A registered vote brings Winds of Change

A registered vote brings Winds of Change

As Pakistan gears up for upcoming elections, voters are reexamining their continual support for the two “old parties” of Pakistan. Alternative third parties like Tehreek-e-Insaaf are gaining popularity and thereby challenging the
PPP-PML-N dichotomy. With greater choices available to the voter, it is increasingly important to examine what rhetoric is being employed by parties in order to gain popular support.

Pakistan has a construct of political power in which parties like the ANP and MQM garner pockets of undying political support. Despite this substantial difference, the urban centers of Pakistan have been limited to either choosing
between the People’s Party and the Muslim League.

Both of these political parties have staked out their claim to represent liberalism and conservatism respectively. Unfortunately, neither party has adhered to its principles, as their greed for power was all-important leading to
both parties adopting the same stale political strategies.

After generations of having to choose between bad and worst, some voters are elated to see the growing prospect of third parties coming to power to challenge the status quo. In many ways, Pakistan’s Tehreek-I-Insaaf gained popularity
by appealing to the sense of frustration amongst the people that the political system has failed either due to incompetence, corruption, or undue influence. The dramatic rise of Mr. Khan’s party was certainly fueled by the economic meltdown and extended wars
which affected Pakistan.

Imran Khan, the leader of the PTI, has led an attack on the Peoples Party for its corruption and incapability. This quickly gained him supporters because it was a sentiment shared by many Pakistanis, considering the deplorable
state of the economy and security of the country. The power of these challenges is that the state of the nations is greatly deteriorating, and the old guard political parties have been either ignorant or unsuccessful in solving the problems confronting average
citizens. While it is a positive step for these political movements to shed light on the corruption and incompetence of our current leaders, political parties should also be able to articulate a positive response as to how the nation will move forward under
their leadership.

Though PTI has presented some positive solutions to Pakistan’s problems, their new cadre of “super-star” members like Shah Mehmood Qureshi, have focused exclusively on attacking the People’s Party government. Further, Mr. Khan’s
domestic and international policy has been definitively Anti-American, yet, it is hard to forecast what this will mean for Pakistan’s fight for survival against extremism.

Isaac Asimov said, “Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
Indeed, by continually attacking and negating the current political guard without presenting alternatives, these new parties seem to relish in their anti-intellectualism or as being “outsiders” of Islamabad. Though this may gain favor amongst a frustrated
public, these parties will not be able to evolve if they continue on a negativist path.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=5003

Posted by Momina Khan on Nov 29 2011. Filed under Opinion, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry