Chameleon chamber

Our opposition, like our govt, keeps their personal interests in view rather than imagining the whole picture

Perhaps, a chameleon would not change its colors as much as does democracy in Pakistan, a system of governance which is inspired by some fixed and some flexible ideals. The former cannot be changed by events and time while the latter gives democracy the beauty to survive even in times entirely totalitarian. The hard luck in our case is that in terms of fixed ideologies, our democracy pot is empty while in the regime of shifts and switchovers, it is richly affluent. The peak time these switches come around when the democrats tend to hail the so-called voices of the people just to elicit their personal and group favours is the time of the passage of annual financial budget. This is a small phase when we can witness our leaders striving beyond elastic limits to fight for us.

The disconnect between the opposition and treasury benchers is not merely by the number of people they come winning in the polls alone. It is distinctively the mark of divided versions of serving the people. Opposition is thus a watchdog in this system of governance. The treasury on the other hand manages the ways and means of deflecting the wrong public opinion being framed by the opposition. This brings opposition even closer at heart with people making them the mouthpieces of the people when people feel being wronged by the Government.

This elevates their position far beyond the potential government stance as government is always in troubled waters having to do with sharp realities of governance in country like ours. The opposition is in a way the protector of the rights of the people. But this is where we are severely deceived. Our opposition, like our treasury benchers, keeps their personal limited interests in view rather than imagining the whole picture. Once one is caught up with fears of his own self, the whole big world seems so little to satiate him. This withers away the ability to think for the common people in an effective manner. The self becomes the centre of all ideologies and takes precedence over the body and soul of so-called democracy.

Before every budget passage, there are communications in the hinterland between the two sides. They practically deal and exchange like what used to happen in the barter system. The budget which is an accumulation of state revenue and people’s pockets is bitterly and hotly contested by the two sides. In case, the one side does not agree with the other, or the deal does not see the light of the day, the opposition is seen hitting the streets calling on the people and yelling at the government.

Before some time, if such situation used to surface, these statesmen used to clothe it in the mantillas of democracy, rights of the people and feelings of apathy for the people and would base their entire struggle on these fundamentals. But cultures are not static and tend to change, and so has happened in this case too. Now, they even openly confess that the treasury has refused to cut them the share they demanded. Mind you, this is public money which is an accumulation of the people’s sweat and blood but it mostly is flushed out in terms of political takeaways.

The money times are the strange times in the so-called democracy we cherish. Why are, on this specific time, people’s rights, interests, well-being and their sense of dignity so extremely remembered by our democrats of opposition benches? Why do, in these times, our democracy become so emboldened and agile? One could argue because this is the time when government plans for the welfare of the people and allocates resources accordingly. But the question is: why is such momentum lost once the opposition comes out walking clandestinely of the treasury chambers? There rests in the treasury chamber all the glitter that glows our chameleon democracy.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2020.

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