Will Pakistan Opt for the Presidential Form of Government?
By Salahuddin Haider
Karachi, Pakistan
What is Tahirul Qadri up to? Will he and Tehrik-i-Insaaf chief Imran Khan be able to form a nexus? A country, almost 68 years old, is still searching for identity, and finds itself at the cross-roads once again. Soon after emerging on the map of the world, it plunged into a series of crisis, deeper and deeper, and now Qadri and his aides are thinking of taking a complete U-turn---bringing back the presidential system.
His aides, talking on condition of anonymity, argue that it was time to fold up the parliamentary system as it has served as an instrument of machinations, blackmailing and corruption. The Presidential system would be a check on such practices, as both the head of state and the parliamentarians will be elected on the basis of one-man-one-vote, both independent of each other; the parliament’s role will be restricted to legislate and to guide the government while the President will be free to implement his policies and may even exercise veto powers, on the pattern of the American system.
Laudable thinking, if it remains limited to the planning stage alone. In practice, it would invite the wrath of almost all major political forces. The formula would cause an upheaval, and will ultimately vanish into thin air. Pakistan has been the target of adventurous experimentation - military rulers like Ayub Khan and Ziaul Haq, enjoying the opportunity to their maximum delight for 10 and all years, with politicians entangled in corruption and caring little about the poor people.
Colleagues of Minhajul Qur'an chief do not conceal the fact that Qadri has already formed a core committee of 9 different people--each known as an expert in his field, and has even hired Kunwar Dilshad , former secretary of the Election Commission, to reform the electoral system. Whether he is working on switching over to the Presidential form of government cannot be said with authority at this critical juncture but some kind of changes are being planned.
A couple of major questions arise. The moment the scholar-politician makes it public, mustering enough votes to amend the Constitution, framed after considerable effort in 1973 and enjoying consensus of most political parties, will become a problem. There will naturally be stiff opposition. And secondly, even if “hidden hands” and perverted minds are churning out theories at the moment, they need to gauge the public sentiments first before opting for their plans to be publicized. People of Pakistan inherited the parliamentary British system and are naturally tuned to parliamentary democracy; they have rejected the unitary or presidential forms, whenever they got a chance to do that.
What is more dangerous is the plan that Qadri and his followers have in their mind. They intend blocking Islamabad and the main highways from the Karachi port to Peshawar to disrupt or perhaps totally block the supply of petrol, food and essential items. They know that they are playing a dangerous game, but are relying on optimism that if the blockage works for ten days, Nawaz may be asked to take it as a no-confidence measure against him, and he may be forced by the army to step down. The million dollar question is: will the army, as a cohesive unit, agree to playing such a role? A new government of one-year term will be installed to clean the mess and make the country a corruption-free society and revert back to good governance.
Qadri is against the monopolizing of major administrative and financial institutions among ruling family members, for which Nawaz is constantly criticized by others too. Secondly, they argue that macro-level projects like major highways, etc have actually relegated to secondary position the micro-economic plans, which would have been a source of bliss for the poor.
Also, how could Imran or Qadri, separately or jointly, bring the government to its knees, experts are still trying to fathom. True, if Imran succeeds in spearheading his long March to the capital city on the Independence Day of August 14, and if Qadri puts into action his plans for “revolution within weeks and that too constitutional, democratic and peaceful,” the two could cause a major turmoil of incredible nature. But, is the government of the day so weak that it would keep on watching the developing situation helplessly and not counter it effectively? It can but the price will be too heavy to bear. It will create anarchy, and in the opinion of many, will encourage or force the army to take matters in its own hands.
If those relying on support of their “ promoters” for the success of their plan of dislodging the government do manage a helping hand, it won't be easy for them to achieve their objective. These are some of the questions haunting the minds of the analysts and political pundits. But Qadri is out to play mischief. Whether he can really be effective or his thinking of army forcing the PML(N) government out of office for fear of turmoil, is something that is beyond comprehension, at least for the near future. (The writer is a former Sindh Minister and senior journalist)
