The whole idea of politics revolves around managing state affairs in the best possible manner to safeguard well-defined national interests. It is not all about grabbing the power to build and guard the private empires. Parliament has to be a sacred place where elected representatives are bound under oath to ponder upon national issues and policies. Unresolved toxic political polarization is the major reason behind perpetuating instability in Pakistan.
Assumption-based absolute stances adopted by mainstream parties have made our political practices non-productive. Much needed internal stability is an essential precondition to deal befittingly with looming threats on the external front. The worsening situation in Afghanistan, the complex unfolding in the Middle East, the nexus between banned terrorist outfits on account of cross-border terrorism, bilateral ties with a hostile neighbour India, acceleration on CPEC vis-à-vis balancing of ties with global players are few out of many such important issues which deserve the attention of the parties representing the nation in parliament. Recent disappointing events on the floor of parliament are a reflection of a non-serious attitude. Senseless verbosity must be substituted with sanity and a higher sense of responsibility.
Irrespective of the victory claims made by the ruling and opposition sides on parliamentary affairs, no sane mind feels satisfied with the quality of performance displayed by the lawmakers. Democracy, as a political order of the state, seems practically compromised by the parliamentarians. The onus of present democratic degradation falls on the shoulders of both ruling and opposition benches. The policy of pursuing personality-oriented goals at the cost of sensitive national issues needs introspection by political parties. Why our political parties are always reluctant to accept the victory of the opponents? Contesting political groups are doing everything except engaging with each other in constructive dialogue. This policy of no dialogue with political rivals is itself opposite to universally acknowledged democratic norms.
The nation wants similar enthusiastic participation from elected representatives in parliament which they regularly display in evening talk shows. At the moment opposition is busy in triggering controversies through social media campaigning. The focus of opposition in this round is more on economic deterioration, victimhood and the old rhetoric of rigged elections. While the government stands extremely vulnerable on account of unfulfilled promises about economic uplift and conclusive accountability, the opposition too has nothing valuable to offer as alternate cure for existing troubles. Vague criticism of the government without any workable solutions is enough to expose the hollowness of opposition benches. Neither the government nor the opposition displayed any seriousness in parliament to deliberate upon issues of public interest. Fiery speeches in the parliament about past martial laws entirely missed the essence of democracy because both sides wanted to demonize each other.
Obviously, the nation is now paying the price of the deep-rooted incompetence of the political elite. With such a heavy baggage of failures and shortcomings on their back, spokespersons of major political parties are using a provocative insolent tone. Besides deteriorating democratic norms, the ability to resolve the issues through dialogue is rapidly diminishing. The leadership of the PTI doesn’t feel like talking with the PMLN, PPP and MQM. Either side has nothing concrete to offer except verbosity and media optics. It is quite disappointing that ill-framed comments are passed with twisted historical context to entangle the state institutions in political controversies. The constitutional role of the institutions is very clear. The legal way of resolving election-related petitions is very much defined. In any way, ripples created on social media against state institutions are not the right course for any political party. In the middle of a political storm, positive signs emerged with the recent engagement of Chief Minister KP with the federal government on administrative issues.
This spirit should be kept alive to restore the lost political stability. Aggressive protests and mob charge on electric grid stations led by MPA and the local leadership of the ruling party in KP are telling a different story. Such unwise moves might fetch momentary public fame but in the longer run would further dent the stability. Elections are over! Now, it is time for political parties to fulfil their promises with ground performance.
For how long, a nation can be kept glued to the baseless political rhetoric? Economic deterioration and cross-border terrorism should be taken as the top most challenges in the parliament. Energies allocated to political controversies in the parliament are mere waste and a great deviation from constitutional binding. The tendency of covering up the governance inefficiencies with accusations and rhetoric has so far played hell with the country. It seems that a tournament of incompetence is being played in the political playground of Pakistan. It is about time to reset the priorities with a focus laid on well-defined national objectives.
