Perpetuating the Feudal Democracy
By Riaz Haq
CA
In spite of its claims to the contrary, the Bhutto family's private jagir (property) of Pakistan People's Party has been instrumental in preserving the feudal system in Pakistan, through perpetuation of its feudal democracy, controlled by the largest landowners in Sind and Punjab.
Z.A. Bhutto's nationalization in the 1970s was the biggest culprit that stymied industrialization of Pakistan and the growth of the middle class, while it preserved the feudal system. Bhutto emasculated the industrialists who encouraged better education and skills development for workers, while feudal rulers continued to take toll on the rural poor living on their lands who remained their slaves and submissively continued to vote their feudal lords into power in the name of democracy.
The Bhutto era nationalization has left such deep scars on the psyche of Pakistani industrialists that, to this day, they are not willing to make long-term investments in big industrial projects with long gestation periods.
To perpetuate the feudal system in the name of democracy, the PPP has a new prince, Prince Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. He is being heavily used and abused to promote the interests of the current incompetent and corrupt leadership, and to ensure that PPP remains in power to serve the feudal elite under the guise of democracy.
The military governments have, on the contrary, been more pro-industrialization because the military elite benefits from the manufacturing sector as much as it does from real estate and agriculture sectors.
I am disappointed that the military, particularly President Musharraf, did not dismantle the feudal system when they had a chance. Instead, to respond to external pressure from the West, the military dictators, including General Musharraf, bought off some of the PPP or PML feudals, held elections and created the facade of democracy. This allowed the feudals to continue to dominate Pakistan's political landscape under both military and civilian governments.
However, over the decades, Pakistani economy has consistently performed better and created a lot more jobs during military rule than under the PPP or the PML "democratic" governments. These new jobs have helped tens of millions in the rural areas with the option to leave the life of slavery on the farms to get jobs in cities in the industrial and services sectors of the economy.
Pakistan's average economic growth rate was 6.8% in the 60s (Gen. Ayub Khan), 4.5% in the 70s(Zulfikar Bhutto), 6.5% in the 80s (Gen. Zia ul-Haq), and 4.8% in the 90s (Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif). Growth picked up momentum in the 21st Century under General Musharraf, and from 2000-2007, Pakistan's economy grew at an average 7.5%, making it the third fastest growing economy in Asia after China and India. Two to three million new jobs were created each year from 2000-2007, which significantly enlarged the middle class, and helped millions escape poverty. www.riazhaq.com
