Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, while addressing the multiparty conference and through it the people of Pakistan, questioned the legitimacy of the current government, telling us what a legitimate government is.

Can anybody from his party or among his followers ask him about the legitimacy of a political leader in democracies? Can a political party be converted into a family enterprise in any democratic country?

Is there any precedent in democratic countries to involve a leader’s whole family into state affairs and allow his family to order servants of the state without any designation?

Before demanding democratic rights and asking the institutions to abide by the democratic norms and values, Mr Sharif should introduce democracy within his own party.

It is not democracy to make a political party a family enterprise.

Ahsan
Taunsa Sharif

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2020