Daily Times, July 2, 2006
Rule of law by Dr Farrukh Saleem
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan should be amended at least one more time. The new amendment ought to say out loud that it overrides everything and anything said anywhere in the constitution and that, from now on, the occupant of the office of the chief of army staff (COAS) shall not only be the president of Pakistan but also the sole arbiter of everything and anything that takes place within 778,720 square kilometres of land called Pakistan.
If Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum can be the top general, the prime minister and the absolute ruler of Dubai then why can't our generals do the same?
The real issue is not democracy or dictatorship. The issue is 'rule of law'. The de facto and the de jure rulers of Dubai are always the same (de facto, 'what happens in practice', and de jure 'what the law says'). Is that the secret to Dubai's success? Pakistan, on the other hand, has de facto rulers who are different from the de jure rulers. We have a de facto government that 'maintains itself by a display of force' and a de jure government that is up on display to fulfil the requirements of the constitution. Is that where we are going wrong?
The root of all evil begins when de facto and de jure are not the same. To begin with, elections must be manipulated for the de jure government has to be kept from challenging the de facto government.
Then comes de jure discrimination in budgetary allocations; the de facto government reserves the lion's share of the national tax kitty and, as a consequence, the de jure government is left with peanuts to satisfy its constituents. The very failure of the de jure government to satisfy masses is then used as a justification for its toppling.
Are our politicians more corrupt than generals? Can our generals run our country better than politicians? Is democracy better than dictatorship? Throw these questions out the window. The only ones that need be raised are: One, do we have rule of law? Two, are our de facto and de jure rulers the same? If the law states that the COAS should also be the sole arbiter of our national destiny then so be it. Let the de facto rulers also be the de jure rulers. Let there be rule of law.
Rule of law really begins from the very top. What we have is a Pakistan where everyone breaks the law according to the size of his gun (or his rank and grade). A taxi driver goes through red lights and the top gun suspends the entire constitution at will.
Why should corruption of non-uniformed politicians be made a justification for each and every military takeover? The person wearing four stars ought to be under constitutional obligation to wear the presidential achkan on top his uniform. Amend the constitution one last time. And, if that can't be done -- for internal or external reasons -- then stop comparing politicians and generals; learn to live by the essence of the law that we have.
The writer is an Islamabad-based freelance columnist. Email: farrukh15@hotmail.com
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