Between hope and despair
The direction taken by the government is shattering the hopes of his supporters, one after another
The writer is a researcher associated with Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad
Our political parties have always manifested readiness to sacrifice ideology and principles for political gains. It is evident from the choices they make in the face of trade offs between principles and opportunities. There existed difference in the patterns of minor and major parties. The minor parties seemed relatively principled compared to the more opportunistic standing of major parties. While small parties remained hindered by their regional or religious scope, the political culture in mainstream Pakistani politics was shaped by the major parties.
This was unfortunately a culture of opportunism, vested interests, incompetence and corruption. Despite repeated military interventions, if something was left to strengthen democracy and establish a system based on good governance, the political elite ruined it with their undemocratic attitude and self-serving motives. A class of opportunists accumulated enough wealth and power under martial law regimes and transformed themselves into permanent political forces. This joined the ranks of all the mainstream political parties, transforming them into hierarchies of interests. Hence political parties became some kind of interest groups working to bargain for power. This culture engulfed the entire system of government and corroded the sociopolitical fabric.
It undermined the confidence of the general public and eventually malpractices were informally institutionalised and adopted as inevitable components of our polity. These trends branded politics as an activity merely to gain wealth and power; and public service as a mean of making fortune by misuse of public resources and administrative powers — all at the cost of public interest. Political instability, widespread corruption, lack of accountability and institutional decay did not allow any space for good governance. Every time the people cherished a hope and believed in a slogan of change, they were deceived. The outcome was worse. On the other hand the system on its set patterns offered incentives to every quarter. Every player in the game started benefitting from one window, even if he had to suffer at the other.
In most of the cases the benefits surpassed the costs. Even in the case of indifference, the price of resistance was perceived to be very high and that too with insignificant probability of making an impact. It was deemed better to look for wide windows of opportunities to surpass the losses, and adjust in the status quo. During the last decade, again, two movements inspired the society, each in its own way. One segment that held the political elite responsible for all problems of the country found hope in Imran Khan’s slogan of ‘Naya Pakistan’. The other that blamed the establishment for the plight of the people, embraced Nawaz Sharif’s slogan of ‘Vote Ko Izzat Do’. Imran Khan gained support by promising a system based on welfare, justice and all aspects of good governance, on the ideals of the State of Madina. He set the expectations of people too high. However since he came to power, things are going the other way around. In many ways his vision and governance are at odds.
The direction taken by the government is shattering the hopes of his supporters, one after another. Nawaz Sharif, after he was removed from premiership, raised the banner of resistance against the establishment’s intervention in politics. He aspired for a true democratic system ensuring sanctity of the Constitution and supremacy of parliament. He took some political naps in the wake of certain developments, but trust towards his commitment to lead the ‘change’ prevailed. However, the sudden shift in his stand in the form of ‘unconditional’ support to the Services Act amendment finally revealed to many of his supporters that the slogan of change was a mere deception. At this point both parties stand exposed.
Their supporters will ultimately return to the point of despair from where they started. The real question, however, is whether they will strive for the desired change on their own, or keep looking for a messiah from the status quo.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 19th, 2020.
This was unfortunately a culture of opportunism, vested interests, incompetence and corruption. Despite repeated military interventions, if something was left to strengthen democracy and establish a system based on good governance, the political elite ruined it with their undemocratic attitude and self-serving motives. A class of opportunists accumulated enough wealth and power under martial law regimes and transformed themselves into permanent political forces. This joined the ranks of all the mainstream political parties, transforming them into hierarchies of interests. Hence political parties became some kind of interest groups working to bargain for power. This culture engulfed the entire system of government and corroded the sociopolitical fabric.
It undermined the confidence of the general public and eventually malpractices were informally institutionalised and adopted as inevitable components of our polity. These trends branded politics as an activity merely to gain wealth and power; and public service as a mean of making fortune by misuse of public resources and administrative powers — all at the cost of public interest. Political instability, widespread corruption, lack of accountability and institutional decay did not allow any space for good governance. Every time the people cherished a hope and believed in a slogan of change, they were deceived. The outcome was worse. On the other hand the system on its set patterns offered incentives to every quarter. Every player in the game started benefitting from one window, even if he had to suffer at the other.
In most of the cases the benefits surpassed the costs. Even in the case of indifference, the price of resistance was perceived to be very high and that too with insignificant probability of making an impact. It was deemed better to look for wide windows of opportunities to surpass the losses, and adjust in the status quo. During the last decade, again, two movements inspired the society, each in its own way. One segment that held the political elite responsible for all problems of the country found hope in Imran Khan’s slogan of ‘Naya Pakistan’. The other that blamed the establishment for the plight of the people, embraced Nawaz Sharif’s slogan of ‘Vote Ko Izzat Do’. Imran Khan gained support by promising a system based on welfare, justice and all aspects of good governance, on the ideals of the State of Madina. He set the expectations of people too high. However since he came to power, things are going the other way around. In many ways his vision and governance are at odds.
The direction taken by the government is shattering the hopes of his supporters, one after another. Nawaz Sharif, after he was removed from premiership, raised the banner of resistance against the establishment’s intervention in politics. He aspired for a true democratic system ensuring sanctity of the Constitution and supremacy of parliament. He took some political naps in the wake of certain developments, but trust towards his commitment to lead the ‘change’ prevailed. However, the sudden shift in his stand in the form of ‘unconditional’ support to the Services Act amendment finally revealed to many of his supporters that the slogan of change was a mere deception. At this point both parties stand exposed.
Their supporters will ultimately return to the point of despair from where they started. The real question, however, is whether they will strive for the desired change on their own, or keep looking for a messiah from the status quo.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 19th, 2020.