PAKISTAN POLITICS: RACE TO THE BOTTOM
Pakistan politics is spiraling downward with an accelerating pace and is setting an unprecedented history. The rapidly changing political scenario has created a charged political atmosphere that has permeated the life and house of each Pakistani. Negativity, mistrust and ever-deepening political polarization seem to be the highest trending fashions of the season. But, what went wrong? What made the society hostile and intolerant towards the current political setup where Pakistan is standing at the ‘make' or 'break' point?
One of the major contributing factors is the way regime change happened; this was not liked by the general public. They have expressed their anger through participation in large gatherings/demonstrations. Secondly, never in the history of Pakistan has a convicted person frequently convened official governmental level meetings outside Pakistan while the ruling Prime Minister acts as a minister. Thirdly, 60% of the current government ministers are either on bail or have criminal charges filed against them, yet they are sitting in the cabinet. Fourthly, the status of any state capital is considered holy when it comes to state decisions and policy-making processes; but under the current government, the status of Islamabad is reduced to a mere administrative center while London has become the political capital of Pakistan. The current Prime Minister, along with his cabinet, visited London to meet and seek guidance on political affairs from a person who has been convicted for crimes and is currently on bail for medical treatment purposes. What kind of messages are we trying to give to the general public across the world? Honestly, it serves as an ignition to the charged mob grievances.
Unfortunately, the state mechanism has come to a complete standstill where all institutions are silent spectators - watching anxiously this race to the bottom. At the moment the institutions are enjoying the decadence of the country and are treating the situation as if it pertains to a foreign country where decisions are taken in London about the life of Punjabis, Pakhtuns, Sindhis, Baloch, Gilgitis and Kashmiris. The fact of the matter is that every individual and institution will be affected by these crises and measures but how long can Pakistan sustain this hostile environment?
The current government is stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. Where it tries to minimize subsidies, the fragile economy is getting affected. If it goes to the IMF, the IMF conditions are lethal for the economy of Pakistan. Therefore, we cannot afford to have a cabinet and government in a place where it is unable to decide on the state affairs on time; every hour is critical. Also, the visit of the cabinet members to London to discuss state affairs was a costly decision, both financially and time-wise. Any sovereign state would love to keep its internal affairs limited to its capital territory; so should Pakistan.
With all of the above, Pakistan is heading towards a humanitarian crisis without a hot conflict. If this is issue remains neglected then the authorities have to take some bold steps. The polarized opinion across the country must be neutralized; however, the solution does not lie in silencing opinions or media crackdowns aimed at minimizing criticism. Hence, a permanent solution is required to minimize the gap between polarized opinions and the political divide.
The first step required is free, fair and transparent elections (if elections are manipulated the consequences will be severe), dissolution of the cabinet, placement of interim government and an interim budget until the new government is put in place. Reset Pakistan's economy without reliance on the IMF program because Pakistan’s economy cannot sustain itself under the strict conditions and shadow of the IMF program. Reforms need to be introduced in the judicial system to administer speedy justice. According to Churchill, if the courts are functional nothing can go wrong. Hence, in Pakistan, the roles of courts should be as desired.
Overall, the state should be above all and should control the levels of prosecution and law enforcement, where the law enforcement agencies should not wait/rely on FIR to act. But here the problem is that we have to clean the system of its ills first. Accountability and responsibility should be administered in every institution to address the abuse of power and misuse of authority.
The culture of corruption needs to be nipped in the bud otherwise Pakistan cannot come out of these crises. It's time to get rid of mafias - as all these mafias have secured their future abroad while the general public's only hope is Pakistan.
Maybe it is time to change the form of democratic government from parliamentary to presidential to introduce reforms and adjust existing laws to eliminate corruption, put the house in order and ensure that the institutions work as desired by the Constitution of Pakistan.
But unfortunately none of the above is possible without the help and support of the masses. We have to redesign the curriculum and introduce a syllabus to help produce a resilient nation that cannot be bent on wrong practices. We have to work on the ethical standard of our people and generate educated and moral characters, who consider duties and responsibilities as holy and spiritual. We have to produce good human beings who can easily differentiate between right and wrong decisions. If we think it is the job of institutions alone to fix our problem, we are absolutely wrong in our assessment. It begins at individual levels and reaches the institutional levels. The public should work on zero tolerance towards incompetence, and ill-gotten wealth, and stick to the formula of the right man for the right job. Unfortunately, there is a huge responsibility on the shoulders of the masses but they have to act like law enforcement would: work hard and fast, remain vigilant and fight to get our country on the right track. Let's contribute and build our country up stronger. Better now than to repent forever!