Benazir`s Will and Democracy
By Dr Nazir Khaja
Los Angeles, CA
In the wake of the heinous assassination of Benazir Bhutto Pakistanis understandably are focused entirely on the question of who killed her rather than focusing on the more important question of how Pakistan will survive. While it is essential that the killers of Benazir be brought to justice yet after her death, for the people of Pakistan the work of keeping democracy alive must now take precedence.
Sadly given the conditions that prevail in Pakistan, the question that looms even larger now than before is whether democracy can ever find a foothold and grow in that country.
At no other time, in its history except during the days in 1971 when the country broke-up and East Pakistan became Bangladesh has the country faced such internal turmoil and possibility of further break-up. The important question is whether the masses in Pakistan are ready for democracy and also whether the leaders are committed to bring in true rather than sham democracy.
The challenge that Pakistan faces is to end the repeated cycle of Army rule and move towards a functioning democracy and not a dysfunctional one, which will yet again ensure another round of military rule.
All party leaders now contesting the forthcoming elections claim to be the champions of democracy and yet their track record belies this claim. The political culture not having evolved since Pakistan's` birth in 1947 has remained bound to anti-democratic practices and norms.
Benazir`s own last will and actions shad ample lights on the understanding and application of democracy in Pakistan.
The feudal nature of Pakistan and its political system could not be clearer in the appointment of Benazir's husband Asif Zardari and teenage son Bilawal as the leaders of the party her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto created. The Bhutto family are part of the feudal elite and they treat the party with the same aristocratic sense of entitlement that comes with owning great tracts of the country. What sort of democracy or political party is it that would allow the teenage son take over the party 'guided' by his father who is commonly perceived as corrupt? For late Benazir to have given instructions about the leadership of the party in her will surely cannot be deemed as a democratic step, no matter what spin is applied to sell it. It is already being argued by some that is the best thing for Pakistan. Some support the idea by arguing that "this is in line with South Asia's traditions - where individuals and their backgrounds are often deemed more important than institutions because of the public's emotional ties to charismatic leaders".
This whole episode symbolizes the lack of democracy in Pakistan. Until today landowning remains the principal social base from which politicians emerge and like the rest of the feudal landowners the Bhuttos expect the people to vote for their chosen candidate. As writer Ahmed Rashid put it: 'In some constituencies, if the feudals put up their dog as a candidate, that dog would get elected with 99per cent of the vote.' It has been forgotten that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the incompetent Prime Minister whose bungling finally destroyed any hope of keeping what is now Bangladesh part of Pakistan.
The resultant chaos in Pakistan is due to a legacy of anti-democratic practices and continued political unrest as a result of failed policies and blunders by the Musharraf government leaves Pakistan at the edge. With the rise of militancy within Pakistan and the region and the widening perverse influence of religious extremism, Pakistan seems ill prepared to face the challenges and needs support from within and outside.
It may be that Pakistan People Party (PPP) will sweep the elections whenever they are held in the near future, benefiting from an additional sympathy vote all across the country and yet the example of the succession process within the Peoples` party does not augur well for an enduring democracy in Pakistan. It is indeed a giant leap of faith for anyone familiar with Pakistan's history and its` leaders to come to believe that it is in the repertoire of Benazir`s husband Mr.Asif Zardari to nurture and grow democracy in Pakistan.
Unfortunately it seems for the foreseeable future the quest of Pakistan's` people for the Holy Grail - democracy, will have to continue!
nazir.khaja@gmail.com
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