In Pakistan’s elections, it’s Sharif versus the rest
The elections on Wednesday are a grinding match between Imran Khan’s PTI and forces of status quo
Election 2018 in Pakistan, that has so far taken more than 200 lives, including that of a candidate on Sunday, exposes many contradictions within Pakistan. While in government, politicians such as the late Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif and former president Asif Zardari seem to be focused only on trumping their respective rivals instead of focusing on ensuring public-focused governance.
Both Sharif and his daughter Mariam have been put in the Adiala jail after an accountability court convicted them of “possession of financial means beyond their known sources of income”, a verdict which rose from the Panama Papers which linked four London apartments to the Sharifs. This is ironical indeed in a country where politicians claim democratic rights for themselves but disregard the responsibilities that democracy places on them. Equally ironical is that certain media houses and their lead anchors/columnists openly align themselves with different political parties. They invoke media freedom rights when they face reaction in one form or the other.
One of BBC’s Hard Talk shows brought this to the fore when in a recent interview with Hameed Haroon, owner of the Dawn group and president of the 300-strong All Pakistan Newspapers Society. BBC’s Stephen Sackur shredded Haroon’s narrative to pieces as he attempted to imply that his group was facing intimidation by the establishment such as the disruption of distribution of the newspaper and the suspension of its television channel. “You, the self-proclaimed independent, impartial, neutral media group covering Pakistani politics, are now seen to be supportive and sympathetic of Nawaz Sharif and his daughter who are now, it has to be said, convicted criminals,” said Sackur, in reference to Sharif’s conviction that happened under the Supreme Court’s watch.
Many media groups have demonstrated a visible tilt towards Sharif’s Muslim League (PML-N).
All former allies of the PML-N – Maulana Fazlurrehman’s Jamiat Ulema-e Islam (F), Mehmood Khan Achakzai’s Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, and parts of the fragmented Muttahida Qaumi Movement – too, stand behind Sharif’s narrative.
In the 1990s, it used to be a contest between the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) of the Bhuttos and the establishment-supported Opposition led by Sharif. In 2018, it is literally a duel between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), an alleged favourite of the security establishment, and almost all mainstream political parties aligned under Sharif’s N-League. It is a grinding match between Imran Khan’s PTI, which promises to abolish the architecture of privileges, and largely forces of the status quo, that Khan says have drained the country financially dry.
A number of media outfits , who pounce upon every opportunity to run down Pakistan, too, have been harping on Sharif’s narrative, alleging that the military establishment and the judiciary are being partisan to the PTI and harsh on the PML-N.
The latest curious addition to the circus is Justice Shaukat Siddiqi of the Islamabad High Court. The younger brother of Sharif’s close advisor Irfan Siddiqi, the judge chose an open forum on Saturday to allege that the establishment was influencing the judiciary. Known for his conservative ideas, Siddiqi had, in 2002, contested elections for the religious Muttahida Majlise Amal. The timing of his outrage, though, is curious as he himself faces a corruption trial in the Supreme Judicial Council, set for hearing on July 30. The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mian Saqib Nisar, too, has now asked for an enquiry into his allegations, this time on the request of the General Headquarters.