As institutional and individual skeletons are being dragged out of the closet, the few idols and iconic structures that we still had faith in are crumbling one by one. The chief justice, who remains the last bastion of justice, is facing embarrassment due to his son’s misdeeds. The DHA–Bahria contract has turned out to be a scam of mammoth proportions. And erstwhile prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, after remaining in the eye of the storm, was disqualified on the Supreme Court’s orders, which indeed was an earth-shaking event. These are not isolated cases but part of a broader, deeper malaise that afflicts the nation.
As our crisis worsens, no institution can pretend to be sacrosanct and above board unless it really is. And no individual or institution — the judiciary, military, politicians, business tycoons or the media — can claim immunity against accountability anymore. The forces released by the information technology revolution and a highly interconnected world have broken the barriers that once ensured some degree of impunity. Moreover, the concept that some institutions are more equal than others, or more worthy of respect, is also progressively being demolished.
These are not ordinary changes in the Pakistani environment, where too many still take it for granted that anyone can be bought out with money or power. Moreover, these developments are good for Pakistan in the long-term because our greatest weakness has been the duplicity in our behaviour — not applying the same standards to oneself that we demand from others. Just as market forces bring about corrections to economies in distress, so our institutions and society as a whole are finding self-correcting mechanisms to check failing institutions and individuals. We are now witnessing institutions — autonomously or in concert — apply checks and balances on one another: the moment one institution becomes too powerful it is likely to be checkmated. In the process, these institutions and their leaders, too, often play politics and advance their own narrow interests.
The challenge we face as a country is clear: how do we keep Pakistan in a fairly stable condition as old power structures collapse and institutions falter? It seems only too likely that the current turbulence could lead to widespread anarchy. Why? Two reasons stand out: our societal transformation is taking place in a leadership vacuum (and those who oppose change have a high stake in maintaining the status quo). Second, no institution has sufficient credibility and moral authority to guide us and show the way forward.
If Pakistan has to break from its past, then it should work for the victory of those forces that truly want to uphold the rule of law and create a society based on merit. The growing pressure for the accountability of institutions from the media — and from every walk of life in this country — should lead to collective introspection and compel the nation to redefine itself. Although rebuilding and redefining institutions is not easy, it is urgently needed. The clock is ticking louder than ever: our economy faces a meltdown, our current political leadership is incapable of taking hard decisions and a failure to act is simply not an option for a nuclear power.
How do we sanitise and transform the state when there is no leadership on the horizon of anything like the stature of a Nelson Mandela? Our dilemma is made worse when the present leadership’s only interest is personal profit that has given rise to a serious crisis of legitimacy. In the past, we took the simplistic approach of inviting the army in when events got out of control. But people are not prepared to accept a replay of that role anymore. Experience has shown that involvement of the military creates more problems than it solves in the long-term. The overreaching role of the judiciary is equally resented (most people would rather have judges provide justice to ordinary people than to play an outsized role in high profile political cases).
Perhaps, the best course to stabilise the situation would be for the government to announce a date for early elections. In the interim, it seems time has come for a caretaker civilian government of technocrats and men of integrity that enjoy the confidence of major political parties and can steer and hold the country through these very challenging times.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27th, 2012.
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The author is looking for an easy way out to solve the Pakistani crisis. Until a very honest, brave and a forward thinking Pakistani leader decides to make peace with India once and for all Pakistan will remain a poor country as the governments will not have enough money to develop the nation. Pakistan army will never opt for peace with India and will keep demanding lion's share of national cake in the name of "defence against India", turkeys never vote for Christmas.
I always felt Pakistan needed a Nehru or a Gandhi to fix itself. But, the sad thing is Pakistan was created in opposition to them.
Even Mandela whom the Author obviously respects has said himself he has followed the path of Gandhi.
So what can you do to a place where a Mahatma like Gandhi is abhorred? Not much. Hope against hope that sense will prevail or atleast the nukes don't fall into the wrong hands when the time comes.
@Falcon: I am not Hakeemul ammut or allma Iqbal but to be realistic, we can look at next door neighbour India and our former colony Bangladesh and learn some lessons. To begin with, we have to get rid of fuedal system and do land reforms as it was done in India, do sweeping tax reforms, document economy, build dams, make new provinces, energise private sector, give incentives to over seas pakistanis etc. We must also address the issue of ethnic hatred between different groups which I belive is a more serious problem than religious violence.
bring musharraf back!! the country needs leaders like him. other than him and IK, the country is devoid of real leaders at this time.
