Analyst Mazhar Abbas said that the politics over the next four months would likely revolve around the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf while Zahid Hussain said that the constitution was being tossed around like a piece of paper in the country.
Speaking in Faisla Aap Ka, Zahid Hussain said that the constitution’s death anniversary is being celebrated instead of its birth anniversary by delaying elections. He added that there was no comprehensible need for such a large caretaker cabinet.
Hussain added that the constitution was being tossed around like a piece of paper like in the times of General Zia ul Haq. He said that while there was no question over the individual integrity of the cabinet members, it was clear who had created the caretaker government.
Adil Shahzeb said that there was no surprise in the ECP’s announcement about delay in elections when important figures like Rana Sanaullah and Khawaja Asif had already said polls would not take place before February.
He added that all political parties in Pakistan were basically like the Balochistan Awami Party in the way they functioned.
Mazhar Abbas said that while the consitution had been established, it had never really been implemented. He added that 50 years ago the leaders of the National Awami Party had been arrested when the consitution was only few days old by using emergency powers.
When asked if the events of May 9 had changed things, Abbas questioned why trials of people arrested for involvement in the riots had not begun even after three months and no charges had been framed on anyone.
Shahzeb said that many choices in the caretaker cabinet such as Sarfaraz Bugti would help decrease political polarisation as he had been an ally of both PTI and PMLN.
However, he said that the post of finance minister could have been better served by Miftah Ismail or Ishaq Dar given the ecnomic circumstances. He said that Shamshad Akhtar would have to learn on the job which the country could not afford right now.
He added that he does not foresee the caretaker set up going on for ‘too long’.
Abbas said that Dar was not a ‘wizard’ and it would be wrong to dismiss Shamshad Akhtar as inexperienced. He added that the caretaker government would not go beyond routine matters in his opinion.
Hussain said that there was some uncertaiinty surrounding the elections but it was unlikely that the matter would be put off too long.
He said that the real question was why the outgoing government had put off the matter of accepting census results till the last minute. He added that it seemed that the participants in the Council of Common Interests had a alot of differences but they had approved everything in 20 minutes.
He added that even if parties talked about ‘vote ko izzat do’ but had come to power by becoming part of the same game.
Hussain also said that there were a lot of questions to be raised on the May 9 incident as 200 people had made it to the cantonment without encountering any security.
Shahzeb said that while not much was visible on the outside, a lot of investigation was going on behind the scenes.
Mazhar Abbas said that the way to solve the mystery of May 9 protests was to conduct a trial instead of a media trial. He said that audios and videos were being leaked but there was no actual trial done.
Abbas added that politics in the upcoming months would revolve around the bat, a reference to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
He said that the PTI remained the main political challenge and all that had been done was done to counter the PTI.
He added that Kakar should clarify what his main aims were.
Shahzeb added that the Supreme Court decision for elections in Punjab and KP had led to nothing. He added that if the matter of the census was taken to court it could become a catalyst for delaying elections beyond February.
Zahid Hussain said that Jaranwala was not the first incident of its nature and similar incidents had happened in Sialkot and elsewhere.
He said that no one was prepared to discuss or take responsibility for the real reason behind such incidents of mob violence.
He added that extremist organisations that used religion to further aims such as TLP had slowly gained power but the state had surrendered infront of them.
Hussain said that the most such incidents happened in central Punjab because organisations like the TLP had deepest roots there. He said that these organisations had been backed by each government for its own political aims and had also been supported legislation.
Mazhar Abbas said that the Jaranwala incident was representative of a certain mindset that had been strengthened in Pakistan. He said that when non-state actors gain more strength than the state, the state has no answer.
He said that the same jargon of condemnation was used in response to every incident but nothing had changed.
Abbas added that the problem of extremism has been at its worst in Punjab compared to other places since the 1990s and most extremist organisations are rooted in the province. He said that the extremist parties have been used to defeat PMLN and PPP in the past, and could be used to target PTI now.
