The opposition leaders formed the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA). Its no-holds-barred offensive election campaign poisoned the political landscape of the country. Their public insinuation that Late Bhutto was the illegitimate son of Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto was the most deplorable and despicable political and moral bankruptcy on the part of certain PNA stalwarts. The PNA leaders were deluded by their successful public meetings in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar into believing that their victory in the elections was around the corner though all the seasoned and nonpartisan analyses were predicting a clear edge for the ruling PPP.
The political leadership remained bitterly divided over the outcome of the elections of 1977 with the trust deficit between the opposing camps plummeting to the lowest. Attempts made by Z A Bhutto to break the deadlock through talks failed. This plunged the country into a long spell of dictatorship. With the advent of dictator Zia-ul-Haq, the country lost whatever semblance of integrity, dignity, secular convictions and religious tolerance we have had in our national life. Gradually engulfing the society were corruption, sectarian bigotry, political fragmentation, institutional degradation, suppression of expression and assemblage that turned the country into a concentration camp.
While Bhutto was fighting the battle of his life against the judiciary with his followers braving the tyranny of the military administration, the PNA leaders, as put by dictator Zia himself, were salivating for crumbs of political power. No political leader of any worth intervened with General Zia for the life of Late Bhutto. Rather, some of them publicly supported what stared the fallen man in the face. They erroneously thought their political salvation remained in the physical elimination of Bhutto, whom they could not face in the political and electoral arena. This was a classic display of apathy and callousness on the part of our political leadership. Soon after the judicial murder of Bhutto, the PNA was ignominiously shown the door.
The military government held nonparty elections in the country. It was difficult to rein in the unbridled elected legislators. This gave birth to the “lotacracy.” The corruption was officially encouraged by granting heavy amounts to legislators for constituency-based development works. This political bribe was simply aimed at controlling the loyalties of the so-called public representatives elected on a nonparty basis. This ominous practice soon became a norm and continues to feature in our political life. There has never been an audit of these funds. It is generally believed these funds are mostly embezzled.
The political leadership remained bitterly divided over the outcome of the elections of 1977 with the trust deficit between the opposing camps plummeting to the lowest.
The spate of violence in our society dates back to the past military governments. Balochistan has borne the brunt of this violence braving three military operations. This has enormously weakened our federal bonds. This should have long ago come to a negotiated end in any democratic state. We can also do it provided we show resolve to learn from our past unwelcome blunders. We have always pinned hopes on the handpicked provincial administrations to solve the problem without giving them the needed leeway to play any result-oriented role. This is the bitter fact that we may recognize the sooner the better.
The foul language we find in our political discourse today would pale into insignificance if compared with the offending insinuations and vituperative speeches of the mid-1970s. There was a repeat of this bad political vocabulary in the successive post-Zia elections. No abusive language and humiliating tactics were spared to discredit the Bhutto ladies. Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto, being a highly educated and sophisticated lady, could not reply to her political opponents on the same coin. This aggressive and foul language even echoed in the premises of the National Assembly in the 1990s to the peril of healthy debate. On top of all, our politicians were willing abettors in the spectacle of musical chairs at the behest of the establishment.
The post-Musharraf era also did not witness any political maturity among our political lot despite the tall claims made in the “Charter of Democracy.” The political leadership did not resist the unconstitutional interference in civilian governance by the establishment. The mainstream political parties were played off against each other; forcing the sitting governments to squander all their political and administrative resources on survivability instead of addressing the pressing problems of the country. We have travelled a long circle and returned to the political situation of the mid-1970s. Today, the situation is more distressful, with our politicians showing no sign of remorse for the political and economic mess they have pushed the country into by acquiescing in the political experiments of the establishment.
The past few years have been an era of utmost despair and disillusion. It seems the country is under siege from within. The voices of dissent are throttled; the media remains suppressed; the political gerrymandering has scaled up to an unprecedented level; the leaders of a political party from top to activists have been subjected to the worst state coercion with hundreds of criminal and terrorist cases registered against them in every nook and cranny of the country. As in the past, the use of such coercive power would, in the final analysis, backfire.
This country has suffered a lot at the hands of our ruling elite who have been disproportionately using the state resources to their advantage living in a flashy world – poles apart from the sufferings of the common populace that has always been hit hard by the frequency and intensity of political and economic crises. The country needs a holistic political approach to claw back to political normalcy and economic takeoff.
Notwithstanding the controversy over the outcome of the elections, it is heartening that the PTI has joined the process of transition to the new democratic dispensation. Its grievances about the ‘engineered’ electoral outcome could be addressed through the existing legal and judicial processes. Learning from past mistakes, the ruling coalition should initiate a process of reconciliation in the larger interests of the nation.
The ‘King of Reconciliation’ occupying the Presidency may consider taking the lead.
The author was a member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and he has authored two books.