PDM in a blind allay

By Qamar Bashir
Maryam’s tirade against the Supreme Court was harsh, her body language shaky, exuding anger, frustration, desperation, and disappointment, her tone aggressive, threatening, alarming, and challenging, and her aggression reflected in her usual trademark phrase, ‘KAR Loo Ju Karna hai’. She appeared unafraid of facing the consequences, going so far as to charge the Supreme Court with assisting Imran Khan at the expense of violating the constitution, and vowed that the government will not accept the decision and will not implement it no matter what the cost. Her tirade, vows, and pledges seemed completely out of place, and perhaps she forgot, while making such lofty claims and threatening the Supreme Court, that she has no portfolio of power in the government to do so.
She may have conveniently ignored the fact that the Supreme Court’s order was not intended for political leadership, but only administrative heads of ministries, the secretaries who do not have any stakes in the war between PDM and judiciary especially when in most of the cases they are at the fag end of their career.
She should have been aware that the state functionary, who could be a government official or an agent of the state, is legally obligated to carry out the court’s decision and does not need the approval of the President, Prime Minister, or ministers to do so, because Supreme Court orders are binding and must be carried out without delay. If the order had been issued to the government’s political leadership, it would have required the president, prime minister, or ministers to comply with its decision, which is not the case in the contested order. It was for this reason that the election commission issued the election schedule without waiting for any input from other stakeholders. Similarly, the secretaries of finance and defense will comply by the deadline in order to save their jobs, without giving any thought to the political leaders’ directives.
While the entire political leadership in the government and even outside the government, including Nawaz Sharif, took part in a meeting of the heads of constituent parties of the PDM and their close associates yesterday and today where they called the Supreme Court decision a violation of the constitutions, the parliament in its sittings yesterday and today opened full fire on the judiciary despite failing to substantiate their charge on constitutional grounds. Nawaz Sharif predicted that the rupee would lose value against the dollar again, but he did not explain why an election, which is a legitimate and routine exercise, should be cited as a cause of economic and financial distress.
Our Minister for Information went on to say that the Supreme Court’s decision is akin to handing Imran Khan the premiership on a silver platter. Our foreign minister went on to say that the establishment’s claims of neutrality have been undermined by this decision, and that the establishment coaxed the judiciary to make such a decision, which has broken the back of the PDM as a whole. Our Railways Minister went on to say that despite the fact that the establishment pushed and armed twisted PDM to take the mantle of government at the expense of losing whatever political capital they had, this decision shows that they abandoned them at a time when PDM needed them the most. The law minister made an even bolder promise: no matter what the cost, this decision is unimplementable and will never be implemented.
The speeches and tirade of the government’s leadership were like that of a general who had already laid down its weapons even before going to war, which in this case are contesting the forthcoming elections for the Punjab assembly, affectionately known as Takhat-e-Lahore.
These lofty claims made by the political leadership are also completely inappropriate, illegal, and, most importantly, without jurisdiction. The court proceeded with great care, prudence, and wisdom. During the hearing, it did not call any political party or political leadership, and despite their insistence, the court did not allow the political parties to become parties to the conflict. The court, very wisely, only summoned the petitioner and state functionaries to hear their perspectives on the implementation of relevant constitutional provisions requiring elections to be held within 90 days of the assemblies’ dissolution. It kept the scope of the hearing very simple and limited, clearly bypassing the political heads of the ministries and summoning only the administrative heads of the institutional and ministries, implying that any contempt of court proceedings will be initiated against the administrative head, the secretary, who represents the state and is responsible for sanctioning any budgetary provisions or signing the order for deployment of security forces as needed. As a result, regardless of any directives issued by the political leadership or even the cabinet, the Secretary administrative head will ensure that the Supreme Court’s decision is implemented on time.
During my over 30 years of service in the power corridors, I have witnessed and experienced the frustration of Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Ministers when the secretary takes a stand and refuses to obey the illegal, unconstitutional, or unlawful orders issued to them, especially when the directions are issued by Pakistan’s Supreme Court. This is one such case in which the court has directed the secretaries of Finance and Defense to submit their financial and security plans, which would be submitted to the court without hesitation or doubt.
The government is also considering using Parliament to overturn the order, but only by amending the relevant provision of the constitution, which would require a two-thirds majority and the president’s assent, which is not possible in either case. Similarly, referring the case to the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision and declaring an emergency will require the President’s assent, which is unlikely. The extreme action is the imposition of martial law, which is also impossible because the establishment is not foolish enough to turn the entire country against them and face the same fate as Turkey’s armed forces in a similar situation.
The PDM and the government had no choice but to accept the Supreme Court’s decision gracefully and begin meticulously preparing for the elections without wasting any more precious time at their disposal to vent their frustration and desperation and spew venom against the superior judiciary, which would end up further eroding whatever political capital they had left. Maryam’s famous phrase, “Kar Loo Joo Karna Hai,” may not work this time, and she may have to focus her energies and grit to bring the PDM out of the dark alley it was landed in by its own doings.- Writer is Former Press Secretary to the President, Former Press Minister to the Embassy of Pakistan to France.