Reforming political parties: now!

In my October 24 piece, I argued that political parties are caught between dynastic hangover and structure-less passion. Here, I will try to explain why they need reform and why now. Pakistan does not lack political passion. It lacks political institutions capable of converting that passion into durable democratic power. Every crisis produces familiar calls for unity, sacrifice and loyalty. Yet a party that can function only while its founder issues instructions has confused devotion with organisation. To withstand pressure from powerful unelected institutions, parties must first stop reproducing miniature authoritarian systems inside themselves.

The starting point is simple: a political party belongs to its members, not to a family, financier, founder or collection of social-media celebrities. Membership must mean more than filling rallies, defending a leader and waiting for instructions. It must confer enforceable rights to vote, question, contest office and demand explanations. Pakistan does not need to invent the principle. The Elections Act 2017 already requires party councils, general meetings and periodic intra-party elections. But holding a ceremonial vote is not democracy. Parties need independently maintained membership registers, genuine competition for offices, transparent results and impartial appeals against manipulation.

Next comes the right to dissent. An organisation that expels critics for disagreeing with leadership cannot credibly claim to champion freedom outside it. Equally, freedom cannot mean that every disagreement becomes an online trial and every rival a traitor. Parties need elected policy councils, formal grievance procedures, recorded decisions and defined protections for whistleblowers. Members should be free to criticise decisions, while those exercising authority should be accountable through agreed rules.

Leadership succession is another test. A founder's imprisonment, illness, retirement or death should trigger constitutional procedures, not a scramble among relatives, favourites and competing microphones. A credible deputy, empowered committees and published lines of responsibility allow an organisation to act without endlessly invoking the absent leader's presumed wishes.

The digital sphere needs reform too. Influencers have helped widen access to political debate, challenge gatekeepers and expose uncomfortable questions. But followers and algorithms are not substitutes for a membership mandate. Parties should publish timely explanations of strategic decisions, hold open question sessions and correct misinformation transparently.

Then comes the neglected question of who gets to rise. An ordinary worker should be able to progress from ward organiser to district leader to national policymaker without a wealthy sponsor or famous surname.

Money matters. When a party depends on a handful of patrons, its independence is only as strong as their willingness to resist pressure. Broad membership contributions, lawful small donations, audited accounts and disclosure of major funding interests would make political organisations more accountable to their supporters and less vulnerable to elite bargaining.

But internal reforms alone will not defeat coercion. Even the best-run party can be damaged by arrests, restrictions and suppression of peaceful activity. Pakistan therefore needs a constitutional understanding across rival parties: no political organisation should seek unelected intervention against a competitor, and every party's right to organise, contest elections and obtain due process must be defended irrespective of who benefits.

Finally, parties must become schools of citizenship. Local branches should debate budgets, oversee public services and prepare members for local government. Democracy is learned through the ordinary work of listening, negotiating and accepting defeat - not only through speeches about resistance. The real measure of reform is not whether a party can mobilise a crowd for its leader. It is whether members can peacefully replace that leader, survive external pressure and continue serving citizens. Pakistan will have stronger democracy when its parties stop asking people to protect personalities and begin giving them institutions worth protecting.