ISLAMABAD: Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan on Wednesday admitted before the Supreme Court that charismatic leadership does appeal to the people than the manifesto of the political parties.

The standing role of the political leader always plays an important role, AGP argued and to substantiate his point he cited the towering personality like that of the founding father Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, to whom the people followed.

Headed by the chief justice, a five-judge bench is hearing a presidential reference through which President Dr Arif Alvi had sought an answer to a question, whether the condition of secret ballot under Article 226 of the Constitution applies to the Senate elections or not.

AGP made the statement on a query raised by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed about the philosophy asking whether the people follow the manifesto of the political parties or the charisma of the leadership.

Ideally the people should follow both the manifesto as well as the leaders, AGP said but agreed that the charismatic leader’s statements go straight to the heart of the people.

Really it is the programme, AGP said, that should be followed adding that the mandate the political party was based on its manifesto but this was only possible if the members remained disciplined to the party lines.

And if they don’t do it then the members breach the trust of the people who voted them to power, observed the chief justice.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan also observed that the people could also ask the leaders how many promises they have fulfilled.

During the hearing Justice Umar Ata Bandial observed that the elections to the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly were conducted under the National Assembly rules which were not constitutional.

But AGP replied these elections were not conducted by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rather by the outgoing speaker adding suppose there was no rule, still such elections would be held under the constitution.

When the chief justice wondered whether the framers of the constitution who inserted Article 226 in the constitution were not familiar with the elections to the Senate, AGP replied that the legal luminaries like former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Maulana Mufti Mehmood, Shah Ahmed Noorani, Wali Khan and many others were so much pure in their heart like the judges of the Supreme Court that they could not have envisioned a situation where bags full of money would be used to buy the loyalties of the members for the Senate elections.

AGP also recalled how former President Gen Ziaul Haq after overthrowing the government of Zulfikar Bhutto formed a committee to find out corruption but the only corruption they could find out against Bhutto was less payment of import duties on air-conditioners for the 70-Clifton Karachi – the personal residence of Bhutto. But today it is altogether a different world. AGP said.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2021