Let elections be an agent of change

There is no dearth of sane advice coming from within Pakistan, only if leaders of all institutions would care to listen and act on them. This applies as much to politicians as to leaders of other august institutions. History is witness that no country has ever progressed unless its major institutions worked in synergy and for a common goal. Failing which governance becomes its first casualty and the people its victim. We continue to suffer from this.

The question on everyone’s mind is whether the upcoming elections will provide yet another opportunity to our leaders for addressing major national issues or would it be “business as usual”.

By design or coincidence, in the last few weeks a series of important reports have been launched by prestigious international and national organisations. These could be guidelines for steering the country.

Most significant among them is the National Human Development Report, spanning over 204 pages, that reflects accurately the state where its people and the country stand on major human development indicators. The report besides being a compendium of most useful information has valuable suggestions and corrective measures to offer. Its central focus is “Unleashing the Potential of a Young Pakistan”. Credit for the Report primarily goes to Dr Adil Najam, the lead author, and Dr Faisal Bari and no less to the UNDP for supporting it financially and administratively. It is hoped that political parties and successive governments at federal and provincial levels will benefit from its findings and recommendations and implement these faithfully.

The Human Rights Commission annual report also launched recently, highlights the stifling of the freedom of expression in Pakistan. It claims that human rights defenders are harassed and many detained. Enforced disappearances are a common feature causing anxiety among communities. Unidentified assailants have specially targeted journalists. There was a litany of charges, including ill treatment of minorities and “honour” crimes against women despite the 2016 law criminalising the practice.

An independent think tank, Pildat, launched a fairly informative report on the state of democracy in Pakistan. It draws attention to the current weaknesses and strengths of its democratic system with special emphasis on state of relations between various institutions. The quality of leadership within major political parties and the role of judiciary and the influence of the military in shaping politics of the country are also assessed in the report.



Going by past experience, it would be unfortunate that these and similar reports on other major national issues would be relegated to the dustbin of history. A more appropriate response would be for political and other institution leaders to benefit from their effort even if they may disagree with many of its findings or recommendations. It would also demonstrate a sense of confidence and maturity to face criticism and accept shortcomings. A nation or its institutions, like people, if closes itself to criticism not only violates the elementary principles of democracy but does great disservice to itself.

The forthcoming election provides a perfect opportunity to political parties and media to discuss along with their respective manifestos issues raised in the report. So far, the political discourse has centred around personalities. That is important too but we would like our leaders to move beyond their narrow horizons and discuss party programmes seriously and compete on that basis. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Shehbaz Sharif are certainly more focused on issues than most politicians. Imran Khan did talk of his 11-point party manifesto in his speech at Lahore that was a good beginning. His party’s emphasis on education and health is well recognised. Nonetheless, one would like to see a more serious discussion on national and international issues that affect the lives of our people. The people are desperately waiting for leaders that make merit and good governance not merely the central theme of their manifesto but see its practical implementation.

The media should take the lead in initiating a debate among leaders of major political parties on important national and international issues. Programme could be tailored in a way whereby the party head makes a brief statement giving out his vision and then responds to questions posed by the anchor. Questions prepared by the panel should cover issues of national, regional and international importance. It is expected that these include matters related to governance, economy, and state of democracy within political party, terrorism and relations with neighbours and major powers. The tradition of having the top leaders being interviewed simultaneously by TV anchors a few weeks before election is in vogue in the US and several European countries and offers a template to our media to effectively replicate it. Engagement of leaders in front of a perceptive audience should help in mellowing down the personalisation of politics and lead to issue-based discussions. Moreover, these debates if properly conducted, could bring out the real person of the politician for the audience to judge more accurately. Fortunately, we have highly-experienced anchors in major channels for steering this type of programme. Mass gatherings and competition among leaders as to who draws the maximum crowds have its charm, but heavy reliance on it could be misleading and a waste of national resources if resorted frequently.

The country’s real change would come about only through sustained economic growth and political stability. Experience shows reforming Pakistan economically has not been possible either by political or military rulers. The reason is a lax culture, foreign dependency and no serious effort by the government to achieve macro-economic stability. Even the current fiscal budget is a reflection of the same policy with some positive additions.

Strengthening the political system would require genuine and regular party elections. Hereditary or cult-based politics is outdated and does not allow real talent to emerge.

There is equally a major role and responsibility of other institutions in stepping up Pakistan’s transformation. For this they should give priority to internal reforms and not insulate themselves from criticism for that in the long term would cut them off from reality.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2018.

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