The ruling Sharif government’s law minister Mr Ataullah Tarar in his suddenly called press conference announced that their government has decided to ban Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) whose leader is already behind bars for more than a year. Hundreds of its followers are facing charges in civilian and military courts and they don’t have the permit to come out on the streets to protest. The party has been restrained either in the courts or the parliament.
The law minister further explained their government’s plan to approve the decision from the cabinet, then for it to go to the parliament and finally to the Supreme Court.
The interesting part is why was the government in a rush to make the announcement about such a huge decision even before getting approval from the cabinet which is naturally just a rubber stamp and then going to the parliament.
The answer belies in Khwaja Asif’s statement that the Sharifs after staying in politics for four decades have constitutional havoc over their heads. He didn’t even deny the possibility of a martial law.
In Pakistan, banning of political parties is not a new phenomenon. In the early years of independence Liaquat Ali Khan banned Communist Party of Pakistan which at the time didn’t even hold much ground. The whole decade of General Ayub Khan was non-functional for political parties.
After the breakup of Pakistan, it was the first time that political parties got the chance to elect their representatives and a new era started under Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. But this period was short-lived and Bhutto could not tolerate National Awami Party (NAP) which was the representatives of the two small provinces Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (then NWFP). He banned NAP. This was the beginning of the end of his politics.
Another decade was lost under the fanatic dictator Zia-ul-Haq. After his demise it, it was the time for the two parties PML-N and PPP to show their political acumen. Instead they resorted to infighting, corruption, and becoming tools of the military establishment at their convenience.
Another chance was provided to them after the Musharraf’s era to establish democratic norms but they failed while not realising that a new wave which was politically immature yet popular was emerging in the form of PTI. Hence 2018 elections were a nightmare for the two parties.
One may blame the founder of PTI for his personal and professional mishaps but his popularity remains unsurmountable even more so after his fall from power. The civil-military establishment has openly come out to demolish the party and its founder. However, if the party has its roots on the ground and amongst the people it becomes difficult to annihilate it.
