Daily Times

Over the past several years, Pakistani politics have revolved around three main electoral slogans: bread, jobs and shelter. Lately, another two slogans — justice and honesty — have been incorporated into the list. With this, the job of politicians wooing voters has become an uphill task; politicians need to partake in introspection before they approach the voters.

Incidentally, the last two years have witnessed two external occurrences influencing Pakistan’s domestic situation. The first occurrence is the Arab Spring, which has aired the message that the Arabs demand liberty from the clutches of tyrants and that they are yearning for the fruits of democracy. The change in the thinking pattern of the Arabs is astonishing since Pakistanis have been told time and again that the former were happy to live under a controlled system of government patterned on the medieval ages’ governance, and that the same should be replicated in Pakistan by either a religious party or a military regime. The second incident that has spilled over into Pakistan is the anti-corruption stance taken by Anna Hazare in India. The stance depicts that corruption is also rampant in the state institutions of India, that people are weary of corruption and that people have developed a consensus to stamp out this corruption from society through legislation. Consequently, Pakistanis seem to have reached an accord that, if Pakistan is to make progress, all should defend democracy and that state institutions should be cleansed from the scourge of corruption.

To defend democracy, the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) on the Asghar Khan case is an opportunity for all politicians to implement it in letter and spirit. Mian Nawaz Sharif has expressed his willingness to subject himself to the investigations that will be conducted by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). The gesture is a good omen good for the democratic future of Pakistan. The 18th Amendment can produce no pro-democracy miracle in the future if the past is left untouched. By their statements aired hitherto in the media, General Aslam Beg and General Asad Durrani have confessed to obeying illegal orders given by the late Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the then president of Pakistan.

This development must be an eye-opener for General Pervez Musharraf who has ensconced himself in Dubai and London and still assumes that he is a leader who enjoys popularity. The hidden lesson here is that he also cannot escape the clutches of accountability. It is heard that General Musharraf is hopeful of his electoral victory from Chitral. What about General Rashid Qureshi, the second-in-command? What is his political future? As the army chief, General Musharraf enjoyed full command of the army; it is, therefore, astonishing to see how he is luring the youth of this country into voting for his party in the forthcoming elections. Instead of convincing mature Pakistanis of his political agenda, General Musharraf is banking on the youth who were children and teenagers when he sabotaged the political process in 1999. Today, the popularity of the party of General Musharraf is equal to that of the party of Sheikh Rashid — the poor guy who cannot win in his home constituency in Rawalpindi but is ambitious about launching electoral candidates in other constituencies including those in Lahore. One still wonders about the wisdom of Imran Khan who has allowed Sheikh Rashid to stick to him. The way General Musharraf tries to flatter the youth on live TV debates is an example for all those would-be military dictators on how easy it is for generals to wage wars and how difficult the arena of politics is.

To purge society of the plague of corruption, there has to be incongruity all around. The judiciary has secured independence and has been cleansing its lower rungs of corrupt elements. Contrarily, the legislature is oblivious of the import of keeping the corridors of power corruption free. The names of several renowned politicians from the treasury benches have been implicated in corruption scandals. If the legislature is ravaged with the blight of corruption, the executive cannot stay corruption free. Secondly, the executive cannot deliver on the honesty front if the legislature condones corruption. Unbridled corruption has not only marred the face of politics but has also rendered the executive inefficient and several state-run corporations bankrupt. Under the weight of corruption, Pakistanis are groaning with the pain of helplessness. This is how people like Imran Khan sneak onto the scene, proclaim politics and promise change.

The problem with Imran Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), is that it claims it will deliver on the anti-corruption front after winning the elections but not before it. Khan’s party has not yet developed its anti-corruption credentials. The party is relying on mere sloganeering. For instance, in any anti-corruption effort undertaken by anyone, Khan’s party has never supported that individual. Similarly, in any anti-corruption case in the court, Khan’s party has never become a party to the cause, hence strengthening anti-corruption elements in society and daunting corruption. Furthermore, his party has not managed to recover the looted money of the public.

One wonders on what grounds Mian Mehmood Rasheed, the city (Lahore) president of the PTI, dreams of sweeping Lahore in the next electoral contest. To replace the PML-N in Lahore is not child’s play. Shah Mehmood Qureshi remains busy dispensing foreign policy tips while Shafqat Mehmood is engrossed in giving domestic policy tips to Khan. The touchstone is not what the lofty anti-corruption policy of the PTI is but what it has practically done to eradicate corruption from society before it goes to the polls. In the past, corruption was the main ruse of the military to take over the political government. Corruption is still a weak point of the civilian government. The civil-military balance cannot be struck by only snubbing and punishing the generals. The floodgates of corruption have to be closed.

The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo.com