THIS refers to the selection of Shahbaz Sharif as president of the PML-N. This decision came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s verdict that bars Nawaz Sharif from heading a political party.

Dynastic politics has long haunted Pakistani politics and is a moot point in the media.

The whole political scene of the subcontinent is plagued by dynastic politics. The Gandhi family is still a prominent name in Indian politics. Hasina Wajid, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, has a respectable vote bank in Bangladesh.

In Pakistan, the PPP is nothing without the name of Bhutto. This holds true for the PML-N as well, where Nawaz Sharif and the Sharif family are the sole attraction for the PML-N supporters.

Ideological politics is missing in the subcontinent, in general, and in Pakistan, in particular, because the masses are largely illiterate.

Uneducated people elect the candidates based on their power to resolve their court and police issues. Honesty, education and ideas of a candidate have little or nothing to do with his election.

Dynastic politics may be replaced by ideological politics with the passage of time. One cannot say that education is a panacea for all socio-political ills but it can be efficacious. It is perhaps the lack of importance of education that a parliament occupied by landlords and capitalists allocates insufficient funds for education.

Waeem Akram

Shorkot

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2018