PAKISTAN DEMOCRACY A FAILURE?

PAKISTAN DAILY NEWS

Pakistani Democracy Has Drowned In The Floods
Posted by Ahmed Qureshi Local, Pakistan Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

These politicians have no idea how to solve the problems of the country. Moreover, these secular democrats have no popular domestic support and are dependent upon the patronage of their Western masters

It is abundantly clear that the so-called democrats of Pakistan are totally clueless as to how to look after the affairs of the people.

Whether it is external military aggression, a diplomatic slur, a natural disaster or providing a working infrastructure for the people, none of these politicians has any clue what to do. When Musharraf was in power these very same people said the problem was dictatorship and that democracy would solve the problems of the nation. They were deaf, dumb and blind to any other suggestion. Now they have their democracy, yet what have they done?

Is Zardari’s disregard for the plight of the common man due to a lack of democracy in the country? If this were a dictatorship then one could simply blame Zardari and say the man is rotten. However, Pakistan is a democracy and as such it is not just Zardari who is at fault. Where are the other political parties and ‘democratic’ institutions and ‘rights’ groups holding the government to account? Where are the great ‘checks and balances’ of democracy?

Is the impotence of the democratic parties in issuing a robust rebuttal to David Cameron’s remarks, or their inability to effectively contribute to disaster management of the floods, due to a lack of democracy? Where is our judiciary in holding these people to account?

Why is Zardari, Gilani, Sharif or any other of the so-called big shots of Pakistani politics unable to articulate a coherent defense of the country or a response to the floods to help the people?

Why has this and previous governments, dictatorial and democratic, not invested in early warning systems and strategic stores of medicines, food, water, tents and other supplies in robust warehouses across the country? Why they are not able to build contingency plans as part of disaster management for an event that is not unlikely given that the sub-continent has been famous for its monsoon rains for centuries?

How can our leaders afford lavish overseas trips with visits to 5-star hotels and restaurants in Paris and London and yet beg for aid from the whole world? Why are the politicians sitting comfortably in their sumptuous mansions whilst the people have lost their homes, their livestock and their property, have no food or clean water and are now being faced with the specter of cholera and other disease? What is the point of these secular democrats when all they know is how to beg everyone in the world, and then loot whatever is given?

The answer is simple: these politicians have no idea as to how to solve the problems of the country. Moreover, these secular democrats have no popular domestic support and are dependent upon the patronage of their Western masters.

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