Democracy Needs an Opposition
Without check and balance, even a democracy can become a dictatorship. For too long, we have had total rule unfettered by an opposition strong enough to effectively counter the totalitarian urges of the rulers, elected and unelected. The result has been that those who are mandated by the people to enforce the rule of law have invariably become the major violators of law in the land. Other than an extremely faulty system of democracy that enjoins “the first past the post” system rather than an actual majority of the votes cast, thereby giving a minority a rule over a majority, the practice in South Asia is to centre “democracy” around personalities, with only lip-service given to ideology and constitutional mores. The result has been voter apathy as more and more people are frustrated in the democratic process, with progress denied to the masses and confined to a privileged few or those whom they choose to associate with them.
In Pakistan the present Opposition lacks credibility. As much as Ms Benazir may try and charm foreign audiences to deny her corrupt governance, this is now a documented fact of life. She and her husband can invent any number of technicalities to escape the process of law, there is a pretty open and shut evidence against their corruption on scores of counts. What is amazing is that despite her known indiscretions, she continues to be blatant about her denials. This leads to a more serious charge, of brazen faced misrepresentation of the truth on a daily basis — and this is the stuff of leadership she has provided to the people of Pakistani! And she does not stop at that, having subjected the people of Pakistan to economic misery to accumulate illegal wealth, she is actively engaged in activity that is detrimental to the interests of Pakistan. And she is not alone, party workers mesmerised by her charisma one can understand but mature party leaders who privately acknowledge her and her husband’s corruption should only have contempt for her instead of publicly defending her. These include party colleagues as well as the smattering of allied leaders like Nawabzada Nasrullah, Hamid Nasir Chattha, etc, etc, who are guilty of abetment, having turned a glazed eye to the Zardari shenanigans. They have put the person (and their own selfish interests) before the national interest and any person who does that does not deserve to be called a leader. Leaders must have credibility and in the face of facts all those who are still supporting Ms Benazir lack the moral responsibility they owe to the people they profess to lead. That leaves only erstwhile ally ANP in the opposition and while one may disagree with them on any number of counts, the fact remains that they are at least credible and not prone to tell outright lies repeatedly as some of their colleagues in the Parliamentary Opposition do. The MQM, which despite being in the government, oppose their colleagues on most counts, has also lost its credibility over the years. A once-fine movement, founded on the rightful need to give the Mohajir community a rightful say under the sun, has now degenerated into corruption. When a leader is away in self-exile far away as is Altaf Hussain it is difficult to control the party’s militant cohorts who have made collection of “protection money” or “Bhatta” into a fine art, or for that matter their white-collar leaders who have mastered the art of siphoning off big money in Karachi’s mega-projects. As such their once-vaunted simplicity and credibility have been rather shot as they have descended into “business as usual”.
Of the national leaders who have a potential for the future, only Imran Khan and Farooq Leghari have any credibility at the national level. Imran has never been in government and except for the Mehran Bank indiscretion in which one can give Leghari the benefit of doubt, both are generally considered clean. While Leghari can be faulted for the Supreme Court crisis, one can also be generous enough to call it a reflexive self-defence act. About the sincerity and purpose of Imran Khan one is quite confident and having come out of the Bhutto shadows, Farooq Leghari shows adequate signs of developing into genuine national leader. Imran, more than Leghari, seems to be coming out of the embrace of his handlers, mostly from the Niazi clan or from Lahore. On the other hand Leghari displayed atrocious choice in his selection of the Caretaker Cabinet, etc and needs to show clearly that his canvas is more national now rather than feudal/personal. Then there is the question of political alliances, which takes us back to personalities rather than ideas governing political parties in South Asia. There are of course leaders like Air Marshal (Retd) Asghar Khan and Sherbaz Mazari who are well-respected and have plenty of credibility but it is clear that by themselves they have passed their prime and are not a potent force themselves. However, it is also quite apparent that their endorsement for a candidate and party will carry weight nationally. Similarly Mairaj Mohammad Khan may not seem so potent politically but he is a political organiser par excellence at the grass roots level. PPP’s basic grounding that led to their majority legislators in West Pakistan in 1970 was because of his manpower logistics. What Pakistan needs is an Opposition with the parties merged into one rather than alliances. If Imran Khan and Farooq Leghari get together and get endorsement from credible and respected leaders, Pakistan will have a credible Opposition which one can look forward to as an alternative. Benazir Bhutto may come back to the political arena despite documented corruption a la Madam Marcos and Jayalalitha because she remains a political fighter par excellence and she has political depth but this country will never ever accept the likes of Asif Zardari again. Since she shows no sign of abandoning him just yet (and in a perverse way that goes to her credit), for the moment she has nuisance value rather than any potency as a political leader.
What the present government needs is a credible opposition to remind the rulers that there is a genuine alternative that will be palatable to the people — and let’s face it to the Army. The Sharifs may well be cock-a-hoop in trying to place their man in the COAS chair, that chair has an innate power that gives a different personality to the man who sits in it. For the most part the Federal government is functioning well but the fact remains that there is no government in Sindh and the coalition in Balochistan is in trouble. The only place democracy is really alive is in NWFP with the ANP in the Opposition, in the Centre of Opposition can make a lot of noise otherwise they are a joke. Punjab is the only Province running well and that is an individual effort of Mian Shahbaz Sharif, hardly a PML effort.
While Pakistan has problems, the major issue Pakistan is now faced with is burning ethnicity. With the choice of Rafiq Tarar as President and a number of other appointments, the public perception has formed that this government only caters for Punjab and in Punjab, Lahore and a few adjacent districts. For national unity such a perception right or wrong is a catastrophe waiting to happen, it only needs a catalyst. It is also clear that all those who oppose the present national and democratic arrangement are waiting patiently for the Mian Nawaz Sharif regime to make an ethnic mis-step in some key appointments, initiatives, etc. Given past history, the regime has shown no inclination to take heed of lessons learnt but rather tend to take disaster head-on, the Pakistani version of Russian Roulette, putting five bullets in the revolver instead of one before spinning the chamber and putting it to your head and pulling the trigger.
A moral responsibility devolves on our national leaders like Imran Khan and Leghari to band together, to shed personal egos and ambitions in the national interest for a national cause. Democracy must have credible Opposition, the Opposition has to be sensible in its protestations. Without competition the government will become complacent. Mian Nawaz Sharif is quite capable of delivering the goods if he realizes that the public has an alternative and he has to perform to remain credible and patient. That is the essence of competitiveness in the business world to which he originally belongs. Without check and balance even a democracy becomes dictatorship and without accountability, very few leaders remain responsible to the electorate. We cannot depend upon conscience and good rhetoric alone. Democracy needs to have a vocal and credible Opposition, the Opposition needs to be more responsible.
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