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Defending democracy
By Saad Hafiz:
It seems at the first sign of cracks in a democratic setup in Pakistan, a battle cry goes out from media pundits, back-door politicians and professional pontificators alike to end or derail the democratic process. As the knives and bayonets are sharpened, headlines like “End the farce”, “Noose tightens” and “Government isolated” dominate in the media.
Many affluent Pakistanis, enjoying the fruits of Western democracies, hypocritically chime in to denigrate democracy and espouse the benefits of a return to strict authoritarian rule or a managed democracy for the unwashed masses in their native land. The mainstay of their argument is that a “controlled” political process can deliver peace, order and stability which the country desperately needs and which the natural chaos of a parliamentary democracy cannot hope to emulate. “The man who has gotten everything he wants is all in favor of peace and order.” Jawaharlal Nehru
The propagandists and doomsayers who predict the end of democracy are helped by the macabre political situation prevailing in the country. The Prime Minister is being held in contempt and has had to appear before the Supreme Court for balking on writing to the Swiss courts to reopen the President’s past corruption cases. A former envoy to the US has taken protection in the PM House, possibly seeking protection from the country’s security services who may seek to harm him for allegedly instigating a memorandum inviting foreign intervention to check the power of the country’s military.
The government has been forced to have a pro-democracy resolution passed by the “sovereign and supreme” Parliament requesting all institutions to respect the primacy of democratic institutions. It is a wonder that a democratic government, constantly watching its back, is also expected to focus on urgent issues facing the country like poverty, hunger, unemployment and the sorry state of government hospitals and schools.
Conditioned by years of playing second fiddle to autocrats and their henchmen, politicians and civil society are reluctant to stand together to fight the misleading allure of authoritarianism or a managed democracy. This is surprising because the non-democratic road in Pakistan is well travelled, taken a great toll on the country, and shaken its foundations to the core.
A strong case can be made that the three long periods of dictatorship in Pakistan’s history, Ayub 1958-69, Zia 1977-1988 and Musharraf 1999-2008 greatly contributed to the disintegration of the country and the spread of a retrogressive Islamic ideology, sectarianism and violence. The “men on horseback” trained in a unitary environment failed and will continue to fail because they are unable to understand the discordant demands of a multi ethnic society.
There is also little evidence that a “controlled” political environment is any less corrupt or can ensure long-term economic prosperity when compared to a parliamentary democracy. It can be argued that whitewashing authoritarianism every few years, does not remove its intrinsic violence and corruption and the way its tyrannies intrude into ordinary lives.
It seems ridiculous to imagine that a command decision made by an unelected leadership can be implemented without question in a complex nation of a 180 million people. History has proven time and time again that changes needed for the betterment of the people require discussion and consensus and not heavy handed approaches to be effective. Given the opportunity, the people will support liberal democracy and its ideals of tolerance, due process and constitutional rights.
Governmental legitimacy should continue to be derived from the ballot box. A silver lining often ignored by pessimists is that Pakistan has legitimate political parties, an increasingly independent judiciary and vibrant media, which are prerequisites for preserving and enhancing a democratic society. Pakistanis also have a history of fighting dictatorship and checking obscurantism through democratic means when allowed.
The critical issues of corruption and poor governance, disillusioned populace and a young population with few economic prospects have to be addressed quickly. This requires Pakistan to come up with a new generation of leaders, who are capable of relaying the foundations of State in crisis and who are also capable of defending its populations’ interests better, based on unwavering respect for different State institutions.
Filed under: Politics · Tags: country, Pakistan, political, Saad Hafiz
14 Responses to "Defending democracy"
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another very very significant probl... - Fingolfin said if this were Facebook i would have 'liked' Rex Min...
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India after Independence and even earl... - Rex Minor said @Tajender,
Remember my earlier post about the w...
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The main problem is that Pakistan’s (exported from Arabia) religion does not allow honesty. This religion and pakistan ideology force pakistanis to hate indians, israel and hindus and glorify arabs and turks. It is not a religion which rewards honesty. It rewards flattery of the fascist bosses who speak in the name of this religion. If the pakistani govt. is not zealous in its agenda of the arabic religion and its totalitarianism then it will never be accepted as legitimate.
The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan holds the people of Pakistan in contempt by not handling the 16 year old case filed by Air Marshal Asghar Khan (a citizen of Pakistan). And then this same SC accuses Gilani of holding the SC in contempt because he has postponed a case against Zardari by just 2 years.
If the judges in a land are showing such behaviour then what good can this land expect?
http://www.hacklejackle.blogspot.com/
[...] Defending democracy [...]
Wait, so your argument is that allowing treason == defending democracy. How does that work exactly, unless you are a Yanki imperialist, or a mindslave subjugated into their bankrupt lunatic ideology of world domination forever.
Saad Hafiz I can not agree more to what u said
Agree with you all the way. Periods of dictatorship have brought us nothing but grief. We should not go down that road again. The present government has to be voted out of office. It came in legitimately and should be voted out legitametely. The Pakistani people are intelligent enough to vote either way and know what’s in their best interest without interference from others.
There is hope yet…Musharruf has been cold shouldered by his supporters in khaki.Imran is a novice at the hurly burly political hustings.Again khakis are not sure of him.If only the the establishment is able to hold on for a few months more.. We shall have true parliamentary democracy.
Democracy lives in a country where people adapt to one culture and the military is confined to barracks! Do the Pakistanis now have a common culture?
Rex Minor
sURE, I WANT TO DEFEND DEMOCRACY, BUT NOT DEMON-CRACY RAMPAGING PAKISTAN WHERE THE PRIME MUNSTER IS A WINKING SCOUNDREL UPTO HIS NECKKK IN RABID CORRUPTION WHILE THE COUNTRY, MY MOTHERLAND, IS DROWNING…
Amjad,Amin and Iqbal J:
Agreed, it is long haul and you have to go the distance but democracy is worth trying.
UNF and Minor Rex,
Take some law and political science classes!
@Saad
Were you talking about Islamic democracy, or Greek democracy or the Indian democracy. Pakistan has never had and unlikely to have the peoples democracy under the shadow of the yanks and the incomplete representation of its people. The current system of the Govt. has been created to play the musical chair game. Pakistan needs reforms of its rotten colonial structures. You have neither the political sense nor any experience of a democracy which practices law. Do not talk about the law of your country which permits a former criminal to become the President and where the Prime Minister despite contemt of court is shamelessly glue to his chair. The country in the hands of two criminals whose place is definitely not in Govt. And what is your contribution? Zlch is my answer.
Rex Minor
PS
Please read Pakistan journalist Jahanzeb Haque article about the war in Balochistan in express tribune. Did you mention about the wars in your democracy?
Democracy is worth trying, they tried Pakistan democracy process in ancient civilisations not in modern times. Pakistan needs once again the lawyers( masses are too busy looking for the daily meal) revolution to throw out the entire Govt and their supporters from the parliament. It is not the responsibility of the Supreme court to replace the dysfunctional Govt. The voting fraud is not part of a democracy!
Rex minor