Daily Times

The Filthy Politics Competition (FPC) has ended in a draw for the year 2010 and thus the start of 2011 is even more cutthroat. So far, it has been the most evenly contested competition with each competitor continuously raising the bar and standards of splashing mud and dirt. Accusing and abusing, the creation of new foul language, innovative soundtracks and destructive body language surpassed all levels of discourtesy and indecency. Aside from devastating verbal wars, physical wrangling was also witnessed with little regard to the time and place of such occurrences. This fiercely fought war of mud-slinging was duly contested, with all parties ending with highest distinctions in dishonour. Politics brings out the worst in the worst. All parties are now out with daggers drawn, trying to deliver the final kill. Manoeuvres to bring down your opponents are an age-old strategy that is bound to be counter-productive in the long run. But then the common characteristic of all these parties is a short-term, shortcut approach, where all is fair in the war for maximum power.

Democracy has been politically short-circuited many times in the past. Both the PPP and PML-N have had two year stints to manage the country twice before and have made a mess of it each time. Thus, the very fact that the PPP is considering itself third time lucky and has almost completed three years is a big feat in itself. However, these three years have not been possible on the basis of a better performance but due to an equally bad performance by the opposition party, and thus the public finds little to choose from in all the contestants. Each party has a track record of corruption and mismanagement and each has a tainted past where the leaders are either on the NRO list or some other criminal most wanted list. The PPP came into power for reasons unmerited. It was a typically irrational decision by the public to give the PPP a sympathy vote as compensation for the tragic death of Benazir Bhutto. Zardari’s gate-crashing into the party after having not been even remotely connected to it for decades is testimony to the lack of leadership existing in the PPP ranks post-Benazir. To dilute the deep scars on his political image, he uses the Bhutto brand name as an image-enhancement strategy without realising that no brand can retain its market without track performance. He has done more damage to the Bhutto and PPP brand name than the opposition; even the strongest of PPP supporters are now hanging their heads in shame at the sad debacle of a party that, for a long time, was the only party formed on an ideology in Pakistan. Surrounded by loud and screaming cronies like the Sindh minister of interior, the information secretary and many others, the party’s representation has turned into a bunch of insecure yellers whose only strategy is to out-noise all opposition.

The PML-N, perhaps, has played the worst game. They were the surprise pack of 2008. Again, the vote was not so much for them as against the PML-Q. However, given this golden opportunity, they could have really turned the tables on the PPP. They have been busy playing friends and foes with everybody and are now disastrously close to a complete credibility gap. They talk loud and then whimper when it comes to action. The reason being that their own cupboard is overloaded with skeletons of the same kind as their opponents. To make matters worse, the performance of Punjab under its supposed trump card, Shahbaz Sharif, has badly bombed. The Punjab government is also reeking of corruption and economic desperation. The emotional and impulsive decision-making style of the two brothers has made them look weak and immature. They are now recognised as B-movie actors whose stance for and against a policy or party is only a ruse to bolster their falling popularity. Their counter-attacks on other parties are just a tactic to take the searchlight off their own deviation from commitments and solemn declarations. The recent drama of a 45-day notice to the government has a familiar time buy-out ring to it.

While the bigger parties fumble and fall, the smaller parties tease and torment. The JUI-F and MQM have stolen centre-stage from these bigger parties by fully exploiting their weaknesses. The JUI-F, which has single digit representation in the assembly but had two ministries, has initiated a process of ‘Do what we say or else’, and the MQM followed suit. These parties love their power over the government and are pretending to sacrifice their positions on a principled stance, but the obvious truth for them to get more benefits for themselves is an open secret. The MQM is perhaps the most organised party, with representatives who are trained and educated in the art of public speaking. However, their retaliatory matches with the PML-N and Zulfiqar Mirza have exposed their venom and toxic intent. Thus, it is truly a parliamentary circus where the political acrobatics of our chosen representatives may make the breaking news and talk show viewerships soar but have made the public aware of the hollowness of their claims and the depth of their rottenness.

This absorbing serial episode of who is talking to whom has completely taken over the miseries of the people of this country. Load shedding has resumed with a vengeance, gas outages have made the warming of food or bodies a luxury, petrol prices have made the cost of living exorbitant and deficits and shortages of all sorts are looming large in our economy. With the government and opposition playing musical chairs, who cares about the agony of the masses freezing to sickness, lawlessness, crimes flourishing at an unprecedented rate and an exodus of hope, creating mass frustration and negativity? Talk of changing the prime minister is no solution as the successor is sure to carry the same viruses. What we need is not a change of names or faces but a complete change of the type of people who have monopolised politics in this country. The people of this country must decide that bringing in fresh faces completely disconnected with the present set-up is the only logical way to change the fate of this country.

The writer is a consultant and can be reached at andleeb.abbas1@gmail.com