LAHORE:
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) may have agreed to form a government in Gilgit-Baltistan and finalized a power-sharing formula, but the PML-N’s decision to sit on the opposition benches while supporting the government has drawn criticism from prominent political analysts, who have described the arrangement as a bizarre proposition and a parody of parliamentary norms.
Former Punjab caretaker chief minister Hasan Askari Rizvi said an opposition leader belonging to the government amounts to making a mockery of the parliamentary system.
“This is a personalized rule, although no authority can control such distortions. Interestingly, all three major players in Britain are allied in the central government in Islamabad. This says a lot about this current hybrid system.”
Commenting on the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), Rizvi noted that although it failed to win a single seat in Gilgit-Baltistan, the party actually secured five seats after independent candidates joined its ranks.
He said the donation of seats should not be overinterpreted as the party is unlikely to achieve similar political gains elsewhere in the country.
The joining of independents to a relatively unknown party at a time when the ruling party and one of its main allies were fully active in the electoral arena was, in his opinion, an extremely rare and virtually unprecedented event in Pakistani politics.
Journalist and political commentator Mazhar Hussain said that when the ruling alliance itself does not hide the hybrid nature of the system, no political development, no matter how unusual, should come as a surprise.
“Democracy only exists in name”
Recalling the political developments of 1992, he said that Muzaffar Hussain Shah became the chief minister of Sindh despite the majority of the PPP, followed by the MQM.
“It is interesting to note that he was not from either of them. »
He argued that discussing democratic norms and ethics had become largely unnecessary.
“We have political parties, elections and a parliament but no democracy.”
On the IPP, Hussain said he believed the party was secured these seats by the powers that be as a counterweight to the PPP.
“To ensure that the PPP operates according to its whims, in the event of a contrary situation, an alliance with the remaining parties to form a new government is a threat they have left hanging over the head of the PPP.”
Ahmad Bilal Mehboob, political scientist and president of the Pakistan Institute for Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT), said the PML-N’s decision to occupy the opposition benches effectively deprives genuine opposition members of their voice as its alliance with the government also makes it a partner in the new administration.
He observed that such situations can arise in democracies, although they remain politically controversial.
Commenting on the IPP, Mehboob said the so-called “king’s parties” have historically enjoyed such political advantages, adding that there was nothing particularly surprising about the development of countries like Pakistan.
He said the political windfall would boost the stature of the IPP across the country and demonstrate that the party continues to enjoy relevance within influential power circles.
