Too much voting, yet no democracy

I remember watching Dracula movies back in the day. Dracula was this nice looking, decent, and well behaving fellow when the sun was up. He charmed the people, his victims, with his charisma during the daytime. Once it got dark, however, a different, more violent, persona emerged. His ‘true face’ came to light in the dark, if you will. The ones who actually did see the true face of Dracula were the ones in their final moments — shocked and in pain. Pakistani politicians also show a milder face in public and, when given the opportunity, they give the nation shock and pain.

What transpired in the Punjab Assembly vote this week was no different. What is happening in Pakistan overall is no different than what happened in those Dracula movies. However, there is one difference: economic meltdown and democracy’s erosion in the country have brought people to a situation where sucking the blood out of them would be an easier way out of the daily struggle to survive in order to hold on to what is called ‘life’. Life appears more difficult than death.

People are told this fiction that they have democracy in Pakistan, and that their vote and their opinion matter. It is like watching a movie; we know it’s not true but it’s entertaining. And that fact was driven home by the Punjab Assembly vote of this week. The most popular party — backed by the majority of the people in the province and the Parliamentary leader — wanted one thing but the party boss wanted another. The people merely watched the drama unfold.

Usually, it is a struggle to understand what Chaudhry Shujaat says when he talks. But his one letter was heard loud and clear by the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly. He may not be a good speaker but he turned out to be one of the most prolific authors. With one letter, he wrote off the aspirations and hopes of the entire nation. The fate of the nation’s democracy was decided behind closed doors. The factors that played a role in writing off the fate of democracy in Pakistan included the division among the young Chaudhry cousins, supreme experience at being the perfect gamer on part of Zardari, immense cash, and so forth. Notice that there was no role whatsoever of the people or their wishes.

The good news is that the nation took refuge in sharing the meme where Zardari is either sitting in the lap of the older Chaudhry or on a garbage dumpster can. There is another good news: last time Hamza Shehbaz had taken his oath to the office of the Chief Minister at a private hotel; now he will graduate to doing it at the right place. Who cares if it was the ruling instead of the numbers that helped Hamza’s selection to the coveted job. Pakistan’s democracy is like a hybrid car that uses both fossil fuel as well as an electric battery. The owners always proudly boast of having such a vehicle by saying, well, we never have to worry about running out of charge or fuel. When one runs out the other one keeps it going. Pakistani democracy is whatever the power needs: vote by people, vote by hired guns, vote through a letter, or some other kind of vote we may discover along the way in our miserable national journey ahead.

The letter by Chaudhry was shared on social media. At the top right corner, under the office address, I noticed a PakNet email ID. I did not know that those email IDs still existed. But then I realised that the well-dressed Dracula in those movies also used to be old fashioned. Chaudhry Shujaat was once the Prime Minister for a very brief time. That is not how he would be remembered though. In the meantime, we should do what we are allowed to do: meme the hell out on social media.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2022.

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