All about Pakistan

Loss of life is tragic in itself but loss of a leader creates chaos in a nation. We witnessed this chaos when leader of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto lost her life to a terrorist attack during a political rally in Rawalpindi on December 27^th, 2007. This is no doubt a national loss and she will be remembered for a long time for her contributions to the nation. But a political leader is owned by its constituents and it is the right of the people to evaluate their performance. She belonged to a political family going back almost four generations. Politics was considered part of her genes and she could not stay out of it for long. She demonstrated tremendous political acumen when she came back to the center stage after 10 years of self imposed exile. For her nothing ever was off the table for political advantage. Whether it was negotiating with the military general that sacked her father or forming a deal with General Musharraf to return to power. She did not hesitated to seek amendments in constitution, devised by her own father, to get a chance at premiership for the third term. She demonstrated a lot of courage by holding election rallies in all four provinces despite grave threats to her life. She maintained a strong grip on her party through placement of loyalists at all levels of the party. Even after her death, she contributed in preserving the control of the party by Bhutto family by advising in her will that her husband or son should be nominated for the party chairmanship.
Her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto rose to power at the back of a military ruler Field Marshall Ayub Khan who appointed him as foreign minister in his cabinet. He later refused to accept the internationally recognized fair elections of 1970 because he could not work with the government of Awani league of East Pakistan as a majority party. He demanded boycott of the national assembly session in Dhaka that decision later became the main cause of separation of East Pakistan. On the economic front Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto pursued a socialist agenda and nationalized all industries which resulted in expansion of government powers and industrial backwardness of Pakistan. Zuliqar Ali Bhutto was also responsible for creating the separatist movement in Balochistan by ordering military operations to subjugate nationalist Balochi leaders.

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto became victim of General Zia ul Haq’s Marshall-law who brought murder charges against him. Supreme Court of Pakistan, influenced by the military government, convicted him of murder charges and ordered his hanging which was promptly carried out by the government. Benazir Bhutto, oldest child of the deposed Prime Minister, while living abroad vowed to take revenge from the military and continue their struggle in the form of Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD). As General Zia felt increasing pressure for restoration of democracy, Benazir agreed to participate in the political process and returned to the country in 1986. There was a widespread belief that she returned to the country by negotiating a deal with the General who deposed and killed her father. Her first stint at power was brief but clouded by charges of corruption and nepotism. She was also considered responsible for the rise of Taliban in Afghanistan. But this might not be totally true as military had its own interest in supporting them with or without Benazir’s consent. Her government was dissolved, in 1990, without completing its term in office.

She got another chance to form a government in 1993 when her party again got slight majority in the national assembly. Unfortunately she had not learned from her past experience and once again nepotism and corruption became hallmark of her second term in office. In 1996, her government was once again dissolved before completing its term by her hand picked President and associate Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari.

During last nine years of General Musharraf’s rule Benazir stayed out of the country in a self-imposed exile. She returned to the country in October 2007 after a controversial deal with the military ruler who swore never to deal with corrupt politicians Benazir and Nawaz Sharif. It was also widely reported that US, UK and other western powers brokered the deal. They believed her to be the only option available to introduce liberalization, modernization and tolerance to the country. This reliance on individuals whether it is Benazir or Musharraf is a faulty approach. West seems to forget that they themselves fought the forces of religious conservatism by introduction of equal opportunity, education, justice and diversity in their societies. Pakistan can not become a modern country unless US and other countries provide financial support for social reforms, education and introduction of free market economy. Instead of supporting authoritarian military rulers, West should also make it clear to the military generals that their involvement in politics will not be accepted.

Traditionally governments in Pakistan try to find a escape goat to blame for any man made calamity. Interim government has blamed al-Qaeda terrorist for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto without gathering complete evidence to prove this claim. Since her return to Pakistan Benazir Bhutto made many statements that were uncomfortable for the establishment. She told foreign correspondence that she will allow interview of Dr. A. Q. Khan by the IAEA. She also suggested that diplomatic relations with Israel will be established if she was elected Prime Minister. She was also seen as a beneficiary of the curtailment of an independent Supreme Court which might have overturned the reconciliation order issued by General Musharraf to pave way for her return to the country.

People of Pakistan have given enough sacrifices for leaders that are driven by their personal desire for power without belief in the democratic principles. Benazir presented herself as a democratic leader but in her will she advised the party to appoint her husband or son as party chairman ignoring services of the experienced and respected political figures like Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Raza Rabbani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. Asif Ali Zardari might have learned his lesson during his 8 years in jail but it is very difficult for him to control his innate desire for power and riches. He is neither qualified nor respected among the party loyalists.

The riots that ensued after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto have only resulted in the loss for the people itself. All the buses, banks, cars and train engines were wealth of the nation. It is hard to imagine that a family that just lost a son or daughter will start burning their furniture or damage their home. All political leaders have tried to justify the riots as understandable anger of the nation for losing their beloved leader. This is not acceptable as these leaders should condemn the riots resulting in loss of innocent life and property. It is hard to believe that people looting government and private property are loyal to any patriotic party. We have to take ownership of our country and unite for the future. We can not expect others to be as sincere to us as we can be to each other.

