“Pakistan
is being run as a monarchy in the guise of democracy — the nation is
being duped in the name of democracy while bad governance is presented
as good governance — people should carefully assess the situation and
prudently use their right to vote while electing their representatives”
Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali quoted in The Express Tribune October 14.2016
The
Chief Justice of Pakistan made these remarks while hearing the petition
against the construction of the Orange Line Metro Train Project in
Lahore. The petitioner a well known architect and environmentalist had
stated that the project endangered several heritage sites of Lahore. No
one would oppose a project that is undeniably for the public good and
the Chief Justice would be the last person to do so. The problem is the
rough shod manner in which decision making is done and implementation
ordered without consultation, without transparency and without a full
disclosure and discussion on the implications and consequences--the
total disregard for the consensus that should and must be the hall mark
of democracy. Even monarchies today have to consider the impact of the
availability of information and the awareness that this has brought
about. There is no way that democracy can be a guise for monarchy.
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