By: Asem Mustafa
Pakistani politicians with no ethics are at daggers drawn and everyone is out to make the kill. As the saying goes ‘he who rules Punjab rules Pakistan’ and Punjab is embroiled in bitter politics.
Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar received a farewell party Monday but after his resignation a few days ago, the country and Punjab province, in particular, have been embroiled in acrimonious politics where the masses are just sitting back and watching.
Chaudhry Parvaiz Elahi is contesting for the Chief Minister slot and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has endorsed and backing his campaign.
Prime Minister Imran Khan who from Monday holds the status of caretaker prime minister owing to an ongoing political ruckus in the national arena is faced with political opponents with extreme ideological differences.
Imran Khan is taking it all heads on from Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples Party and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazal-ur-Rehman.
The topsy-turvy political scene has made voters looking at the ‘untouchable electable’ who always jump ship when they see there is no more gains.
The sad state of affairs, in national politics, have made people indifferent to the slogans which have been aired for decades.
The crowds are gathered on one pretext or the other and money is dished out besides taking oaths and all this political maneuvering and influencing the voters has been recorded.
The question remains when such incidents are happening and getting reported where is Election Commission of Pakistan.
People believe like these incidents when money changes hands same thing happens where graft is applied in a different way to hush up the matter.
The parliament act more of a debating club and not all participate but when there is whiff of change these very politicians come out from their hibernation and start making their weight count.
This unethical practice by the ‘so called politicians’ while jumping boats is termed as a slap on the face of the voters who elected the ‘very representative’ with the belief that the bearer of change will change the fortunes for them.
Pakistan in seventy five years has faced so much of turmoil and people who are off the same age as that of nation have lost hope and the very same sadness and dejection has travelled down through their genes to the next generation and the generation after.
The two examples quoted by the commoners are of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who was hanged over four decades ago and off the Imran Khan who is faced with the descendants of the very opposition who was against Bhutto.
The public has this view that these electable only follow the cash and have no morals. The countless cases against the political elite have been going on for decades and their teams of lawyers are paid to make the case linger on for decades. The law existing in papers says and mention speedy justice but in the cases concerning commoners and political big wigs the difference is clear. Justice just doesn’t happen at all and for commoner, it stays a light-year away.
The government and the opposition parties are knocking on the door of every possibility where they have the slightest hope of support.
Surprisingly, not long ago all every political party claimed to be constitutional and democratic with no room of cheats. The tactics implied in political maneuvering used during the no-confidence motion has left a lot to be desired from the political stalwarts who have governed the millions in the past and still has aspirations to do it.
The question remains as why those who enforced parliamentary democracy failed to date to create a system to protect it. The system at present preached and practiced by all in power hasn’t changed the ruling party does all the arm twisting against it opponents while the actual law only exists in the documents which only gather the dust.
In reality, the sad truth is that no party, no government at the grassroots level wants to enforce the law. The role of the parliament and the people’s representatives sitting in it is not enough to change this failed face of the state where politicians switch sides whenever they see the changing tides.
The PTI came to power by promising to change the system that the common man was not happy with and the promises despite PTI’s efforts were not all fulfilled giving the opposition a chance to add fuel to public resentment.
The other side of the story is the mandate PTI got that was insufficient to make the rules that were supposed to change the fortune for the masses for the desired revolution.
Imran Khan as Prime Minister made many revolutionary steps and faced backlash from the opposition parties but his approach in making the voice of Pakistan heard at the global level did make an impact and the list of his contributions for Pakistan are tremendous.
The turmoil for Prime Minister started when he went all out for backing Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar who was somehow not liked by the PTI’s members in Punjab resulting in the disintegration of the party.
The writer is a Special Correspondent at The Dayspring