No country for politicians

Dare calling out against the judiciary, military or media and see how the skies will fall. Institutions have indeed learnt how to defend their territory. However, when it comes to politicians, or democracy as an institution, anybody could say absolutely anything and that would be considered a ‘democratic right’.

Such has been the case in Pakistan since its inception that certain power brokers have not only systematically maligned politicians, but also democracy and the political process as whole to a point that today, the narrative around politics, unfortunately, is that it is somehow all evil. In that connection, I’d like to bust some prevalent myths surrounding politicians and democracy in Pakistan.

The first myth is that ‘Politicians are all corrupt with no intention to benefit people’. Like any institution or society, parliament is also a representative sample of good and bad people. While there are people who have made fortunes in politics, there are also those who are genuinely working hard to improve their areas. One example would be Uzair Khan, MNA from Khushab, a young Stanford University graduate, who is actively working on improving local problems through his foreign education and experience. Another would be Hina Butt, Punjab Assembly MPA, an entrepreneur and a graduate of LUMS, who is leading the voice of women in the Punjab legislature. Similarly, Asad Umer of the PTI, with tremendous motivation, is bringing in a new approach of improving political systems. Politicians, no matter how corrupt they are, at the end of the day have to go back to their constituencies to get a vote. And contrary to the common perception, without delivery, even the Shah Mehmoods or Faisal Salehs don’t stand a chance.

The second myth is that ‘Bhuttos and Sharifs treat their parties as a family business’. In my experience, I’ve witnessed a completely different thing. It is not the Bhuttos or Sharifs who have necessarily established this system by force. It is, in fact, a by-product of the significance we attach to family name, blood line and lineage in our culture. The party supporters, including MNAs and MPAs, pledge their allegiance to the Sharif or Bhutto families to become that symbol to lead the political party into winning elections. Bhutto and Sharif is a brand that party supporters know will sell.

In India, the Indian National Congress is similarly all about the Gandhi-Nehrus and so on. And the trend is not just in politics. Take, for instance, the Kapoor family in Bollywood who appears to have a natural right to be superstars because of their lineage.

Third and the most viral myth today is that ‘Political parties win only through rigging’. To clarify, there is no central strategy of any political party, be it the PML-N, the PPP or the PTI to rig elections. Rigging is a local-level affair, instigated by personal rivalries of those contesting the elections and has absolutely nothing to do with candidate’s political party affiliation. That is why, in Narowal we see certain campaign workers of the PTI candidate who were caught rigging. Let’s not take it as the PTI’s policy, but the candidate’s own move to win the seat by hook or by crook. We need electoral reforms, without any doubt, where such local level age-old rivalries between candidates do not lead to rigging. Also, in a country of 180 million people, in the presence of a vibrant media and international observers, rigging is not as simple as some people have recently made it to believe.

The last myth is that ‘Only the rich and powerful can enter politics’. From Jehangir Badar of the PPP to independent Jamshed Dasti, and Saad Rafiq of the PML-N, if there is one thing that is needed to be a politician, it is an unwavering pulse for sacrifice, determination, and in Pakistan, the patience to bear victimisation. The only reason we see the same politicians and their children over and over again in legislatures is because our graduating students and professionals from good families do not want to take politics as a career, as they see it as too ‘dirty’ or it pushes them out of their comfort zone.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2014.

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