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 described the deal as a bizarre proposal and a mockery of parliamentary norms.
Former interim chief minister of Punjab Hasan Askari Rizvi said that an opposition leader belonging to the government is like making a mockery of the parliamentary system.
“This is a personalized rule, although there is no authority that can control such distortions. It is interesting that the three main players in the UK are allies in the central government in Islamabad. That says everything about this current hybrid system.”
Commenting on the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), Rizvi noted that despite failing to win a single seat in Gilgit-Baltistan, the party effectively received five seats after independent candidates joined its ranks.
He said the seat donation should not be overinterpreted as the party was unlikely to make similar political gains in other parts of the country.
For independents to join a relatively unknown party at a time when both the ruling party and one of its main allies were fully active in the electoral arena was, in his view, an extremely rare occurrence and virtually unprecedented 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, however unusual, should come as a surprise.
“Democracy only exists in name”
Recalling the political events of 1992, he said Muzaffar Hussain Shah became the chief minister of Sindh even though the PPP had the majority, followed by the MQM.
“Interestingly, it was neither of them.”
He argued that discussing democratic norms and ethics had become largely useless.
“We have political parties, elections and parliament, but no democracy.”
Regarding the IPP, Hussain said he believed that the powers that be had awarded these seats to the party as a counterweight to the PPP.
“Ensuring that the PPP functions according to their whims, failing which an alliance with the remaining parties to form a new government, is a threat they have left hanging over the head of the PPP.”
Political scientist and president of Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) Ahmad Bilal Mehboob said the PML-N’s decision to occupy opposition seats effectively deprives genuine opposition members of their voice as its alliance with the government also makes it a partner of the incoming administration.
He noted that such situations can arise in democracies, although they remain politically contentious.
Commenting on the IPP, Mehboob said the so-called “king’s parties” have historically benefited from such political advantages, adding that there is nothing particularly surprising about the development in countries like Pakistan.
He said the political windfall would enhance the IPP’s stature across the country and demonstrated that the party continued to enjoy relevance within influential power circles.
