his fellow judges, because of SC’s verdict that elections in Punjab must be held by May 14, 2023.

In January this year, the PTI-led assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) were dissolved under the misplaced assumption that the dissolution of both assemblies would lead to the holding of general elections. On the contrary, the Constitution was violated by the coalition government members in the National Assembly and the Senate by refusing to comply with the clearly stipulated articles in the 1973 Constitution that elections must be held within 90 days after the dissolution of assembly.

A lot has been written and said about the ongoing judicial and constitutional crisis in Pakistan engulfing this country since the PTI government was ousted from power as a result of the vote of no-confidence on April 9, 2022. However, one thing is clear that in the past no government had made a mockery of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and his fellow judges and violated the Constitution in such a blatant manner as did by the incumbent PDM government, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Why elections were not held in KPK and Punjab within 90 days, and how the orders of Supreme Court were violated by the PDM government? Why a vulgar, inexplicably malicious campaign against the Chief Justice was launched by the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam - F (JUI-F), the three major partners of the PDM-led coalition government? Who is behind the coalition government which augments their confidence to sustain their hostile campaign against the Chief Justice and to defy the orders of Supreme Court? Why the authority of Chief Justice is challenged, and who has divided lawyers’ community? These are the questions being raised about judicial and constitutional crisis in the country.

The phenomenon of not holding general elections within 90 days is not new. On July 5, 1977, when the martial law was imposed overthrowing the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the then Chief Martial Law Administrator General Zia-ul-Haq, despite his commitment to hold elections within 90 days, i.e. by October 1977, decided to postpone the elections indefinitely. After the hanging of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on April 4, 1979, General Zia-ul-Haq committed to hold elections in November 1979, but they were again postponed for an indefinite period of time. The rule of General Zia-ul–Haq, which was to end within 90 days after the imposition of martial law, continued for over 3,000 days till the time party-less elections were held in February 1985.

This time also, it was predicted that Supreme Court’s order that elections in KPK and Punjab be held within 90 days of the dissolution of their assemblies will not be implemented by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the PDM government, because of the fear that PTI would get a huge majority and their opponents, particularly PML (N) and PPP, would be routed, owing to the bad performance of the PDM-led coalition government, coupled with the surge in the popularity of Imran Khan after his ouster from power.

The defiance of Supreme Court along with the Constitution will have grave implications both in short and long term. First, making mockery of Chief Justice and his fellow judges has created a bad precedent in the political history of Pakistan. According to the 1973 Constitution, any criticism against the judiciary and the armed forces is prohibited, however, nothing happened when the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Defense Minister, Interior Minister and other cabinet members ridiculed the Chief Justice and his fellow judges and asked for their ouster.

The Chief Organizer and Vice-President of PML (N) Maryam Nawaz, for example, said that “CJ should follow the footsteps of his mother–in-law by joining the PTI,” and this statement touched the height of insult and derogation. Likewise, the Federal Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb crossed all limits of decency when she hurled false accusations against Chief Justice.

Certainly, those who made derogatory remarks against the superior judiciary will be taken to task at an appropriate time in the future.

The postponement of the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting has also raised several questions about the reservations of some members of NSC about the manner in which the coalition government has mishandled the situation after the arrest of Imran Khan from Islamabad High Court on May 9 and the ensuing violent protests in different parts of the country.

Second, by violating the Constitution to hold elections within 90 days as well as using the ministries of Defense, Interior Affairs, and Finance, together with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) stand against the judicial order refers to the fact that the PML (N) has polarized and weakened these institutions to accomplish its vested interests. Never before, in 75 year history of Pakistan, all the state institutions, ranging from bureaucracy, judiciary and military, have been at loggerhead, whereas, the parliament has been reduced into a rubber stamp of the PML (N).

When the Constitution is violated and state institutions refuse to hold elections within the given timeframe as per the constitutional provision, the failure of state and its institutions is always on the cards. Finally, judicial and constitutional crisis along with squabbling between PTI and the coalition government has taken the toll on the country’s economy, governance and erosion of Pakistan’s image abroad. Unfortunately, Pakistan has not been able to settle down as a nation state, and is still termed as a feudal and tribal country with corruption, nepotism, bad governance, the absence of rule of law and accountability permeated deep into the state and societal structures of the country.

The dangerous implications of the violation of the Constitution and defiance of Supreme Court’s directives cannot be ruled out. Crossing of the red line by the PDM-led coalition government in cahoots with some state institutions to disrespect CJ and violate the Constitution points to the fact that Pakistan is fast moving towards becoming a failed state.

The imposition of emergency or martial law to cover up the violation of 90 days order of Supreme Court will be counterproductive. Similarly, the trial of political leaders under the Army Act will further augment polarization in this country. It seems those at the helm of affairs have not learned lessons from history all the way since the imposition of first martial law in Pakistan in 1958 as such an act eventually led to the disintegration of Jinnah’s Pakistan. Likewise, the imposition of emergency will result into usurpation of fundamental rights of citizens, which will shatter the image of Pakistan internationally, and will also result into the outbreak of civil war across the country.

The only way out from prevailing crisis is to hold free and fair elections as soon as possible, and whoever forms the newly-elected government, they need to give priority to address Pakistan’s socio-economic concerns in a best possible manner, as that’s the only way Pakistan can be saved from predictable consequences primarily ending up as a failed state.