I see a lot of promise for the future; that ultimately corrupt leadership will be rejected by the discerning voter.
MAULDIN, SOUTH CAROLINA, US: Obviously, for democracy to take root there is a need for re-electing legislative representatives that form a practicing government at every scheduled step. If Pakistan was not sidetracked by the Pakistan Army, stepping in infrequently, this process would have been far advanced already. It is Pakistan’s misfortune that the democratic process and the art of reaching consensus between those in government and those relegated to fulfil the role of a democratic opposition has not evolved while elections and the peaceful transfer of power has not taken place even once in its recorded history.
Personalities that could not garner even one per cent of the earlier recorded vote do not need to be glamourised in anticipation by the urban middle class in search of leadership. The answer ultimately lies in repeated elections, where the transparency of the elections can be guaranteed by a rejuvenated judiciary. Again, the judiciary also needs to restrain itself from judicial activism and limit itself to its constitutional role.
I see a lot of promise for the future; that ultimately corrupt leadership will be rejected by the discerning voter, so that the next stage of institutional-building in its formative phase will begin to take root.
Abbas Anis
Published in The Express Tribune, August 25th, 2011.
