At what cost?

So, here we are, it has been achieved at any and all costs — the serving out of the constitutionally mandated term of the precious assemblies. Does the end justify the means? To many, yes. Pakistan’s faltering democratic process has been lauded to the skies, here and there, for its lasting powers, for it having triumphed over and above expectations.

To delve into the state of the nation as it finds itself after five years of democratic (in name) rule by those who claim democratic credentials despite all pointers, past and present, to the contrary would be superfluous. The man in the urban street, or the equally filthy village, knows the reality of life in the Islamic Republic. And behind all the praise showered for the great achievement lies the knowledge that Pakistan is in a status quo of excessive blatant corruption, growing poverty, growing intolerance and militant religiosity, an economic meltdown coupled with incredibly greedy and grabby self-serving politicians, crippling power shortages, and above all, a total absence of governance and law and order, which has resulted in the most terrible forms of violence. Politics, the famous ‘system’, has been saved at the expense of the state. The justification: that there is no alternative to electoral democracy.



Fine and dandy. But democracy must be made to work and seen to be made to work. The quality of the electoral process must be improved, but the election commission, the body which can do so, is facing stiff resistance from the politicians who are bent on perpetuating a failing “system” rather than reforming it, solely with the motive of perpetuating themselves in lucrative power seats. There is no concept of serving either the state or the people — it is all “me”.

To what do we look forward? The media has persuaded all and sundry that we are in for another round of Nawaz Sharif, the would-be amirul momineen, the gentleman who has survived in politics since the early 1980s. He has assiduously, in opposition, refused to rock the “system” boat, he avoided playing the part he should have played for exactly the reason that he finds himself where he is today. He cleverly let it all go to pieces, so that at the end of the famous five years, he would emerge as he has — the potential conqueror.

The PPP, bereft of the Bhutto lustre, with a little bit of help from friends and enemies, and through the skilful manipulations of Asif Zardari, did well to last the course. The powerful army with its tradition of loyalty to the chief, was kept relatively in safe mode by the three-year extension given to the army chief which, if he was all that he is said to be, should have promptly been turned down. Not that the army did not hold its own, up to a point. It did; it kept its strategic asset, the militant organisations, safe and healthy, and it had its say in foreign policy matters.

But the real threat was neutralised, though there were some rather bumpy rides, and full marks to Asif Zardari, the actual ruler, who dominated cabinet and government, rendering the constitutional function of his prime minister (and even his ministers) into a national joke. His powers were clipped, de jure, under his Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, but de facto they blossomed. And he is with us, whether with clipped wings or not, until August, at the least.

The “historic milestone” is behind us, we march on. The question is, to what? Is there hope of change? Can Imran Khan realistically take on the big boys? It would really be a “historic milestone” if it could be shown that yes, there is new under the Pakistani sun.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2013.