Former Pakistan Peoples Party leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said that any delay in elections would be ‘stain’ on the parties currently in government for years to come. On the other hand, former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Faisal Vawda said that the Tosakhana precedent could lead to more politicians being convicted.

When asked by Asma Shirazi in Faisla Aap Ka if his name was also among those being considered for caretaker prime minister, Vawda said that the country was running on ‘gossip’ so there was no problem if his name was included too.

He added that as per his information, there was no ‘serious discussion’ on the name of caretaker PM yet. He added that many rumours were based on wishful thinking and the media was playing along as well.

Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said that each party had its own speculation about who would be caretaker PM and said that there were numerous hopefuls roaming around in Islamabad.

Khokhar added that Justice Nasirul Mulk, who became caretaker PM in 2018 enjoyed a good reputation but even he could not play a significant role in ensuring a transparent elections.

He said that it did not really matter who was in the caretaker setup since it was concerned with running day to day affairs, but it should not be someone whose neutrality or credibility could be questioned.

Asked about the prospect of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as caretaker PM, Khokhar said that despite belonging to a major political party but his personality could be acceptable across the political divide.

Regarding elections, Khokhar said that it was surprising that the parties that made tall claims about democracy had created a situation where elections could be indefinitely delayed.

The former PPP leader said that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s statement about failing to keep institutions restricted to their constitutional role was not only delayed but was actually an indictment of Shehbaz Sharif’s attitude.

Khokhar also said that the a delay in elections would be a ‘dark stain’ on the parties currently in government and their spokespersons will justify it for months. He said that the attitude of the government in recent weeks rendered it impossible for them to talk about democracy in the future.

Vawda said that there could be no possibility of having a neutral and credible caretakr setup when the country was being run by an ‘expired stock’ of leaders. He called Khokhar an idealist, while saying that he himslef had turned into a realist.

He added that other options must be found apart from the mainstream parties which had been tried and tested many times and had now been pushed out of the peoples imagination.

Khokhar said that while the Establishment had perhaps the biggest role to play in the country’s problems over the last 75 years, no stakeholder was free of blame.

He added that even in the last three years, every single party in the country had stayed in power at one point or the other. He said that while the parties had resolved their own problems, none of the problems of the people had been solved.

Khokhar said that the parties would have to be reforemed first to take democracy forward. He said that parties had stopped looking towards people to come into power and instead looked towards Establishment.

Vawda said that it was delusional to think that people who had had multiple opportunities but had failed to deliver over multiple decades could deliver if given more chances.

Vawda said that Imran Khan had been sentenced to prison while the people who had brought him to this point were probably playing with Toshakhana gifts.

He also added that the decision against Imran Khan had opened doors for more people to be held accountable including Khawaja Asif, Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

When asked if the only one who could not be convicted under charges of misappropriating gifts from Toshakhana was Shehbaz Sharif, Vawda replied in the affirmative.

He also referenced to Saira Bano’s recent statement about the ‘younger sister being selected’ as an accurate summary of where things were headed.

Khokhar agreed that a precedent had been set by the Toshakhana case for more politicians to be convicted like Imran Khan. However, he disagreed with the use of Articles 62/63 to disqualify politicians.

He added that politicians always lived under the delusion that their rule with last forever, and even Imran Khan was said to have a 10-year plan. He said that both PTI and PMLN had opposed the removal of the two articles and it had come back to haunt them.

Politicians will have to sit together and draw some red lines, he said.