THE problem with flinging mud around is that soon enough some of it is aimed back at the thrower. In the intensifying war of words between the PTI, PML-N and former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s newly media-savvy son, Arsalan Iftikhar, the loser was never going to be politicians but politics itself. The individual allegations and counter-allegations matter little; what is more important here is that, once again, politics itself is being sullied and tainted. Of course, much of the blame must lie with the politicians themselves. The temptation to go low, rake up scandal and pander to base instincts, is ever present in politics. It is a tactic as old as politics itself and its appeal is universal. And yet, that is precisely the reason why temptation is best avoided. To be sure, character matters, as do the personal dealings of individuals who aspire to represent the public via an election. But in Pakistan, the intersection of law and politics has been manipulated by anti-democrats over the decades to leave it utterly distorted. There is little distinction anymore between legitimate and genuine public interest and something decidedly more tawdry.

If sense is to prevail, two things ought to happen. First, the politicians and aspiring public figures need to immediately cease their attacks on each other. None of the figures involved in this game of faux morality are any better or worse than the ones they are targeting. When allegations of the kind that are flying at the moment begin, there is no logical end point. Either everyone stops or no one will. Second, the problem each one of the perpetrators at the moment is referring to is rooted in the clauses of the Constitution that hold elected representatives responsible to a standard specifically introduced by a dictator to shut politicians out of politics. The parliamentary committee debate on the 18th Amendment was a great missed opportunity because the PPP bowed to the logic of coalition politics and caved in to religious sentiment when it came to purging the Constitution of Gen Zia-introduced religious clauses. In fact, unbeknownst to many, the 18th Amendment was a step backwards in some ways by changing the clause governing who is eligible to be the prime minister of Pakistan. Yet, that was at a time when the transition to democracy was still tenuous. Now there are fewer excuses. What is needed is reform.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2014