Daily Times

The first free and fair elections
of 1970 were disastrous for the Ayub lotas (turncoats). An honest ballot knocked out heavyweights like Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi, Chaudhry Muhammed Hussain, Anwar Bhinder, Yasin Wattoo, Ayub Khuro, Fazlul Qadir Chaudhry, Masood Sadiq, Yousaf Khattak, Mian Salahuddin, Ahmed Saeed Kirmani and Khawaja Sahabuddin to name a few. The election was contested on an ideological basis. The biggest losers were the right wing and establishment parties. The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) could only win four seats while the Awami League carried 160 out of 162 East Pakistan positions and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s PPP got 81 out of 138 from West Pakistan. The ballot finally prevailed.
Mubashir Hasan polled the highest number of votes in the country while Chaudhry Muhammad Hussain, despite his Aryan links, had his security deposit forfeited. It was the ablest elected house, mainly because of the credible electoral exercise. The 1970 ballot brought back memories of the 1940 Lahore Resolution after which the ‘Toadies’ joined the Muslim League in hordes. For their political survival the defeated lotas started to gyrate towards the left-of-centre PPP. By the next election in 1977, most lotas were able to manage tickets on Bhutto’s team. When crunch time came, they abandoned the Quaid-e-Awam to join the mullah rule of the third khaki dictator.
Ziaul Haq got rid of the progressives and created his own lotas like Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Mian Nawaz Sharif, Khawaja Safdar, Khawaja Asif, Yasin Wattoo, Manzoor Wattoo, Javed Hashmi, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Humayun Akhtar Khan, Jam Sadiq and Elahi Buksh Soomro. When Nawaz Sharif decided to be his own man and challenged his benefactors, the lotas became divided; some of them decided to join Pervez Musharraf’s bandwagon but he then went on to create his own lotas like Muhammad Ali Durrani, Jehangir Khan Tareen, Ghulam Sarwar, Zahid Hamid, Haroon Akhtar Khan, Pervez Elahi, Danial Aziz, Omer Ayub, Marvi Memon, Sikander Bosan, Awais Leghari, Nauroze Shakoor, Faisal Saleh Hayat, Rao Sikander, Sheikh Rashid and Ijazul Haq.
When the movement started against Musharraf, the lotas could not save him; as always they went for greener pastures and the dictator had to resign in disgrace. He is now trying for a political comeback through his All Pakistan Muslim League (APML). The lotas are now fighting for their political survival by joining all the major political parties. The PML-N initially refused to accept Musharraf’s lotas but when the PTI opened its doors they followed.
The lotas have succeeded in keeping the status quo by cornering the ideologues in all parties. The PPP is no longer a progressive party of the left. The PTI and ‘kaptaan’s’ integrity are being tainted by the lotas who surround him. While kaptaan generates hope for naya (new) Pakistan, the lotas dampen it. After dominating the political arena for over half a century (1958-2008) the ‘lota era’ is finally ending as change is inevitable. Lotas are no longer an asset; they have turned into a liability. Bhutto’s legacy, kaptaan’s integrity and Nawaz’s love of wealth can no longer bring the lotas back to life; they are a spent force and should be laid to rest like the Toadies for all times to come.
Politics require governance, which the Toadies and lotas cannot deliver. Another honest ballot can cleanse what remains of them. Kaptaan has been agitating for a credible election. The lotas in the midst create confusion. What if they manage to get elected under the PTI banner? It will be disastrous for the country and the party. Lotas have survived on the crutches of manipulated ballots; now if they make it through an honest ballot riding the kaptaan wave they may become untouchable. Such a scenario is worrisome for the comrades of change both within and outside the party. The lotas’ remnants have to be politically covered and annihilated. Ayub’s lotas have now aged or perished while Zia’s and Musharraf’s remain. I am sure the khakis too are not interested in them and desire to bring an end to the process of ‘lotacracy’.
Lota cleansing, not creation, is required and has been ongoing since 1958. An honest ballot is desirable but may not be enough to deal with 50 years of lotacracy. In that case, a mass disqualification process may be needed based on accountability. The election monitoring cell within the Inter-Services-Intelligence (ISI) has been collecting a lot of data. Winning elections through the manipulated ballot or phenomenal increase in assets after entering politics should be grounds for disqualification.
Hopefully, Operation Zarb-e-Azb will bring an end to the Talibanisation of the country. Once the security situation improves, focus can then shift to political cleansing and the rehabilitation of civilian institutions that have been weakened by corrupt and inept politicians.
A new dawn is on the horizon. Pakistan will re-emerge as a progressive, democratic state as envisioned by the founding fathers. Finally, the lota factories have been shut down and what remains will be weeded out. Some lessons have been learnt. An honest ballot in 2018 will provide a honourable exit to the lota union otherwise the consequences of their misdeeds may prove to be unbearable for them. Wealth alone with no public following cannot save their skin. A credible electoral exercise may be their only chance but the hardened lotas may miss this opportunity and land in dreaded waters from which there may be no retreat for them. It certainly is the end of the road for lotas and looteras (thieves) no matter which party they may be hiding in. Their spots are obvious and recognisable, their appeal almost gone. For lotacracy it is the end game while for Pakistan their political demise is a ray of hope.

The writer is ex-chairman of the Pakistan Science Foundation