Daily Times

So far ‘conflicts’ are not seen as an opportunity in Pakistan, they are beneficial to test the nerves, tenacity and ability of the conflicting parties to agree to disagree. After all, human beings are all about competing interests and aspirations. So, what was the big deal about those who could not choose a caretaker prime minister (PM)? That the politicians at the parliamentary level failed to reach a consensus on a clean and noncontroversial PM signalled the existence of a deep division between the ruling and the main opposition party in the previous setup. That the PPP and PML-N being the largest forces in the outgoing parliament were apprehensive about each other’s intentions and feared handing over the seat of the highest command to the other. Hence, the deadlock was considered a reminder that politicians have been more inclined to save their interests rather than find someone who could have best served the nation. This was the general perception held by the majority.

The impartiality of the caretaker setup is considered to be the first step towards free, fair and impartial elections. The onus on the interim setup headed by the prime minister and the chief ministers is huge, given the fact that it is the first time in the history of Pakistan’s truncated democratic journey that a civilian government has completed its term. The ghoul of intervening forces, emanating from the army compounds or the so-called enemies of democracy, in the name of civilians’ failure to converge on common interests, were quickly spotted by media, which had grown impatient with the politicians’ wheeling dealing. We did indeed witness some of the least desirable scenes in the drama that ensued as soon as the countdown to install caretaker setup began. For five years Balochistan did not hear a single voice of opposition while the death rattle reverberated through the region. The powers that be, the queue to the opposition bandwagon thickened to the run up to the Balochistan assembly’s dissolution. The MQM unfolded its desire to shift places much before the Sindh Assembly’s dissolution; becoming an opposition was now more conducive. In Punjab, the hunt for the CM has been indicative again of the trust deficit between the PML-N and PPP. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa fared better by getting through the caretaker choice without dragging their feet on non-issues.

What appeared, however, at the heart of the indecisive, non-consensual and discordant attitude over the selection of caretaker setup at the centre has been a lack of trust. And the media, having thrown aside all that it had in the name of ethics, ramped up this discord and predicted eventualities unless the politicians learn how to resolve issues of national importance. Politics by its nature is a game of possibilities. The constitutional provisions through the 18th amendment on the selection of caretaker PM and CM, has been drafted keeping the same in mind. So what if the matter could not be resolved among the parliamentarians who form the governing and opposition benches and if the matter had been referred to the Election Commission of Pakistan? What is so odd if both the PML-N and the PPP found it hard to look through each other’s candidate without suspicions? That the matter has been resolved and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has taken the role of the ultimate trouble-shooter in itself is a success of democracy. The discord and then the ability of our politicians to have complete faith in the ECP is not a small feat that we have forgotten to celebrate in our usual behaviour to pick holes in politics to sell our small narratives. We have been witness to truncated democracy all through 65 years. The PML-N and PPP for 10 years in a row have been putting each other on the mat, in turn getting the same treatment from their saviours in Rawalpindi; the trails would take time to vanish. At least, we have come of age to understand our obligation to democracy by preparing for elections in time. It is an indication of political maturity. The problem is that as Pakistan has not moved from the definition of a minimal state, its citizens lack the ability to grasp democracy as a support system that survives on various mechanisms, and one being the elections.

In order for the state to fully rehabilitate from the crisis of mismanagement, it has to reconnect itself with the citizens. Democracy is all about representation. Public send their representatives to parliament to present their case, so that they could have a peaceful and liveable life, for which they contribute through taxes. Parliamentarians communicate with their voters, pass on their message to the state and work on the policy frameworks that best suits and serve the public. Presently, this nexus is not only weak wherever little it exists, but in most of the cases is non-existent. Look at the state of things in the frontier regions of this country, the result of a broken state-citizen relationship. This communication gap is a major reason for our low tax to GDP ratio, and has been the outcome of being for a long time an aid-dependent country. The next government would need to focus on this paradigm.

People in Pakistan are loathe to consider democracy a solution to their problems. Any alternative system would be accepted provided it takes off the misery of power breakdown, incessant inflation and destroying civil values. Again, this sense of hopelessness is reflective of incomplete understanding of democracy, a typical example of losing sight of the forest for the trees. The last five years have been extraordinary. The fundamental rights of the people were broached and debated in the courts of law, on television and other media outlets. Nobody was incarcerated for defending his right or for protesting against the system. Many things have been redefined during this period: the role of the judiciary, media, parliament and the Election Commission of Pakistan. Proactive as most of these institutions have been, their influence on taking the lid off from the worst among us will serve in redefining the contours of democracy in coming years. The future of democracy in Pakistan will either belong to good governance or, God forbid, we might plunge into a long dark era of gnawing silence, only to emerge once purged of the rogue elements within us. For the time being, rest assured, conflicts are healthy, more so if arising among politicians.

The writer is an Assistant Editor at Daily Times. She can be reached at durdananajam1@gmail.com