THE recent controversial ruling by the Supreme Court`s Constitutional Bench deprivingthePTIofitsshare ofreserved seatshasfurther strengthened the present power structure born of allegedly engineered elections. The verdict, it seems, was foretold given the composition of the bench, which was formed after the passage of the 26th Amendment that has drastically curtailed the judiciary`s independence.

In what has been described as a clear deviation from the rules, the Bench reversed the earlier full-court decision. The controversial judgement has awarded the reserved seats to the ruling coalition parties beyond their proportional strength in the assemblies. This makes a mockery of whatever was left of the so-called democratic process. Not only has the court`s decision validated a dispensation with a questionable mandate, it has also empowered the government to amend the Constitution at will, with the additional reserved seats giving the ruling coalition a two-third majority in parliament.

It is not only about the allocation of 77 reserved seats for women and minorities in the National Assembly; it is also about seat distribution in the provinces. The reallocation of these seats will help consolidate the hold of the ruling parties in the provinces. In KP, where the ruling PTI will not receive any reserved seats, it will improve these parties` position. (On Tuesday, the Peshawar High Court stopped oath-taking in the KP Assembly over a petition challenging the reserved seats` allocation.) In fact, some parties in KP will get more reserved seats than their number of elected members in the assembly. For instance, a party with one directly elected member is set to get two reserved seats. It defies all logic. The Supreme Court ruling has further distorted an already flawed political structure, and is likely to facilitate arbitrary rule and political anarchy in the country.

There are speculations that the government will soon move a `27th Amendment` with its newfound absolute majority in the National Assembly. The contours of the proposed constitutional change are not clear yet but there arestrong indications that the country is moving towards authoritarianism. A tamed judiciary makes it much easier for the present dispensation to further curb democratic and fundamental rights.

We already have hybrid rule in the country, with the establishment dominating the power structure. Now, there is reportedly a move to formalise the current power arrangement, giving the military leadership a constitutional political role. There had been such suggestion in the past as well, but it never materialised because of strong political resistance.

However, with the overarching power of the establishment and a civilian political set-up with questionable legitimacy, there seems to be no effective challenge to any move to establish quasi-military rule under constitutional cover.

There are also suggestions to strike down parts of the 18th Amendment and make changes to the NFC award.

It is certainly a sensitive political issue that may spark strong opposition especially in the smaller provinces. A centralised set-up dominated by the security establishment will be disastrous for the unity and stability of the federation. Political stability depends on a strong federation and a truly elected government and not on the coercive powers of the state. We have seen direct military rule in this country several times but they only weakened the state and widened the gap between the provinces and the federating units. A constitutional role for the security establishment in the power structure will increase public alienation from the state.

The roots of the current political instability lie in last year`s rigged elections that brought to power a government with a questionable mandate. Despite the ban denying the PTI its electoral symbol, people came out to vote for it. But the people`s mandate was stolen. The full bench of the Supreme Court that awarded the PTI its share in the reserved seats by a majority vote in July 2024 had also acknowledged its status as a parliamentary party and said that being denied of its electoral symbol had no bearing on its rightto participate in elections. The allocation of reserved seats would have made the PTI the largest party in the National Assembly.

But the ruling of the country`s highest court was never implemented by the Election Commission. The government also rejected the ruling.

There is little precedent for state institutions and the executive in Pakistan defying the apex court`s orders. Dissenting judges, including the then chief justice Qazi Faez Isa, also indicated it was not binding on institutions to implement the ruling.Thiscanbe seen asabreach ofthe rules and violation of judicial ethics. There is hardly any precedentin the country ofjudgesbeingseen as condoning non-implementation of a court order.

Ironically, two of the judges were part of the 10-member constitutional bench that last week reversed the previous full court judgement.

It was apparent that the establishment and the ruling coalition would have never allowed the PTI to emerge as the single largest party in the House to threaten the dispensation. It was then the government decided to clip the powers of the apex court through the 26th Amendment. It also established a separate Constitutional Bench that would hear the review petition on the reserved seats. The government made sure that the bench was packed with pliant judges. So, that`s how a favourable ruling was managed.

Seemingly the establishment-backed coalition government is now in a comfortable position.

The two-third majority it will enjoy has given the government greater room for manoeuvre. The ruling has also come as a huge setback to the PTI, which appears to be in a state of complete disarray, with its main leaders behind bars for the past two years. Yet there is no sign that it is losing its mass support base across the country.

The coercive use of state power cannot silence the voices of resistance. The country is now witnessing creeping authoritarianism facilitated by a pliant judiciary. • The writer is an author and joumalist.

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