Time to Appreciate the Sanctity of the Elected Assemblies and Their Members

 

Time to Appreciate the Sanctity of the Elected Assemblies and Their Members

Dr. Omar Khan 2000

Time and changing circumstances often compel governments to alter their priorities. It is therefore heartening to know that our government still considers institution-building its foremost priority. One of the major charges against the deposed elected government was its tendency to weaken and discredit state institutions. Its actions against the Supreme Court and the then army chief were cited as evidence of this tendency.

Independent, disciplined and impartial institutions are vital to any state. They contribute more to a country's strength and stability than any number of bombs or guns. They instill in people a sense of fairness, participation and continuity, enabling a nation to meet internal and external challenges with confidence.

The judiciary is among the most important state institutions. Churchill is often credited with the view that a country capable of dispensing justice through its courts can withstand even the gravest threats, including those posed by the Nazis. The armed forces are equally important in providing the coercive strength necessary to deter internal and external threats.

Both these institutions enjoy considerable constitutional and legal protection against defamation and public criticism. The laws governing contempt of court, for example, restrict certain forms of speech concerning judicial proceedings. Similarly, laws relating to the armed forces and national security may constrain the discussion of military failures and misadventures. We guard these institutions jealously, much as we might forgive and defend our own errant children.

It is important that our national institutions command public respect. Even when they fall short, discrediting them will not necessarily correct their deficiencies. Their reputation matters, not least because it helps attract capable people who can improve their performance.

How successfully we have achieved this objective as a nation is open to debate. Tragically, however, we have largely excluded from this consideration the most important family of political institutions: democracy, elected assemblies, political parties and politicians.

National unity is one of a country's greatest sources of strength. Democracy and its associated institutions foster unity by enabling people from all regions, linguistic groups, religious communities and socioeconomic backgrounds to participate in the political process. Democracy gives people a sense of ownership over their collective destiny and reduces the likelihood that they will blame state institutions for their grievances.

These are essential functions of a healthy and viable state, but fulfilling them is no easy task. They require a generation of hardworking, accessible and selfless political leaders at every level. Politicians must listen patiently to the people, including the most disadvantaged, who are often denied access even to the offices of government functionaries.

Despite these demands, politicians receive no guaranteed material rewards for their public service, at least in theory. They are expected to serve the people while facing relentless scrutiny and criticism. By contrast, other state institutions enjoy substantial material resources, privileges and institutional support. The demands placed upon political representatives, coupled with the limited recognition accorded to their public service, make their role particularly challenging.

Not so in Pakistan. On the contrary, we have routinely abused, ridiculed and insulted our political institutions and their representatives for alleged wrongdoing, whether proven or otherwise.

Where has this attitude taken us?

We lost half our country, mismanaged our economy, allowed drugs and weapons to permeate our society, and institutionalized corruption. Today, when we look back at politicians of earlier decades, some appear almost angelic by comparison. Yet they, too, were subjected to relentless accusations of corruption and incompetence and were humiliated and discredited. The much-trumpeted campaign against corruption did not deliver the promised results; Pakistan continued to suffer from deeply entrenched corruption.

Nor did the persecution end there. One leading political office-holder was assassinated, another was hanged, while others were convicted, disqualified or forced from office. In short, successive political leaders were disgraced, and the political system itself was repeatedly weakened.

This is hardly a prudent way to build and strengthen one of the country's most important institutions. If we want healthy and effective political institutions, we must treat them with greater fairness and restraint. We must stop humiliating and ridiculing politicians and resist the tendency to imprison them on questionable or politically motivated grounds.

Politicians are subject to continuous scrutiny by their political opponents, the media and the electorate. This is a demanding form of accountability that is not always matched by equivalent public scrutiny of other powerful institutions. If we must have an institution such as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), its mandate and priorities should reflect the need for impartiality and fairness, rather than treating politicians as its default targets.

If we wish to enter the twenty-first century with dignity, we must begin rebuilding our political institutions. We must nurture them as we nurture our other national institutions, and we must not interrupt their continuity whenever political circumstances or institutional ambitions dictate.

It is time we began to appreciate the sanctity of elected assemblies and their members. The personal weaknesses or alleged misconduct of individual legislators must not become an excuse for any other institution to dismantle an elected assembly or bring the entire political process to a halt. We have paid a heavy price for this habit in the past.

If we persist, the consequences could be unimaginably tragic. We must recognize that weakening and discrediting political institutions can inflict damage on the country at least as serious as that caused by attacks on the reputation of the military or the judiciary.

A nation cannot build a strong democracy by humiliating its elected representatives, nor can it strengthen the state by repeatedly undermining the institutions through which its people exercise their political will.