The modern political theory encourages emergence of professional politicians. They argue that the issues of modern societies are so complicated that only specialists can perform the research and arrive at the best possible solution for the community. In order to prevent chaos of divergent views in a parliament members are encouraged to form platforms among like minded members. These platforms over the years become political parties to allow arrival of consensus in legislative process. In most developed democracies number of parties is handful. For instance US political system is controlled by republican and democratic parties. Similarly in England governments are formed by two party system between Tory and Labor party. Similar two or three party system exists in most of the stable democracies of Turkey, Malaysia, Germany, France, South Korea. In countries where there are more than three parties the effectiveness of the democratic institutions diminishes because of lack of consensus among the legislature. There are many political theorists that question the effectiveness of party based political system but it is quite apparent that if it is adopted then small number of parties produces better results. There are many reasons for weak democratic institutions in Pakistan but it is probable that proliferation of large number of parties is one of the main reasons. Political divisions have been favored by military generals who have controlled the governments for over 40 years of the last 60 years of existence. The elections of 2008 are not much different. According to Election commission web site there are 49 parties contesting for national assembly seats. The question then arises is why do we have so many parties? And what can be done to remedy this situation? 

The prime reason for large number of parties is the absence of national will, lack of provincial harmony and disagreement on future direction. Regional insecurity induces the constituents to elect candidates that can safeguard local interest at the cost of national consensus. This has resulted in the emergence of narrowly defined ethnic and sectarian parties like ANP, MQM, JUI, Balochistan National Party, etc. that attract vote by appealing to the local grievances and targeting the ethnic inequalities. The military establishment gives wind to these ethnic and sectarian sentiments to ensure a divided political structure which results in corruption and ineffectiveness producing mass frustration which eventually lead to military take over. On the other hand large parties with national manifestos are plagued by undemocratic practices. Individuals dominate the leadership roles with no expiration of terms. This is evident in PPP which is dominated by Benazir Bhutto as lifelong chairman. PML is dominated by Nawaz Sharif or Chaudhry family. It is quite natural for any politician to be ambitious with a desire to slowly rise to the top. When young aspiring leaders find it impossible to eventually lead their parties they are forced to break ranks and form their own break away factions. Sadly they do not learn from their own experience and adopt the same dictatorial practices in their own factions thereby repeating the cycle for further division. This situation has resulted in many factions of PPP into PPPP, PPP forward block, PPP Sherpao etc. In PML it has resulted in PML (Q), PML (N), PML functional etc. etc. Even sectarian parties like JUI have divided into JUI Niazi and JUI Fazl ur Rehman groups. 

There are many ways to correct this divisive situation and embark on a journey of consolidation. First of all regulations for political parties need to be amended to ensure that there is succession of leadership in the ranks of party leadership. Constitution of party should be subservient to the constitution of the country. This means that there should be term limits for the top leadership of the party so that new leaders have a chance of rising to the top. Anyone nominated to contest a regional or national election should be barred from holding a party position to prevent conflict of interest. No party should be allowed to participate in the national assembly elections unless they can establish membership from all four provinces and demonstrate at least 15% votes in the last two elections. This will encourage rise of the national leadership with an eye towards development of the federation. Smaller regional parties should be allowed to form alliances with larger national parties to secure their voice in national policy and get some seats allocated to them from the alliance. Nomination of candidates should also be done through member’s votes rather than committee nominations. Selection of candidates through committees gives rise to personal power at the expense of party interests. Media outlets should be regulated to provide equal time to all candidates to ensure fairness and equal opportunity. 

Running political campaigns is an expensive matter. Financial constraints prevent many good candidates to participate in elections. Like developed countries, campaign finance rules should be devised so that candidates can raise funds to finance their campaigns. Use of personal funds in elections should be restricted to a certain amount to prevent future profiteering from holding parliamentary positions. MQM has demonstrated its ability to raise funds from the middle classes. Although in the absence of good leadership it has more often resulted in extortion of money by party workers from industrialists and factories in Korangi and S.I.T.E area of Karachi. In developed countries candidates arrange fund raising dinners to not only speak to their constituents but raise funds for their campaigns. 

We can not become a nation unless divisions are reduced from ethnic, sectarian and personal issues to national issues. Instead of forming a round table of politics with each party holding a small pie it is better to sit in a room with only two sides. Unless we reduce the political divisions and allow emergence of national leadership it is a pipe dream to hope that divisions will reduce on its own. Poverty stricken Balochistan and NWFP can not expect to send ethnic leaders with handful of seats to have a stronger voice for their rights in the national assembly. Instead if they could gain control of provincial governments and have substantial clout in a national alliance they could exert more influence to get resources for their provinces. 

Voters also have to reject smaller parties and rally around larger parties to reduce the political divisions. All of us have an individual role to play in the upcoming elections. We can not just sit on the sidelines and expect politicians to sort out things for us. We have to get active and participate. The best way to participate is to cast your vote with an eye towards national reconciliation rather than narrow minded regional benefits. Let us reject sectarianism, ethnicity and religious extremism. Let us give majority mandate to national parties so they can not give us excuse later on for their ineffectiveness. Let us give a clear message to the military leadership that their meddling in politics is no longer welcome and it is not their job to run government. If they allow democracy to prevail it will eventually grow into maturity and enable good leadership to emerge to lead the nation.