Is it any surprise that 12 out of 342 national assembly members are billionaires and many others are multi-millionaires in a country that is not only overwhelmed by poverty but also has to borrow just to survive? It seems we are forever condemned to be ruled over by either those who force their way into power or feudal lords, land lords, and industrial moguls. This culture of entitlement has become so deeply entrenched among the rich and power that together they toggle the system to make sure that their kind is protected. The elite of the ruling class has a fondness for sugar mills, for example, and do what they must to get government subsidies when exporting their product even at the cost of supply shortages in the home market.
Sadly this trend is not limited to parties that ruled in the decades since the 1990s and find themselves in opposition right now, but also includes the ruling party that made so much noise about real democracy and accountability. Everybody protests whenever democracy comes under even the slightest threat, especially all the political parties, yet nobody among them is bothered enough to introduce a democratic culture within the parties. It’s not just that we continue to be a country where families literally own parties and, during their times in office, the country but also that there doesn’t seem much of a chance for change in the foreseeable future.
Will we, then, forever be a country where millionaires and billionaires rule from Islamabad as the bulk of the population struggles endlessly on either side of the poverty line? The spirit of democracy lies in strengthening and empowering the working middle classes across societies so they can carve out policies that improve the space where most of the people live and work. That becomes simply impossible when the few in power live in a different financial universe than the people they are meant to govern. In order for Pakistan to have representative government in the true since, parliament would have to change from a billionaire boys club to a more serious place where the affairs of the state are settled and decided. For that, though, someone would have to stand the entire system on its head. And you can’t expect parliament in its present state to do that can you? *
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