Islamabad, Pakistan: “The country is on safe passage after SC dismissed the petition over alleged rigging and PMLN-PPP announced the formation of government in the Centre. By dismissing the petition over the fabricated narrative of rigging, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has buried propaganda of any manipulation in holding General Elections 2024 while sanity prevailed and multiparty government is offing, opening the path for a prosper Pakistan”.
This was the response of senior journalists, academicians, and senior political figures when asked to comment on the political and legal developments taken place in the country during the last 24 hours.
They were of the view that the Chief Justice Supreme Court is very categorical and clear and often shares his mind that the country must come out of conspiracy theories and then it can move towards a bright and stable future.
“The hopes of the anarchists were buried again who first had tried their best to postpone General Elections 2024 and now tried to make the General Elections 2024 controversial”, they commented further.
It is pertinent to mention that the Supreme Court disposed of a petition seeking to annul the February 8, 2024, General Elections.
After filling the petition, the petitioner Brig (retd) Ali Khan who was Court Martialed in the past left the country and sent an email to the Court that he was travelling abroad so his petition might be considered “withdrawn”.
The three-member bench led by the Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali has fined petitioner Ali Khan Rs0.5 million for a no-show
Since the petitioner added in his plea that he was a retired Brigadier of the Pakistan Army therefore he was asked through the Ministry of Defense on February 19 to appear to the court and the police also visited his residence and pasted the notice on the entrance. However, he did not appear in court. The Ministry of Defense also informed the court that the petitioner was court-martialed in 2012. The court took notice of this situation and was angry that how could a person who was court-martialed still use his last rank with his name?
The court was informed that the petitioner had sent an email to the court stating that he was traveling abroad and had attached details of the ticket, boarding pass, and other documents, and the petition requested to withdraw the petition citing his unavailability for the court appearance.
The Chief Justice was very angry about the situation and observed that the petitioner looked like a “strange man” and he filled the petition just to be a publicity stunt. It may also be remembered that during the last hearing, CJP expressed his anger at the absence of a petitioner who had filed the petition.
The CJP had been proactive in holding General Elections 2024 and this petition tried to make the whole process of holding General Elections 2024 controversial. After the holding of the General Elections, the state of agitation that the country was facing has finally come to an end, and the political parties on which the people have expressed their trust are going to form a strong government together.
Last night, the leaders of the Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan People’s Party, and Muttahida Qaumi Movement made a prudent decision to maintain the continuity of democracy and improvement of Pakistan and thwarted all plans of anarchists and rioters. In this circumstance, a petition filed claiming rigging in the recent elections without affixing evidence could be a blow to democracy but the swift move of the Supreme Court had frustrated this cunning move to create doubts against the democracy in the country.
It is also important here that the allegations were made only on hearsay and were the same that were repeated in various press conferences, but whenever the evidence was asked by journalists, claimers failed to provide any proof so far.
Sane political elements believe that the purpose of making all these allegations is only to maintain political instability in the country that suits only those who do not want to see Pakistan as a prosperous country.
A senior journalist and Supreme Court reporter Ijaz Ahmed was of the view when asked by the DND News Agency to comment that there are relevant forums (Election Tribunals) where aggrieved parties can move with evidence of rigging and can seek justice. “CJ (SC) has again bailed out the country from possible chaos”, expressed Ijaz Ahmed
The only way forward is to Forgive and Forget and Deliberate for a better Pakistan because this country cannot be a testing laboratory for all times to come
Sajjad Anwer, a senior journalist, and analyst while expressing his concerns over approaching directly to the Supreme Court believed that rules must be followed and aggrieved parties should have approached appropriate forums (Election Tribunals) instead of wasting the time of the Supreme Court. He added that the previous higher judiciary had made a mess with the system and a particular party had been advised by the previous higher judiciary to reach the Supreme Court directly by bypassing the system. “This approach and practice must be discouraged and that is what Chief Justice Esa is now fixing”, commented Sajjad Anwar.
Senior politicians like Asif Ali Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif have again shown maturity for the larger interests of the country and reached a way forward after the split mandate that came out of General Elections 2024
Senior journalist and anchorperson Jawwad Faizi when asked to comment on the political situation in the country, was of the view that after the decision of the Supreme Court and successful deliberations among PMLN, PPP, and MQM, the country would come on track for achieving political and economic stability in the country and the foremost duty of the parties must be solving the long-standing economic problems of the country. “Everybody should play an important role, and spoilers like PTI should also consider following a sane approach and should leave the path of riots and political instability because it will only harm Pakistan”, commented Faizi.
Writer, academician, author, and foreign affairs analyst Shazia Anwer Cheema when requested to comment stated that she wanted to send PTI that it should focus on the prosperity of the country instead of creating anarchy again because the country is more important than the flawed ego of the founding Chairman of PTI Imran Khan. She thought that Pakistan’s elections and Imran Khan were getting hyperinflated coverage in the West because of Western political designs the West picked and chose illogically and unrealistically that suit it. She stated Western media is so invested in portraying chaos, and anarchy in Pakistan because Pakistan is integral to a peaceful Global South that this peace does not suit to Global North. “Pakistan is looking forward to peace and prosperity in the region. The reality of the Pakistani day is; that neither we want to become part of any war nor we will facilitate anybody to halt Chinese economic growth in the Global South as it was halted previously by Imran Khan’s government”, observed Cheema.
Senior analyst and author of books of political history, Dr. Farooq Adil when contacted to comment, stated that Imran Khan instead of calmly forming a government in KPK where he got the majority of seats more tilted toward an anarchic path while on the other side of the politics, politicians like Asif Ali Zardari and Mian Nawaz Sharif try to bail the country out of chaos. “They understand and express their fears that taking the government at this juncture of time is crucial and not a happy-mood act but they do not want to leave the country alone in this crisis and moving forward to save Pakistan may be at the cost of their politics. They have to make critical and unpopular decisions soon in government and they know it very well. I believe that the Supreme Court by dismissing the petition against the rigging allegation sent a loud and clear message that anarchist has no place to play havoc with the future of the country now and all institutions together save their motherland”, added Dr. Farooq Adil.
Iftikhar Ahmed, a senior journalist and anchorperson when entreated to comment, thought that democracy could only survive when everybody thinks beyond personalities and beyond egos. He was of the view that senior politicians like Asif Ali Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif have again shown maturity for the larger interests of the country and reached a way forward after the split mandate that came out of General Elections 2024. “This maturity must trickledown and others must learn that the country’s future is more important than personal differences and political vendetta”, concluded Iftikhar Ahmed.
When requested to comment on the political situation in the country, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of Defence of the Senate, former Federal Minister of Information, and senior journalist, Mushahid Hussian Syed was of the view it should move ahead because the country is going through a critical juncture of the history in the backdrop of challenging regional scenario. “The only way forward is to Forgive and Forget and Deliberate for a better Pakistan because this country cannot be a testing laboratory for all times to come. Fidelity requires sanity and this is what we all must honor”, remarked Mushahid Hussian Syed.
