Pakistan - Articles

     Of the proposed amendments to the Pakistani Constitution, the most important is the one empowering the President to appoint and remove the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. This proposal seeks to provide the President with ‘discretionary’ powers to remove these functionaries for serious abuse of authority, failure to check corruption, compromising national security, and violating the Constitution. A Prime Minister removed by the President is not eligible for re-appointment for the remaining term of the National Assembly and the President will have the power to appoint any other member.

     With these extensive powers the President will gain enormous control over the functioning of Parliament. During 1988-1996, the President used this power four times to dismiss the Prime Minister, and no National Assembly was allowed to complete its term. Dismissal of the Prime Minister and the National Assembly had its repercussions on the Provincial Assemblies and the Chief Ministers. During this period the Provincial Assemblies were dissolved, in total, for sixteen times with the Chief Ministers being dismissed.

     Given the political history of party politics in Pakistan and intra-factional feuds within its major and minor parties, it would be very easy for the President to find a new person for the Prime Minister’s job; hence, the serving Prime Minister would always need to be circumspect in his relations with the President. Even if the Prime Minster had an absolute hold over his party, and the party has a majority in the National Assembly, the President could have his way in dismissing the National Assembly. Given the steps taken by General Musharraf to keep Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto out of their party and the country, it is highly unlikely that any charismatic leadership would emerge commanding the total loyalty of his or her party. Besides, without their star campaigners both the PML and PPP are not likely to get a majority in the National Assembly; thus it is unlikely that any single party would gain a majority in the forthcoming Assembly.

     Thus Musharraf has made sure through legal, constitutional and other means that the two important leaders of the PML (N) and PPP are kept out of the forthcoming elections, ensuring a fractured National Assembly. A divided National Assembly would be kept divided by political manipulation, making sure that no group or faction in future Assemblies would be powerful enough to challenge the President, either politically or constitutionally. Thus, the President would remain supreme forever.

     Besides, the fractured nature of Parliament would provide opportunities for dirty political maneuverings within and outside Parliament, which would affect governance. Bad governance and murky politics would further erode the legitimacy of the political parties and their leaders among the public. This is precisely what the military wants – to thoroughly discredit the political parties and the political process inside Pakistan, ultimately creating the perception that the military is the only institution that could protect the interests of Pakistan.

     In these circumstances, a Prime Minister could always be picked up and sacked, and the National Assembly that could always be dissolved by the President at his discretion – this would effectively undermine the slow and dented growth of the democratic process in Pakistan, both at the national and provincial levels.

     The constitutional proposals that have been submitted by the NRB should be read alongwith the Political Parties Order (PPO) 2002, which is mainly aimed at three major political parties – PPP, PML (N) and MQM, and their leadership. The PPO 2002 disqualifies a person from holding any office in a political party if he is disqualified under Article 63; this Article seeks to disqualify a person who has been convicted on a ‘charge of corrupt practice, moral turpitude or misuse of power.’ And if political parties do not remove such people from their leadership, the party would also be disqualified from contesting the forth-coming elections. Both the PPO and the constitutional proposals are clearly aimed at Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif and their parties. Without the participation of these two leaders and their parties, elections in Pakistan could never be called free and fair.