Old recipes will not work

In the existent times when sanity has been forfeited at the stake of personal vendettas, it is extremely difficult to keep destruction from visiting and causing unmitigated mayhem. That is why we are witnessing the country sinking deeper into the pothole of cataclysmic crises. With time, the extent of this mess is causing unmanageable ruptures in the working of the state apparatus.

Under the circumstances, the fundamental question that arises is: why have we arrived at this juncture and is there still a way to extricate ourselves from this quagmire? If this were possible, one could think of a broad-based dialogue to sift the doable from the undoable. But, if we have already crossed the Rubicon, what other methods and measures may still be available to mitigate the intensity of hatreds that separate us.

States rest on strong pillars reflecting the trichotomy of power among them: the legislature, the judiciary and the executive. They have their roles clearly cut out in the constitution which must be strictly adhered to for a smooth functioning of the government and all its allied institutions. If, however, any of these pillars starts working beyond the domain of its constitutional powers, or it falters under one kind of pressure or the other, it rattles the ship, making it weak and wobbly, thus vulnerable to both internal and external intervention.

Because of multiple factors, this is where the government rests at this juncture, unable to win legitimacy to perform its functions with any amount of acceptability among domestic and international stakeholders. In the absence of this basic requirement, it is stripped of its rationale to govern. The way the IMF dealt with it in the award of a standby financial arrangement is a classic example of their total lack of faith in both its credibility and ability. Before finalizing the package, it first sought its approval from Imran Khan who heads the largest and the sole national political party of the country, and whom the entire state machinery is exclusively devoted to decimating by involving him in fake, frivolous and fraudulent cases.

On the one hand, it reflected the vulnerability of the incumbent government before institutions like the IMF and, on the other, it established the political credentials of the PTI which has been the target of the wrath and brutality of the state in the recent past. Such prospects are unheard of in any democratic society which functions in conformity with its constitutional edicts. If there is fear that a government is losing its credentials to govern, it would resign to seek a fresh mandate. But using fascist tactics to crush political opposition, which is what we have been witnessing in Pakistan, is unheard of in any genuine democratic polity.

A host of stories of wicked indulgences of the ruling elite are rampant. In fact, most of them are under-trial criminals who have managed to keep the process of accountability at bay by exploiting their positions in power and the use of the vast reservoirs of pelf they have wantonly accumulated over time. A former prime minister who is a convict and an absconder, declared so by the apex court of the country, continues to unofficially manage the affairs of the state sitting far away, guarding his illicit properties and possessions secured by laundering phenomenal sums of money from Pakistan.

Because of such and other unsavoury factors, and an addiction to hierarchical and dictatorial penchant, the state has been rendered dysfunctional. In the process, we have landed up with a truncated assembly and a hand-picked opposition leader who is on record to have proclaimed to fight the next election as a member of the party the leader of the house heads; a massively corrupted executive which serves the vile whims of those wielding power, and a justice system afraid of issuing judgments. So, we are left with a hollow structure of a state with no matter or substance inside.

It is no longer a case of serving and promoting the internal and external interests of the state. The entire attention is focussed on how best to secure the dividends of the miniscule corrupt ruling elite and initiate steps to ensure their uninterrupted sustenance in the corridors of power, be that by further corrupting the system if there would still be some room for that or using the brutal and fascist power of the state to ensure the elimination of the opposition.

This is what curries the singular focus of state institutions staffed by personnel who operate as handmaidens of the ruling clique and do their servile and unquestioned bidding.

One has been witnessing such shenanigans through multiple years of our existence. But when one is convinced that they are hurting the fundamentals of the state, making it vulnerable to internal and external manipulators, then resistance becomes a necessity to secure it from such influences. That is where Pakistan is parked at this juncture. The direction it takes from here onward will determine its future, most importantly the state and tenor of its independence and how effectively its leadership can assert it to take decisions that would be to its exclusive short- and long-term benefit.

This is where the crisis resides. Through exercising a profusion of malevolent intent, we have effectively compromised the state’s interests before our foreign masters who will not relinquish their stranglehold easily. This is primarily because of excessively corrupt leadership that has been repeatedly hoisted in the annals of power by employing fraudulent means. They neither had the calibre and character to be the leaders of a diverse nation, nor the wherewithal to guide with a programme of progress and deliverance. The only objective of their choice has been their own benefit as also the benefit of their co-conspirators. These machinations have cost the state immensely in terms of losing its substance and meaning, reduced to an inconspicuous speck, lost in the turbulence of stormy environs.

This is how grave the ailment is. It is no longer a question of making a miniscule change here or a change there. The time for cosmetic overtures has been long gone. There is a pressing need for a comprehensive and multifaceted overhaul that would cleanse the system and make the state responsive to the needs of its people, and not its corrupt ruling elite alone. Only holding free, fair and transparent elections to bring in leaders whom the people are willing to repose their faith in can pave the way into the future. No other remedy will do.

The writer is the information secretary of the PTI, and a fellow at King’s College

London. He tweets @RaoofHasan