The National Assembly meeting on Monday evening passed a resolution, which reiterated that the future of the country and the well being of the people lay in democracy. The resolution also endorsed and supported the efforts of the political leadership for strengthening democracy and reposed full confidence and trust in them. The PML-N and PPP-Sherpao walked out before it was put to vote on the plea that the amendments proposed by them had not been entertained and that the ‘pro-democracy’ resolution was an attempt at saving certain personalities and set Parliament on the road to clash with other institutions of the state.
An overwhelming majority in the country would not question the wisdom that democracy is key to people’s well being, as the resolution maintains, provided democracy is practised in the real sense of the word. Many an eyebrow would, however, be raised on its claim that Pakistan’s present political leadership has strengthened democracy. Speaking on the floor of the House after the resolution had been passed Prime Minister Gilani asserted that no one had the right to nullify the people’s verdict, as he bemoaned that ‘the first democratically elected Prime Minister’ was being targeted. Besides, he denied that there was any intention to provoke a clash with either the judiciary or the army. He claimed that he had endured hardship for the sake of judiciary and always held it in high esteem. Never has he been able to clarify, though, how his claim for respect of the judiciary could be justified in the light of his government’s persistent defiance of its verdicts. Also, the contents of the resolution, “all state institutions must strictly function within the limits imposed on them by the Constitution”, echoed Mr Gilani’s several earlier utterances, which tended to question the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction about the implementation of the judgment on NRO. The Prime Minister’s insistence that the architect of the NRO should be arrested also sounds quite strange; for, he conveniently ignores the parties to the ordinance and, most importantly, its beneficiaries.
Mr Gilani says that he will appear before it “out of respect” because he has been summoned by it. It is difficult to predict how the court would react to him. The government appears to be in a tight spot. A resolution in favour of democracy is just that. It is not a vote of confidence in the Prime Minister or his government and should not be taken as such.