The victory has lessons here for the Pakistani people, and especially for the political class
ISLAMABAD: The resounding victory of Recep Tayyip Erdogan reveals the deeply entrenched democratic values of Turkey and the prowess of the veteran leader. Given Turkey’s current circumstances — the recent spate of terrorism, the Kurd insurgency, economic stagnation, the immigrant crisis and war-torn neighbours — political stability was a sine qua non to solving the country’s many problems. Realising the faltering milieu of the country, the citizens have stepped up to continue the democratisation project.
There are lessons here for the Pakistani people, and especially for the political class. Firstly, the political leadership of Turkey realised that to resolve the crisis, re-elections are necessary. Hence, all members agreed on holding another poll instead of resorting solely to mass demonstrations. Secondly, the people also realised that political instability is creating a multitude of problems vis-a-vis a faltering economy, uncertainty, terrorism and insurgency. Therefore, instead of an adhoc solution, they went for a long-term solution. Taking into account the prowess of the military and its previous engagement in the corridors of power, the atmosphere was ripe for it to make its presence felt again. However, it stayed in the barracks as the people of Turkey have trust in the democratic process. This also shows that when a party is delivering, people will continue to elect it in every circumstance. Given the complex arithmetic of the civil-military relationship in Pakistan, we should also realise that only democracy is the antidote to our vast array of problems.
Muhammad Wajid Munir
Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2015.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
