The March of Reforms Should Continue
By Misbah U. Azam, PhD
Gilbert, AZ
The 18th Amendment Bill has been moved in the parliament and President Zardari has announced to address the parliamentary session on April 5. The bill is expected to introduce revolutionary changes in the Constitution by removing most of the amendments made by dictators who usurped power. It will also usher other wholesome changes on the political scene.
The credit goes to the PPP and the opposition political parties for achieving consensus in the Constitutional Reform Committee even though the parties had very diverse ideologies and unlike 1973, no party in the parliament today enjoys the two-thirds majority. The political forces demonstrated tremendous maturity and maintained the much needed secrecy during the course of the painstaking negotiations and even after what appeared to be a deadlock on naming the NWFP and the thorny issue of the judicial committee.
The media also played an important role during these eventful months and should be duly applauded. Its efforts to maintain sustained pressure on the government and opposition parties to remain focused on the issues without influencing the CRC’s deliberations, deserve special admiration. Pakistanis all over the world were delighted at the show of sobriety and responsible behavior by all concerned. Their confidence in democracy has received a significant boost. There is near unanimity among a wide range of political and intellectual quarters who are convinced that history was made on March 31, 2010. However, one must be cautiously optimistic until the bill gets a smooth passage in the parliament because it does have hawks representing the “old Pakistan” who will do everything to, at least, slow down progress, if not completely stop it.
Outside the parliament, there are politicians and political pundits who time and again argue that in the conditions obtaining in Pakistan dictatorship was a better option than democracy; they had also steadfastly predicted that the judges would never be restored because not even a “patwari” could ever be restored in Pakistan. They were sure that the CRC would not reach consensus.
They are now unabashedly predicting that the parliament will never pass the 18th Amendment Bill. History has shown that such characters eventually end up as “deadweight” and parasites on the political landscape. Unfortunately, some private TV anchors demonstrate manifest keenness to air their views! These anchors should know that such characters live in the past and want the status quo to prevail because they are fearful of change, since change will never accept or accommodate them.
The debate on the 18 th Amendment must go on and every point of view must be heard and duly weighed. The debate must be constructive as well as purposive and result-oriented, not just criticism for criticism’s sake and empty rhetoric.
