LAHORE: This is with reference to Salman Ahmad’s article of Jan 1 titled “Democracy yes, dynasty no”.
Dynastic politics isn’t limited to Pakistan alone, and if you look at the sheer number of countries that seem to have it, it would suggest that it is inherently a symptom of failure of democracy. South Korea just elected a daughter of a former dictator, India has far more dynastic politics at the local, provincial and national levels than Pakistan. Many American families (the Kennedys, Bushs and the Rockefellers, to name a few) have had several generations of their families serve in the Senate, Congress and as governors. Japan’s prime minister is a grandson of a former prime minister and so was his opponent in the previous election. Indonesia, Malaysia, any number of South American countries and the list goes on.
Therefore, claiming that all the ills in our political system stem from dynastic politics is overly simplistic and borderline ridiculous (which are signature PTI characteristics). If you really do believe that it is the problem then maybe you should compare our political frameworks and system with the above mentioned examples and see where the solution lies.
Most importantly, unlike monarchies (such as Saudi Arabia) and dictatorships such as North Korea and Syria the people have a clear path to getting rid of these ‘dynasties’.
Ahmed Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2013.
