The day of ‘electables'
Elections in Pakistan are not fought on the basis of any ideology or political values — and the 2018 elections are no different. Principles and issue-based politics take a back seat when it comes to power play. Election manifestos are designed only to comply with the mandate under the election rules.
One might have expected things to improve as the country completes the longest period of elected civilian rule and is about to make its second-consecutive transition from one elected government to another. Instead the campaign mostly revolves around the personalities of those involved and is getting nasty, with a focus on the character assassination of rival leaders.
There has not been any substantive debate on the critical political, economic and social issues confronting the country. Real issues affecting the common people are missing from the agenda. For younger and new voters, who comprise a large section of the electorate, there appears little promise of change.
There is no real conviction involved behind the hollow promises and targets. There is only a difference in shades among the political parties vying for power. Patronage is the name of the game and there is hardly any change in the complexion of the social background of the candidates.
Keeping up with tradition, political parties across the board have placed their bets on the so-called “electables” or influential locals. Notwithstanding a few exceptions, the candidates pitched by the mainstream parties belong to an elite that has dominated Pakistan’s political scene since its inception. The representation gets further restricted to few powerful families.
It is obvious that there is no desire among the political parties to change the status quo, notwithstanding some populist rhetoric. It is the season for switching allegiance to bet on the favorite horse in the race; turncoats and opportunists are greeted with open arms by political parties in the hope that they will help them to victory.
There are many political parties involved in the battle, but the main contest seems to be between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and the primary battleground is Pakistan’s biggest province, Punjab. Though PML-N, led by ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, appears to have an edge, PTI has also gained some momentum as election day approaches.
It is apparent that PML-N’s campaign revolves around the defense of the Sharif family. Though the party appears to be standing united behind the former prime minister, some cracks are visible in the ranks given Sharif’s no-holds-barred attack on the judiciary and security establishment.
There has not been any substantive debate this election season on the critical political, economic and social issues confronting the country.
Zahid Hussain
The veneer of an anti-establishment stance does not run too deep in the ranks of a party that has traditionally been on the right side of the security agencies. A major question for the party would be: is the country better off today than it was five years ago, when it returned to power for a third time?
To opponents, PML-N’s slogan — “give respect to voters” — is not really about the democratic rights of the electorate. In fact, it is driven by the sense of entitlement from an all-powerful dynastic leadership that considers itself above the law; one that has never given respect to the voters in its quest for the pedestal of power. “Respect for the voters” reminders are only issued when the law targets the leadership.
Meanwhile, PTI’s pledge to create a “Naya (new) Pakistan” is equally deceptive, given the party’s new face and ambiguous positions on key political and social issues. Even if there was a semblance of it being a party for change during the 2013 elections, that perception has vanished as political turncoats and opportunists now dominate its list of candidates. The confusion and growing discontent in the ranks is illustrative of a party losing its way.
One wonders where the promise of ending a dynastic political culture has gone. PTI’s list of candidates reads like a who’s who of some of the country’s most dubious political figures. Many PTI candidates were members of the treasury benches in the last parliament, which party leader Imran Khan accused of protecting the corrupt and refused to grace with his presence. Given the dynamics of constituency politics, the presence of a large number of “electables” might brighten the chances of the party in the coming elections, but there is little hope of it bringing any meaningful change to the system.
For sure, the coming elections are extremely important for strengthening the democratic political process in the country. But it is also imperative for political parties to make the electoral process more substantive. There is a need to change the political culture, which currently is detrimental to the improvement of democracy.
• Zahid Hussain is an award-winning journalist and author. He is a former scholar at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC, and a visiting fellow at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, and at the Stimson Center in Washington DC. Twitter: @hidhussain
