Democracy is a system where people elect representatives to deliver good governance, working within confines of the constitution, with an independent judiciary having powers of review. In any system, it is the character, integrity and ethics of men assigned to handle a system, which determine the benefits that may accrue.
Moreover, a democratic system cannot deliver without a powerful independent election commission and a strong superior judiciary to ensure that crooks and men with questionable integrity and total commitment to the state, having no split loyalties, with all their stakes in Pakistan, are allowed to contest polls. According to the Founding Fathers of the US, “The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty”. It is the right of people to know about the character and assets of those who offer to serve them.
Pakistan was not liberated from its colonial rulers based in the UK so that it could be ruled by men who live abroad, have all their assets there, and are subject to foreign influence and are only willing to come to this country when in power. If only this government had contributed for the betterment of masses, utilised its energies during past four years for collective welfare or nation building, the generous people of this country might have willingly forgiven them for past wrongs committed, including Swiss Bank accounts.
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore
