The 2008 general elections results discredited President Pervez Musharaaf and his handpicked government. The masses through their vote demonstrated that they did not endorse his unconstitutional and illegal actions. The Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) winning of majority of seats in the election verified that the masses are moderate and politically aware. They do not support religious extremism, unlawful removal of Supreme and High Courts judges, extension of regime by the suspension of constitution and imposition of emergency by the chief of army staff. The moment they got an opportunity they voiced their sentiments in favour of change through the ballots in a peaceful manner.
]
The press reports indicate that the new government setup would be operative before March 1, 2008. During the first session, speaker National Assembly Chaudhry Ameer Hussain would administer oath to the newly elected members of the assembly. After electing the speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly, the members of the lower house elect the leader of the house—the prime minister of Pakistan. The candidate for premiership requires 171 votes of National Assembly members, divided into two groups. The results of the nationwide polls indicate that presently, no political party has simple majority in the house, therefore political alignment is inevitable. During the process of alignment, the independents and lesser representative parties’ role become more important if the leading two parties failed to spell out a formula for cooperation at the centre and provinces. The coming days are very crucial for the political stability of the country.
The King’s party stalwarts’ defeat on February 18, despite the benign caretaker governments and local bodies’ setup, reveals that masses preferred long-term sustainable policies. The ruling elites’ allies tried to change the minds of the masses through expensive media campaign and placing like-minded bureaucrats in key positions. President Pervez Musharaaf criticised the opinion surveys conducted both locally and by international agencies, which were pointing out his unpopularity and anticipating the defeat of Kings party. Nonetheless, electricity crisis and the flour and ghee shortages exposed the hollowness of his economic policy and violence on the streets distance the common man from the ruling setup. While rejecting Pakistan Muslim League-Q, the voters revealed that there are only two major political parties, i.e. Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian and Pakistan Muslim League-N. In addition, masses are politically vigilant and capable to make distinction between practical and impractical leadership and look forward to sustainable peace and long-term policies resulting in mega projects for economic prosperity of the country.
On February 18, President Musharaaf said, “Election is the voice of the nation and we all, including myself should accept these results.” He categorically stated that he would work comfortably with the new government. The trends indicate that developing working harmony with the new elected chief executive would not be a simple affair. It is too complex and would certainly frustrate the authoritarian President of Pakistan. The leading political parties already expressed their reservations about him. Today, even the PML-Q leadership has been blaming publicly its founder—Gen (R) Musharraf and terming him responsible for their humiliating defeat. It was reported that PML-Q leadership was planning to distance from the President Musharaaf. In such a situation, the other political parties preferred to impeach the president instead of working with him. No doubt, the president has a constitutional power (Article-58, 2b) to save himself from the impeachment. The masses mood, obviously, prevent him from exercising this power. Everyone in the country expects rational behavior from those losing in this election and desires that voice of the people shall be honoured.
Many analysts believe that the PPPP received sympathy vote due to the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007. Agreed the people had sympathies with the PPPP and they supported its candidates in the election. Did this sympathy vote have overwhelming impact or marginal? The comparative review of the 2002 and 2008 elections reveals that it had minor impact. Even prior to the Benazir’s assassination, the political analysts were anticipating PPPP’s victory in Sindh and southern Punjab. Moreover, one cannot ignore the electoral performance of PML-N in Punjab and Awami National Party (ANP) in North West Frontier Province. Both the parties really did wonders and surprised everyone. PML-N had given a decisive electoral thrashing to PML-Q in Punjab and ANP ended the Mullahs (JUI-F’s) rule in Frontier. Precisely, in addition to sympathy, rationality was the primary motivating force to distance voters from PML-Q.
The 2008 elections was a new opportunity for the nation. The masses voiced their support in favour of political forces for the sake of economic stability, elimination of the menace of terrorism, ensuring the sanctity of the apex judiciary and establishment of rule of law. They do desire peace in the tribal areas and end of suicide bombings. All these demands necessitate politics of reconciliation. Hence, it is imperative that PPPP, PML-N and ANP work together and liberate the masses from reign of terror and frustration. The major parties’ cooperation would finish the politics of opportunists and institutionalize the democratic political system in Pakistan that will serve as an effective antidote to our problems.
