- Are we even ready for democracy?
“Dictators are not in the business of elections that could remove them from their thrones”, stated Gene Sharp, in his book From Dictatorship to Democracy.
This statement, however, sounds obsolete, particularly while referring to Pakistan’s political system, where dictators are all in the business of elections to keep their thrones.
You might ask though how a dictator is in the business of elections. And why would one be interested anyway? As military dictators, in the past, have ruled the country for decades.
To return the favour, let us ask ourselves a question first. Have we defined a dictator? Perhaps we have. Anyone wearing a military uniform who takes over the charge of political and administrative affairs is a dictator.
Now let us ask ourselves the million dollar question. Have we got this definition right? Not, unfortunately. Just to set the record straight; dictatorship is a form of government in which absolute power is concentrated in a dictator or a small clique or a government organisation.
Nowhere does it state that it comes from a man in uniform alone. Which means there can be civilian dictators as well. Speaking of which, where there can be many forms, the most prominent form of civilian dictatorship apparently rampant and dominant in our society is feudalism.
Pakistan’s political system, now, has three major political parties to offer, however, let’s face the fact, all three have attained their power through acknowledgement, and inclusion of feudals
Now let us go back to the statement made in the start, and read it again! It might start making sense to us!
Our political system, ironically, is dominated, influenced and directed by feudal dictators, who are not only very much interested, but are actively involved in the business of politics, and elections, that too for generations. Pakistan being a country with majority of its population dwelling in the rural parts, adds further strength to the feudal structure, as they dominate, and are in total control of the population within their vicinity, and have the ability to make people’s minds as per their political motives, and influence peoples decisions.
Democracy, where in its real essence, liberates and empowers people to choose for themselves, in Pakistan, unfortunately, gives way to these feudal lords to actually exercise their dictatorial influence in moulding the country’s political future, as they dominate a major chunk of the population. And all this is being done under the cover of democracy.
The two major political parties that have dominated the political system in Pakistan i.e. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League (N), upon being explored, also reveal a strong feudal presence within them; which in fact is a source of political strength of both the parties. A feudalistic structure of the two political parties gives them not only the much required access, but the strength and popularity down to the very roots of the population as well, something which might not be possible to achieve otherwise.
A fine example here would be Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). Founded in 1996, the party remained a one man show, until the 2013 general elections, where the party for the first time exhibited its political muscle. That sudden change, however, also came amid the inclusion of two power house political figures i.e. ex- foreign minister and PPP leader, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, and Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, the longed political leader of PML-N. Jahangir Tareen, similarly, gave PTI the much required push. All of these had their political influence via their feudal, business and saintly lineage background. It wasn’t long after their inclusion, that PTI realised the importance of having the renowned power house political figures in the party in order to gain political depth and strength. This realisation, however, resulted in a major compromise of the PTI’s initial slogan of bringing the youth representatives forward into the National Assembly.
Pakistan’s political system, now, has three major political parties to offer, however, let’s face the fact, all three have attained their power through acknowledgement, and inclusion of feudals.
In addition to the existence of feudal structure, certain parts of our society are enslaved to the jirga/panchayat system, which again are dictatorial bodies in their outlook, and function, and tend to dominate their people. Having made their way to the parliament through the proclaimed democratic means, can they be really expected to represent the very people they dominate via their verdicts every now and then? Doubtful as it may sound, it is.
To conclude, our political system, supposed to be democratic, is actually driven by dictatorship at the day’s end. While we ponder over the threats that military or men in uniform cause to the political structure and stability, our beloved democracy is already taken by civil dictators. Let us remind ourselves of the fact that the real threat does not come from the open enemy, but the concealed one.
Wake up! Its dictatorial democracy; not democracy.