Democracy is a social state in which everyone must have equal rights without hereditary or arbitrary differences of rank or privilege. In a truly democratic State, the entire population shares the same goals and objectives to realize its genuine aspirations of living in an environment of freedom and participation in government at all levels. Even given these simple yardsticks, there is quite some ambiguity and confusion about the practice of democracy in Pakistan. Our politicians insist that democracy is the answer to all our problems, that is true if it really means government of and by the people.
Every adult vote must be cast freely to be meaningful, but would it still represent the aspirations of the majority of the people? Or do the vast multitude simply remain a “great silent majority” frustrated about their aspirations for governance? Instead of the will of the majority, we are hostage in Pakistan to a farce dominated by a powerful minority consisting of family dynasties, special interest groups, etc. Our major problems stem from ‘imperfect’ democracies and living in total denial about its farcical practice in the country.
Democracy being about engagement, empowerment and participation, the peoples must be involved in governance at the grassroots level. Government must function from the ground up, providing governance at the doorstep of the populace on a continuing and daily basis. Democracy having politicians and public officials involved in governance in isolation is a farce. As in many other countries, citizen participation is limited in Pakistan to the Election Day and the campaign building upto it, their actual involvement in governance thereafter is non-existent.
Being the core unit of any democratic system, Local Bodies (LB) gives legitimacy to any functioning democracy. Holding of general elections with-out first having LB elections makes the democratic process a farce. The government’s remedy for many of the challenges that the State faces are largely failures because we lack a functioning representative govern-ment in place through the entire spectrum of the governing system. Without local leaders responsible and account-able for the welfare and contentment of the masses at their doorstep, the leadership vacuum is likely filled by vested interests, opportunists and criminal elements, etc. Candidates for the Provincial or National Assemblies (and the Senate) must have support at the community level in their Constituencies by being first elected to the Local Bodies. If a person cannot get at least a few thousand votes at this basic level, what are his credentials for higher candidacy?.
It is incongruous that elected representatives run Federal and Provincial Governments but are not deemed capable of running District, Sub-Division and Precinct Local Governments. Our ruling “democrats” do not trust governance in the hands of the populace that voted them into power. Without power flowing from the grassroots level upwards higher levels of governments do not have a moral right to exist. Importantly, the Local Bodies function create a check and balance to higher governments, not the other way around. Unelected civil servants running the state administration is a colonial legacy. Democracy at local level promotes ‘transparency and accountability in the administration of local councils, the local population determining the performance of the local councilors would not vote for them for higher office should they fail to perform and deliver. Candidates who prefer to spend more time campaigning and “politicking” than performing would be rejected by the local electorate.
We cannot break away from the stranglehold of sects and castes with-out making the concept of adult franchise process meaningful. Leadership from the lowest tier to the highest echelons must vest in those who really represent the absolute majority of the people. Presently the candidate getting only a part of the vote in a state but with more votes than others wins the election even without an absolute majority. A run-off round is a must to succeed the first round in an election when any candidate fails to muster a simple majority. Candidates obtaining simple majority would have to cut across ethnic and sectarian lines of the electorate. In the negative sense, the majority in a constituency would have to come together to prevent an unacceptable person coming to office. The necessity of circumstances would force the population to merge in spite of ethnic or sectarian differences. While doing away with the “first past the post” system and opting for a second round to get an absolute majority, we must also go for “proportional representation’ so that the entire electorate has a voice in governance.
Direct elections to the Senate is a must, the handful of electors being invariably influenced, bought, manipulated, coerced or plain blackmailed, the imperfect indirect process subverting the combined will of the people. The mind-boggling truth is that we live in self-denial about this abnormality in our democracy! In third world countries, and in the first world to an extent, one of the factors undermining democracy is election fraud and manipulation by vote-rigging and fraudulent casting of votes. Pakistan has excellent electoral laws, where is the implementation? How many have convicted for violating the laws given that it happens in almost all the constituencies? Many times people reach the polling booth only to discover that their vote has already been cast, in the rural areas the landed influentials ensure that those opposed to them never reach the polling stations. And why not, where in the entire world is the feudal system alive and well except in Pakistan?.
When large numbers of people do not go out to vote in any constituency, it provides an opportunity to the unscrupulous to organize fraudulent votes to cast bogus votes on behalf of the real voters. This bogus vote by itself is a negation of democracy as a non representative candidate can (and does) get elected by fraud. This perpetuates criminality into the very forum that is the final authority for making the laws of the land. Lawmakers change the law at will, the govt’s prevarication on the Swiss letter exposes the farce of law-making at the heart of the democratic system. When criminals become lawmakers, what can one expect except criminality proliferating across the broad spectrum of society?
The germs of the maladies of nepotism and corruption rampant in the body politic of Pakistan lies in the “selection” rather than the “election” process presently. While one cannot doubt that many corrupt individuals will still get through, we must at least attempt to correct the mechanics of our democracy. Only an exhaustive election process up the various tiers will severely curtail their chances. Even though one doubts it, one can only hope and pray that the geriatric Justice Fakhruddin Ebrahim can cope with the physical and mental stress and strain of being the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan.
Democratic credibility is only possible if the mandate of the people starts with governance right at the grassroots level and the electoral process is transparent, free and fair. The relevant laws to ensure credible election exist but the government’s battery of lawyers can (and will) ensure that despite the best intentions of the Honourable Justices of the Supreme Court, their will (and that of the people) and the rule of law is violated at their will.♦
Courtesy: The News
