The withering of democracy

There is a quiet revolution in process that has been ongoing at least for the life of the current government, and it has aroused almost no public interest despite being an assault on two core institutions of state — the upper and lower houses of parliament. Manifestations of decline are currently most obvious in the Senate, where in an unprecedented move Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani adjourned the proceedings of the upper house indefinitely on Friday 14^th April and threatened his resignation in protest at not just the poor attendance of government ministers, but their failure to comply with summons to answer questions. This malaise of non-attendance is deeply embedded in the lower house, which is suffering an increasing number of adjournments for not being quorate.

There was a time, long ago, when life as a politician was considered to be honourable, the highest service that an individual could offer to the state. Today in Pakistan it is anything but. It is true that the pay is poor and most politicians today need alternative sources of income to make ends meet, but unless baseline standards in terms not just of showing up but discharging the duties that go with the position, are met then parliament, both houses, becomes a travesty.

The quality of debate has been noted by parliamentary observers to have declined over the years, and the many parliamentary committees stumble along with their work on autopilot, rubber-stamping very often that which bears closer and rigorous scrutiny.

The upper floors of political architecture have become rotten, decayed and corrupt. Politics at the highest level — and much of it lower down as well though there are honourable exceptions — has become a gravy-train of freebies, backhanders and a lackadaisical contempt for what ought to be an exemplary institution of state. Grubby snolleygosters wheel and deal their way through their terms, make mealy-mouthed self-serving statements when it suits them and are silent when a display of backbone is appropriate, the recent murder in Mardan being a painful case in point. Democracy withers before our very eyes. Who noticed — or cares? Few, seemingly.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2017.

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