Pakistan Peoples Party leader Farhatullah Babar said that he personally considered caretaker PM Anwaar ul Haq Kakar to be the establishment’s man but he had been entrusted with overseeing elections.

Speaking to Asma Shirazi in Faisla Aap Ka Babar said that he was not personally satisfied at how the caretaker PM had been chosen but added that the political parties in the ruling alliance had given the right of final decision to prime minister Shehbaz Sharif.

When asked about his personal reservations regarding Anwar ul Haq Kakar, Babr said his track record indicated that he was the establishment’s man. He added that Kakar would not do anything against the establishment’s wishes.

He added that if a person considered close to the establishment but was picked to oversee free and fair elections, such a thing would not work.

Hybrid role increased

Farhatullah Babar said that the 76th anniversary of the founding of Pakistan was also the year that 50 years had been completed since the country got its current constitution.

Babar said that to answer the question about whether Pakistan was heading towards its goal a hard look was needed at what was Pakistan’s initial destination. He said that if the goal was indeed a democratic secular Pakistan according to the Quaid-e-Azam’s speech of August 11 and the goal was civilian supremacy, then Pakistan had actually travelled in the opposite direction.

He said that even the Quaid’s speech had been suppressed and the Objectives Resolution that had come soon after had gone into a different direction altogether.

Babar said that the country did not even have a constitution for the first 25 years of its existence, and the attempts made at a constitution had been abrogated. He said that talks about a new social contract could be put aside because the root of the country’s problems was that the constitution was not being followed.

When asked why the problems had persisted despite the passing of the 18th amendment, Babar said that there were people who had not accepted it. He said that while the doors of direcct intervention had been shut, a system of ‘back seat driving’ and ‘hybrid system’ had been introduced.

He said that under the new system, the person apparently driving the vehicle was not actually incharge. In addition, he said, the car’s vital controls were in control of the person in the back seat. He further added that there were no questions asked of the person in the back seat while the person with the steering in hand was held accountable.

Babar said that if the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government was described as ‘hybrid’, then the Pakistan Democratic Movement government had further strengthened the system.

He added that the other worrying direction Pakistan was moving towards was religious extremism. He added that latest changes to the blasphemy law had also pushed the country in the opposite direction of which it was suppsoed to go.

More than a political problem

Adil Najam said that there was no doubt that democracy had been on the back foot for a long time.

However, he added that Pakistan’s problem was larger than just a political one because there was not a single functioning institution in the country. He said that the malaise and uncertainty currently being witnessed in the country was not just because of what had been done to the constitution.

Najam said that not just the parliament and the politicians, but also the establishment and judiciary had proven that they are dysfunctional.

He added that everywhere he looked as a Pakistani, he saw things breaking down. He said that he could not see anything that he could use to climb out of the current mess.

Najam said that he everyone in Pakistan, from the institutions to the citizens had contonuously made ‘mistakes’ that had brought the country to its current state.

He said that there was no sure way of saying that fixing a particular thing could fix Pakistan’s problem. He said that no single leader was about to fly in on a white horse to fix the country’s problems either.

Najam said that the logic of democracy was not that it would provide the best form of government but that it would provide the most representative one. However, he added that if there were problems with the society, even a representative government would not necessarily provide the answers.

Babar added that the military parade that normally happened on August 14 was moved to March 23 in 1956 because the latter had been previously named ‘Youm-e-Jamhoor’.

He added that ever since the inception of the country, there was opposition to the word of jamhoor because it signified the importance of the people’s voice, so the word had been erased.

He also added that the parade at Wagah Border was formalised soon after to indicated Pakistan’s nature as a military state.

Babar said that there was no doubt that everyone in the country had made mistakes. But the way forward after the admission of the mistakes was to create a truth commission.

Who is standing in the way of the truth commission? he asked. He said that while everyone had made mistakes, some parts such as the establishment were not willing to admit them.

Najam said that the truth commission could be a good idea, but it should to learning not just accountability. WHen stuck in a hole, he said, the first thing to do is to stop digging.

Ceding space to establishment

Babar said that he was not personally satisfied at how the caretaker PM had been chosen but added that the political parties in the ruling alliance had given the right of final decision to prime minister Shehbaz Sharif.

When asked about his personal reservations regarding Anwar ul Haq Kakar, Babr said his track record indicated that he was the establishment’s man. He added that Kakar would not do anything against the establishment’s wishes.

He added that if a person considered close to the establishment but was picked to oversee free and fair elections, such a thing would not work.

When asked if there were any people who were not considered close to the Establishment these days, Babar said that there were plenty of people who did not care for positions and had no skeletons in their closet.

However, he added that there was no doubt that space had been ceded to the establishment by the politicians themselves. He added that in addition to the political arena, the establishment had also took control of commanding heights of the economic matters of the country.

Babar said that Fauji Foundation had become the country’s biggest conglomerate, FWO was the country’s biggest contractor and DHA had become the country’s largest real estate developer.

He added that the process had been accelerated by the events of May 9 but had been going on already.

Babar said that when the establishment said it would stop interfereing in politics, he had initially believed it but the reality had turned out to be different.

Najam said that the persistent narrative of politicians being corrupt and uninterested had not only discredited politicians but had also given the ordinary man license to cross redlines in the country.