A brief overview of Pakistan’s political history, with a focus on the consistent failure of all types of governance modules, makes one wonder who is the real power wielder in the country. The ousted civilian rulers tried and mostly convicted on various charges with corruption on top of the list keep blaming the establishment till they manage to get back in the comfy chairs of the parliament, and in turn, military rulers keep coming back in control under the projected motivation to save the state from the brink of complete failure. The vicious circle has continued unabated.
In Pakistan, if the country’s three main political parties, namely the PPP, the PML-N, and the PTI, have each failed to govern well (especially with reference to economic revival), we need to ask, why? Is there a problem with the stated three political parties or with the state’s three main organs, namely the Legislature, Judiciary, and Executives, who are frequently found attempting to function outside of their respective constitutional orbits and relying on whose machinations? Is there an issue with our stars or with us? Is it a problem with the governance system or with the system’s unjust and self-serving men? Is it due to incompetence or the frail character of licentious power grabbers? Is it “like people, like rulers” or “jaisaa raja waisi prajaa”? Or is it the result of a failure to learn from the mistakes of others, as well as our own major national strategic blunders, such as those in October 1958, December 1970/71, July 1977, April 1979, October 1999, September 2001, April 2022, and May 2023?
A democracy is a society in which the citizens are sovereign and control the government. Did it ever happen in Pakistan? We need to remember that had political magnanimity been our national culture, there would neither have been four unconstitutional military takeovers nor frequent dismissals of civilian governments. The current political acrimony and mayhem in Pakistan resemble the distressing environments of 1970/71 and 1977/79 and must be avoided.
On the internal front, the pivotal reasons for Pakistan’s continuous so-called democratic regimes’ failure may include all or some of the following: a corrupted electoral system that thrives on an abundance of filthy money, the ability to buy votes and electable/turncoats, meddling by the invisible power brokers, schisms executed by’rent a crowd companies’ in the name of sectarian, tribal, clans, religious and social biases, As a result of such a lopsided election system, the poorest human resources are constantly at the helm of affairs, resulting in perpetual bad governance. Thus, the overawed public unavoidably continues to suffer from rampant corruption, political victimization, worst human conduct and shameless pomposity, reckless extravagance by the stoic elite, lack of accountability, weak writ of the law, a desperately slow judicial system, suffocating unbridled inflation, addiction to foreign loans at the cost of compromises on national sovereignty and decision-making, adjusting to foreign influence or even interference, and an unstoppable slide of the economy.
Nevertheless, the frequent regime changes in Pakistan have less to do with the incompetence of so-called democratic or military governments and more to do with the execution of the ‘Economic Hit Man’ policies managed through embedded slaves, i.e., Trojan Horses and the likes of Lawrence of Arabia in updated versions. Sadly, these elements still continue even with greater vigor to project the undying menace as a messianic reward; as the late Henry Kissinger said, “Corrupt politicians make the other ten percent look bad.” Time and again, it has been observed that whenever civil or military leaders, either elected or appointed, seem to have fulfilled a covert agenda or deviated from it due to a surge in nationalist sentiment or other reasons, their abrupt removal from power, either politically or physically, is orchestrated by influential forces. This pattern is not exclusive to Pakistan but is also evident in various countries around the world, including Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Egypt, Somalia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Sudan, Algeria, Nigeria, Tunisia, and Turkey, among others. Though authoritarian rule always looks more organized, better managed, and, in the short term, relatively more focused on developments with corruption somewhat under check, ironically, the downfall of dictatorial rule starts as soon as the same corrupt political elite manages to join hands to serve and rule indirectly as puppets, with flak directed at the military rulers and the military institutions and most of the appreciation managed for the evergreen ruling clans.
The leaning on the Army by all institutions of the state on any drop of a hat has made the bureaucracy, political elite, and general public addicted to the use of the Army as an indispensable antibiotic for quick fixes and for the cure of minor and major national syndromes. Pakistan’s brief history confirms that this practice has led to more complications than solutions.
The path forward requires bold action. The military, in cooperation with the judiciary, will do great service to the nation by playing the role of an honest umpire and enabling the much preferred holding of free and fair general elections in the country to take place under an absolutely apolitical judiciary and Election Commission with all parties and leadership, including PTI, given equal and fair playing field. Any election short of that will be seen as farcical, with cataclysmic repercussions. Let the hatred, prejudices, grievances, and dark past be buried and take a fresh and positive start where a genuine political process inevitably ensures a gradual cleansing procedure. Ensuring protection of the people and the constitution is the laconic message for the Armed Forces of Pakistan, which are the most organized and dependable national redeemers. That is considered the finest remedy for the restoration of the image of all state institutions as well as for the highly desired political and economic stability in Pakistan, which can function and govern beyond delusion.
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The Delusional Governance
210
1
14.12.2023
A brief overview of Pakistan’s political history, with a focus on the consistent failure of all types of governance modules, makes one wonder who is the real power wielder in the country. The ousted civilian rulers tried and mostly convicted on various charges with corruption on top of the list keep blaming the establishment till they manage to get back in the comfy chairs of the parliament, and in turn, military rulers keep coming back in control under the projected motivation to save the state from the brink of complete failure. The vicious circle has continued unabated.
In Pakistan, if the country’s three main political parties, namely the PPP, the PML-N, and the PTI, have each failed to govern well (especially with reference to economic revival), we need to ask, why? Is there a problem with the stated three political parties or with the state’s three main organs, namely the Legislature, Judiciary, and Executives, who are frequently found attempting to function outside of their respective constitutional orbits and relying on whose machinations? Is there an issue with our stars or with us? Is it a problem with the governance system or with the system’s unjust and self-serving men? Is it due to incompetence or the frail character of licentious power grabbers? Is it “like people, like rulers” or “jaisaa raja waisi prajaa”? Or is it the result of a failure to learn from the mistakes of others, as well as our own major national strategic blunders, such as those in October 1958, December 1970/71, July 1977, April 1979, October 1999, September........
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