No, I will not vote for Imran Khan. Before my readers get upset, let me explain, Khan is not contesting from my constituency so I cannot vote for him. Since I don’t know any of the candidates from my area so I will be voting for a political party and not an individual. What will determine my vote is ‘ideology’. Sadly, when most Pakistanis think of ideology, all they can think of is the stuff they were taught in school as ‘Pakistan Ideology’. As far as that particular ideology is concerned that is a topic for another day. My vote will be based upon ideological concurrence with the political parties that offer candidates in my area. As I have said often enough, I am an old fashioned political liberal, however, it is important to differentiate between social liberals and political liberals. Social liberals populate the first many pages of the Sunday Magazine of this newspaper. Some of them might also be political liberals. Classical political liberalism that came out of the European ‘Enlightenment’ has been universally adopted by almost all ‘democratic’ countries as well as those political parties that call themselves ‘conservative’. Today, the ‘liberal’ concepts of participatory democracy, freedom of speech and the press, freedom to practice religion of your choice, freedom of association and freedom to pursue a trade or a profession are all accepted as the basis of modern democracies. Also, all governments are not only expected to protect these ‘rights’ but are also expected to provide law and order, basic infrastructure and basic amenities. So what then separates ‘conservatives’ from ‘liberals’? In my opinion at least, it is more a matter of emphasis and the question of how important the role of government is in the lives of people. And what is the extent of ‘safety network’ that a government must provide or at least try to provide? In a poor country like Pakistan, the role of government is much more important than it is in wealthy countries of the west and some oil and resource-rich countries elsewhere. The single most important function of any government in a developing country is ‘poverty alleviation’. Here the modern liberals and modern conservatives have a divergence of opinion. The conservatives believe that free markets and industrial development is the key, that a ‘rising tide’ lifts all boats. Liberals agree to a point but also insist that during this period of a rising tide, there must be an adequate social safety network in place that protects workers and those that are not in a position to take advantage of industrial development. So, as a corollary, liberals believe in strengthening trade unions to provide protection, better working conditions and better pay for workers. Liberals believe in a progressive income tax that allows some income redistribution and also provides the government with money with which it can provide greater facilities for the poor that include free or almost free education, healthcare and subsidised access to things like gas, power, transportation, food and clothing where needed. Also when it comes to freedom of markets, liberals believe that the government has an important regulatory role. In essence, liberals believe that ‘wealth creation’ that does not benefit the poor is morally indefensible. Besides these ‘economic’ points of view liberals also believe that religion and personal behaviour are private matters and that the ‘state’ does not have a right to interfere in those things that do not pose a threat to other people. It is this point of view where social and political liberals agree and it is this particular aspect of liberalism that many of the socially conservative and religiously inclined people find the most difficult to accept. It is this tussle between social liberalism and social conservatism that makes the type of education provided to our children and young people a ‘political football’. Education must be based on facts and not preconceived notions of historicity or religiosity. Many liberals in Pakistan excessively emphasise their support for ‘secularism’. Whichever way we might define secularism, the fact remains that Pakistan will not become a secular state anytime in the foreseeable future. Therefore, I at least do not advocate secularism but rather the concept of ‘pluralism’ that expects that all people of faith respect all other people of faith and accept the possibility that those that follow a different religion or a different interpretation of the same religion might also have a valid point of view. The goal must not be just ‘toleration’ but ‘acceptance’. Then there are some ‘softer’ aspects of liberalism that seem less important but are vital for a prosperous and safe future. Of these the most important is a belief in the sanctity of the environment. This encompasses basic things like proper city planning, better methods of agriculture, improved sanitation, water conservation and, of course, the issue of global warming. For a developing country like Pakistan where the first priority of all policy makers is industrial development and poverty alleviation, development at any cost seems appropriate. But this is a false premise. Development must proceed with an eye on the environment. Renewable energy rather that dependence on ‘fossil fuels’ must be a priority. The important thing to remember is that in a country like ours, many social conservatives can be political liberals and social liberals can be political conservatives. I am willing to venture that most of our social liberals happen to be political conservatives that believe in the idea of wealth creation as a primary goal rather than in narrowing the ‘income gap’ between the rich and the poor. Frankly, in a poor country like Pakistan, social liberalism is often the conceit of the rich and the well-to-do. In a week from today when I go out to cast my vote, my choice will be between the centre right conservative Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the centre left, avowedly liberal Pakistan People’s Party and the Islamist populist, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. The writer has practised and taught medicine in the US. He can be reached at smhmbbs70@yahoo.com