Since the time the hydrogenous societies and huge states emerged, the legacy of electables formed integral part of the structure of power, strengthening the big states, and destroying them, too. As the development of fair society and enforcement of justice were not at the agenda of the rulers, the influential persons of every native town became compulsive requirement of the successive regimes, resulting in continuity of brutal statuesque wherein the change, whether indigenous or alien, pro-people or anti-masses, of the regime never made any difference. For, the significance of electables in context of our time or the influential persons in the antiquity flourished on the murder of fairness, benevolence, love, admiration and merit. Historically, this legacy damaged more and benefited less to the enforcers, even then, all notable regimes during the time of Greco-Roman world, Christendom, Ottoman empire, neo-imperial age and unipolar world of 21st century adopted this legacy and faced reattribute of their wrong choice in the same coins and kinds. George Litchtheim: “The Thoughts among Ruins” found link between one age and the next, referring to Vico’s final version of Szeinza Nuova appeared in 1744 that was 45 years before the French Revolution and formulation of Federal Constitution of USA in 1789.
Continuation of old legacy of electables once again emerged with full vigour and force in the new republics established on the slogan of the people’s rule, leaving nothing unchanged. New wine in the old bottle failed to serve the purpose, as it had failed in the remote and near past. Despite of depressive conclusion, the legacy of electables haunted the mind and body of charismatic leader like Zuliffikar Ali Bhutto when he decided to win 1977 elections through the support of conventional political force of the Paklanders, creating a tragic end of peoples’ hero on the gallows.
Then came General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq to rule the country with the same legacy. Consequent upon the execution of Z.A. Bhutto, the general wanted to strengthen his military regime on back of the electables, forming Federal Council (Majlis-e-Shura) in 1982. For constitution of the Federal Council spy agencies, deputy commissioners and SPs. were given authority to pick up the electables having innate hatred and enmity against the politicians claiming to be leftist in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Even if the inhabitants of the Federal Council represented a particular mind set with further specified agenda, still they pretended to be public representatives, following the same rules of procedure and conduct of business of former Senate and National Assembly provided in the constitution of 1973. Befitting to natural end, the Federal Council could survive only two years of life, as the honourable electables failed to achieve the goal. Following the trodden track of history, the military dictator held party-less elections of 1985, giving open chance to the electables to win the heart and mind of the people through ballot box. No sooner was the constitution of 1973 restored, the parliament of 1985 appeared to be the major political obstacle for military regime’s smooth sailing, sprouting the fast growing sapling of potential conflicts between the president and the prime minister. The ultimate outcome of the electables of 1985 elections was unpleasant: the elected prime minister lost the government on 5th July, 1988 and the president his life on 17th August, 1988. True to the tradition, the electable became inevitable for those who were the promoters of controlled democracy in Pakistan. At the time of party-based elections in 1988, a dire need arose to develop a powerful group of the electables under the command of Mr. Muhammad Nawaz Sharif who grew stronger than the Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, though he was just one of the four chief ministers of the federation of Pakistan. Owing to ever growing conflict between the centre and the province of Punjab, the role of federal government of Benazir Bhutto was curtailed only to Islamabad, generating a wave of rumours one of which was that if the PM crossed the Faizabad for Rawalpindi, she would be instantly arrested by the Punjab police. At the same time consolidated efforts were made to find the electables in the National Assembly of Benazir Bhutto so that no confidence motion against her should be tabled but in vain. When all opens consumed, then the constitutional axe came forward to kill the elected government before reaching the age of just two years. From 1990 onward till 12th October, 1999, the democrats left no stone unturned to clear the way to dictatorship.
General Musharraf Pervez underwent the same experience of choosing the electables from the political family of the outgoing Prime Minister who was ironically once upon a time the chief of the electables. General Musharraf went; Nawaz Sharif came, sending the wave of jubilation among the electables to go back to the hatchery that was their parent department. The so-called electables played a miracle to give overwhelming majority in the elections-2013 to the politician, whose government was sent home in 1999, resulting in abrogation of the constitution of Pakistan. All this looked pleasant and happy outcome to the politicians who formed the strong government but preordained fate started disgracing them since merely a year elapsed, a storm of the grave charges of corruption and malpractices destroyed numeral fort of National Assembly. Under the law of Nature, “the principle of uncertainty” creates a powerful current of change that causes surprisingly unexpected events which are beyond the planning and scheme of the dominant forces of continuity. As history tells, most of the great conquerors and kings fell easy prey to this principle of uncertainty. The unexpected end of Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte of France, Nadir Shah of Iran, Mussolini of Italy and Hitler of Germany narrate the gloomy tale. The myth does not end with it.
Today, the forthcoming elections-2018 has been designed to create congenial environment for the potential electables so that the future assembly must cast the look of the electables facing old charges of corruption and malpractices. Time and age testify that the electables are the cardinal cause of decline of state and society, still they are preferred choice of the ruling junta who is unluckily preordained to repeat the failed experience, again and again, so that history may complete the cycle of decay and fall, as soon as possible. For this time, the electables and the state are in juxtaposition to each other. Now, they cannot flourish together, as the death of one will give life to other, leading the nation toward a critical juncture of national history demanding a sudden rupture in the statuesque. Pakistan needs a fresh blood full of oxygen because the existing one is massively polluted. If the false prophets of change wants to bring a change on the back of the failed electables, then the big question of their celebrated charisma and leadership arises. And the last hope attached to the post-elections 2018 era is that there is no hope, at all. We are coming out of the old cycle in order to enter into it, once more.
The writer is Ex-Director General Senate of Pakistan.
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