There is little comparison between the countries as Tunisia had same ruler for 25 years and people had no alternative.
KALGOORLIE, AUSTRALIA: I am afraid I don’t agree with the comparison that your editorial of January 19 made with Tunisia and Pakistan. There is little comparison between the two nations because in Tunisia’s case, the country had the same ruler for 25 years and the people had no alternative. His policies were not working, as the disturbances and protests show, and so the people said enough is enough and he had to leave. This is not the case in Pakistan. Pakistan has a democracy and has elections and no ruler stays for such a long time. Of course, we have a situation where those elected are not liked by most people, but we do have elections.
I think portraying everything in a negative light and with no hope is something that our liberal intellectuals are increasingly guilty of and it’s time they stopped this and became a bit more objective.
Naeem Siddiqui
Published in The Express Tribune, January 20th, 2011.