Very sad but realistic understanding of the abyss on which pakistan stands today. Power riots are a show of frustration that is hitting the common man. same will hold thrue of other issues. However, govt seems to be collapsing and maybe Army rule is the only option. USA and world has correctly analysed the catastrophic situation of pakistan. That is they are now getting anxious about Pak nukes falling into hands of terrorists, or being deliberately given to them as part of stte policy about strategic depth.
A wise old saying goes thus:
A Nation gets only as good a government as it deserves, and A Government gets only as good an Army as it deserves.
This applies to Pakistan as much as it does to other nations in the world.
To see what you are going to get, just decide what you deserve.
The author acknowledges that the days of martial law are over. Despite this, the army remains the omnipotent power broker behind the scenes and it would like this status quo to continue ad infinitum. A 'government of technocrats' is exactly what the doctor ordered: a nice facade to a deranged army pulling all the strings
@niaz: Niaz Sahab - Agree with every bit of what you have said. But tell me this, where does the solution start? Because what you said requires dragging all the people back to school and even further back to cradle. We have to start somewhere. We don't have the luxury to pause, do a complete ideological overhaul and then start running. Transformation and execution have to happen in parallel as they have happened in other societies.
Interesting. The way you discredited Army dictatorship and mentioned about technocrats at the very end suggests that there is a lot of credibility about the rumor mill running in Islamabad about expected political setup in the short-term.
@ Author! Sir I partially agree with your analysis. I do not agree with your solution of early election. What will we achieve with it? People are likely to elect PPP as majority party in Sindh, PML-N in Punjab with some seats for PTI and some for PML Q, nationalist parties in KP and Baluchistan. A few faces will chnage but overall situation will not change. Our real problem is the Mughal era psychology where ever body belives himself or hersef to be indespensible and tries to grab power for ego, perks and priviliges. What a shame, while boasting 1000 years of rule on united India, we in Pakistan are not yet able to define who is supposed to do what. The courts are taking executive decisions, exucutive is acting like a patient in deep paralyis, scientists ( e.g AQ Khan) are becoming columnists, journalists are looking in to showbiz, military officers are making foreign policy and foreign office is doing some thing else. What a mess we are in.
"In the interim, it seems time has come for a caretaker civilian government of technocrats and men of integrity that enjoy the confidence of major political parties and can steer and hold the country through these very challenging times." Is this even possible. Who are these men of integrity and who selects them. Who decides? Sadly these are not solutions but just fond hopes.
Wishful thinking sir. The slide to abyss has already started and there is no course correction in sight. Indeed a Mahatma Gandhi or Madela is required to steer Pakistan out of these turbulence times.
To stabilize the country is simple. Have local govt elections and devolve the power to the municipal govts that should be made autonomous with their own local police and local administration. Why our intellectuals do not spell out the steps needed? Small number of governing elite does not want to empower the people. To reform the institutions should be next step.
Lt. General Saab,
As the TTP and other beheaders reach the Margalla Hills the only rulers can be the ones who carry the biggest guns. Everything else is mere wishful thinking. We will soon find out how many of our younger officers are supporters of Sharia in Pakistan. We are at the end of that road now.
General Sahib, This state started on the wrong foot and never thought to change its course of action. We can talk for hours and hours, have seminars and symposiums on eradication of corruption, set up new establishments to contain it, preach the virtues of honesty by quoting religious interpretation, or publicize it through media outlets. But I can assure you that nothing will work. Elections, democracy, public participation, or institutional building become an enigma in a society that has been paralyzed by its own misdeeds. I do favor the elections, but will they bring any change? Sir! I doubt it very much. Personalization of power, dynastic rule, dominant interests, over-zealousness of some of the institutions and persons has been the norm and not an aberration in the God Gifted State of Pakistan. One day, this all will be over. My primary concern is that it is the average person who will end up paying the price, the scared cows of Pakistani politics and state will be playing their flutes in their newly bought properties in the western world. The average person has suffered, and will suffer. I am equally more concerned about growth of Mullahism in Pakistan and their claims to power. Dismemberment of state, at the hands of its own, is like a cancer spreading through the body-politic. We have killed the cow, why should we expect milk now?