Daily Times

Politics is often described as being aggressive, feisty, vibrant, vivacious, colourful, controversial, contentious, notorious, debatable, provocative, confrontational, all of that and more. It all depends on which side of the spectrum we stand, and there is a perspective, always. Ask millions of people what is wrong with Pakistan’s politics, and we will get millions of perspectives. That, in itself, tells a story.

People confuse politics with governance. That’s not true. Politics is the means to effect change. However, it is at the core of people’s participation in deciding who governs them and how. Governance is for administrators and bureaucracy; politics is for people’s representatives. People don’t really indulge in politics, they indulge in making political choices and gather groups that agree with them to elect the leader of their choice. Politics is what the leaders indulge in before and after being elected.

The politicians don’t serve the people; they serve themselves. This is the common mindset of elected politicians. Many of the political persons entering the political arena have already made their fortune or inherited it. So what typically drives them is a lust for power, prestige, status, and authority. Power and authority are more addictive than heroin. Those who have been once intoxicated with power and have derived any emolument from it can never willingly abandon it. Politicians have no interest in the betterment of public, and they generally do the right thing only when all other options are exhausted.

The problem isn’t the abuse of power; it’s the power to abuse. This is what’s happening in our country. After the judicial murder of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, it is the first time that politicians have to face the difficulties against their criminal activities which they performed to exploit the resources of Pakistan and even its people.

Most of the public has the awareness that politician’s favourite hobby is to tell a lie all the time. A politician’s mindset is focused on building a bridge even when there is no river. The politician is a type of creature known for its predisposition to lie, exaggerate, embellish, and use all kinds of hysterical or bombastic attention-getting. Political speeches and writings are largely the defences of the indefensible. Thus, political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging, and sheer cloudy vagueness. Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful. This is what we are watching, listening and reading daily through the media. This is the right route to make the masses fool and set their minds accordingly.

Extreme forms of lying, like compulsive lying, may be indicative of an underlying personality disorder. So such crooked politicians have the mental diseases. Let’s assume politicians aren’t abnormal in this way, and that they are just normal people who are in an environment that rewards lying. Is there any way to keep them honest? Politicians are notoriously economically illiterate. Just look at our politicians and analyse that how many of them even know the meaning of economics. This is the worst thing of the system. Ethically, politics is never a profession or a business, but in Pakistan, it has become the most lucrative, powerful and profitable business as well as a profession.

When will Pakistan’s public wake up and realise that most politicians are nothing more than glorified gangsters, who view the government as nothing but a fiercely-guarded monopoly on every form of compulsion and extortion to be perpetrated in a specific geographical area?

In fact, much of their pompous demeanour and arrogant behaviour is inextricably tied to this inflated sense of self-stemming from their political tenure. Curiously, even when they piously tout their religious convictions, it’s done with such extravagant show that rather than reflect any sense of humility or submission, it betrays a smug grandiosity (as in, “I’ve received a message from Allah that this country needs my services and that I should, therefore, run the system”). This is unbelievable, but the innocents believe in it.

While they may delude themselves that their country sorely requires their unique talents and skills, they experience little motivation to serve the citizenry as such. They have won their position primarily to serve themselves, and they can do so almost obsessively. The saying ‘promises are made to be broken’ rings particularly true for them. It’s become almost a joke that the devout pledges they make on the campaign trail bear only trifling resemblance to what they do once in office. The ability to convince voters that they’ll best represent their interests is what defines their success. In short, their campaigns measure how well they can dupe the public, not how well they’ll fulfil their responsibilities once declared victorious.

When will Pakistan’s public wake up and realise that most politicians are nothing more than glorified gangsters who view government as simply a fiercely-guarded monopoly on every form of compulsion and extortion to be perpetrated in a specific geographical area? Why do we think the largest amounts of ‘foreign aid’ extracted from the gullible diplomats of wealthier countries wind up in those politicians’ pockets or Swiss bank accounts or offshore companies, despite all the virtuous sounding rhetoric?

One of the primary characteristics of these politicians is their exaggerated sense of entitlement. It’s hardly surprising then that so many politicians somehow think they ‘deserve’ to game the system. They use to call it their right. This is what’s going on in our country. Lotacracy is the example of their interest to serve the nation.

Pakistan has significant resources and has attractive geostrategic position, but we are behind even many under-developed countries. The reason is the vested interests of our political elite. Constitutional amendment should be based on; no business person can be politician, only one person from one family can participate in elections, lotacracy must be banned, public funds should be under the control of institutions rather on the discretion of only elected members, a politician can only participate twice in elections in his whole life, 80 percent attendance in upper and lower house must be compelled otherwise they have to pay the heavy fines, punishments must be promulgated for those politicians who speak lies in public meetings or speeches and finally, they must be well educated, good communicators, planner and having sound knowledge of what’s going on in the world.

The writer is PhD Scholar in Media and Crime and can be reached at fastian.mentor@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, May 15^th 2018.