THE confrontation between the government and the opposition parties has exposed the most fundamental flaw in the country’s political culture, namely, ‘leader worship’ at the cost of the people’s exclusion from political decision-making and governance.

Take two screaming headlines noticed the other day. The prime minister was reported as saying that he was building roads for his detractors’ use. The fact is that roads are built by the government with resources provided by the people.

On the other side, the PTI chief declared that when he came into power the Pakistanis would start returning from Britain instead of going there for work. It did not occur to him that if he became the head of government through a democratic process he would not be a monarch with absolute powers.

Both politicians were confirming their belief that the Pakistani state is like the prime minister’s fiefdom and he is the sole source of whatever good is done to the people. This indicates the rise of the personality cult to the extreme limit. Statements apart, the way the government and political parties conduct their affairs amply confirms the replacement of collective decision-making with personal one-man personal rule.

The parliamentary system, in which the cabinet functions as the executive and is collectively responsible to parliament, has for all practical purposes degenerated into a prime ministerial system. Each cabinet member has the authority up to a point to decide on matters falling within his or her charge and beyond that all matters should be decided by the cabinet. One does not know how the system is working now because the long gaps between cabinet meetings are quite a scandal. If all matters that should be decided by the cabinet are settled by the prime minister this is not a happy deviation from the norms of parliamentary democracy. The concentration of authority and prestige in the hands of the prime minister carries the risk of abuse of authority and all else that absolute power entails.


The current political turmoil in the country is like a boxing tournament among party bosses.


The executive’s deviations from the norms of collective decision-making have affected the legislature also. The downgrading of question hour, the system of adjournment motions and the restriction of space for private members’ initiatives amount to curtailment of parliament’s democratic functions. Yet there is no protest.

The all-powerful rulers at the centre we have had, especially in the form of military commanders, inevitably produced provincial versions. Kalabagh aped Ayub Khan’s manners, albeit under the thin veneer of feudalism. Far more ridiculous was Monem Khan who reduced governance in East Bengal to the level of sergeant’s drills.

Not all such aberrations are unfortunately part of history. The provincial ministers in today’s Pakistan often try to outdo their chief ministers in their overbearing attitude towards their subordinates and the people at large. They issue peremptory orders, bully all and sundry, and rarely have patience to listen to others. Anybody who questions their actions is buried under a hail of invective.

At the level of political parties too, the havoc wreaked by the personality cult is easily discernible. People are told to follow Mr X or Mr Y and what the outfits led by these gentlemen stand for really does not matter. The current political turmoil in the country is like a boxing tournament among party bosses, with their supporters mere spectators.

Even a modicum of respect for the people’s democratic rights required that the political parties discussed the questions arising from the disclosures of the Panama Papers at the central, provincial and district levels. The party caucuses should have debated the impact of the new information on the state’s health and people’s interests. Has any political party done that?

The failure of Pakistan’s political parties to include the citizens, or at least their own members, in their forums for evolving agendas, monitoring their implementation and then evaluating the exercise has undoubtedly been the most significant reason that democratic practices and institutions have not struck roots in this country. Quite a few students of politics therefore maintain that Pakistan does not have political parties worth the name.

If Pakistan has to realise its ideal of a responsible, democratic dispensation, people’s exclusion from politics must stop. It should be possible to work towards the ideal that any political party’s workers in Badin or Khuzdar or Lalamusa or Mardan is able to explain and defend his or her party’s stand on any issue as clearly as the party chief.

It is necessary to dispel the misconception that the big public meetings that are organised by the more resourceful party leaders amount to consulting the people. These congregations are leftovers of the politics of agitation that evolved in the subcontinent during the last century. At these gatherings, party leaders seek popular endorsement of their opinions and decisions. Instead of producing a popular consensus, these meetings are designed to give the party bosses’ fancy the appearance of a consensus. This becomes clearer when we find political leaders telling the peasants or the youth what their problems are without caring to listen to them first.

It might be said that the Pakistani masses are incapable of appreciating the serious political issues and hence nothing will be gained by interacting with them. A more facetious plea is not possible. Pakistan’s politicians have offered the backwardness of the people as an excuse to cover up their own intellectual poverty and lack of vision. Besides, how will the masses develop the capacity to make rational choices until they are considered as legitimate stakeholders and their opinions begin to be respected? If our politicians do not follow people-inclusive strategies they will make the masses more and more vulnerable to the anti-democratic rhetoric of one extremist group or another.

Let the politicians start talking to the people instead of always talking down to them. It is time a movement for people-inclusive politics was launched.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2016

Opinion

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