Democracy is here to stay

Courtesy:-  S Rahman   

Attending a seminar addressed the other day by Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira and senior journalists, on ‘Why is democracy essential for Pakistan’, the speakers talked at length on the issues confronting the country on the path of democracy but the gist of the seminar, as summed up by Kaira, was democracy is the only way out of all the crises, whether political, economic, social or sectarian.

Certainly, no sane person will differ with this conviction of Federal Information Minister whose words were fully appreciated in their actual spirit.

While discussing the issues and democracy, in particular, the Minister rightly pointed out that there is no reason to expect the resolution of all burning issues in a brief period of five years. This is quite a realistic observation that is in conformity with the views of majority people from the intelligentsia.

Simultaneously, it emphasizes the need for extending the democracy beyond the five years framework. In fact, we rather need to come out of these time confines. Democracy is now well entrenched courtesy the sacrifices of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership whose reconciliatory mission is also inspired by their love for democracy.

Only a party (or its leadership) imbued with love for the people’s rule or democracy, can go for adopting the difficult route of reconciliation since it involves a dignified approach in dealing with others.

When PPP Co-Chairman and President, Asif Ali Zardari, raised the slogan, ‘Democracy is the best revenge’, he clearly meant to say that democratized minds don’t opt for methods that stand in conflict with the will of the masses. And will of the masses always demands peace, stability, sacrifice and mutual respect and tolerance.

Those who have been spreading rumours of varied nature, taking advantage of certain problems, have been doing disservice to the nation. Take, for example, the elements who, brazenly, spread the rumour that martial law had been imposed when the country plunged into darkness the other day following a major power shutdown. These rumour-mongers have ignored the undeniable fact that now democracy has taken roots deep into our society and polity, the credit for which goes firstly to the political leadership and then to the national institutions, civil society and media.

The strengthening of democratic mindset has made it impossible for the undemocratic forces to plot any upheaval.

It is unfortunate that certain quarters are fabricating theories that are far from reality. Had these quarters tried to evaluate the political scene in its true perspective, the inference drawn would have spelt optimism and hope.

The fact is that the country is moving forward on the democratic track with confidence and, to quote PPP leadership, if the democratic pace is not disturbed, in no way any power on earth can prevent the country from coming out of rampant crises including the toughest challenge of terrorism.

Actually, democracy is not the goal, as also explained by the Information Minister as it is the ladder of progress, prosperity and peace. So, one just can’t think of achieving the national goals without democracy. How then can one expect of the political parties whose leaders have suffered executions, imprisonments and humiliation at the hands of military dictators, to go undemocratic and postpone the elections.

The government of PPP in particular and other parties, in general, have now categorically stated that there is no question of delay in the forthcoming general elections. The nation is already very happy with the appointment of a non-controversial figure, Mr Justice ( retired ) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, as Chief Election Commissioner and more so with the independent ways of Election Commission of Pakistan. This is a clear indication of the government’s determination to ensure free and fair elections through a fully transparent electoral process and mechanism. The government is fully resolved to remove all the bottlenecks and the PPP parliamentarians have furthered the cause of democracy by way of handling all the complex political and national issues with consensus with the firm belief that democracy can’t flourish sans conflict-resolution and consensus.

The caretaker governments are also likely to be formed with the same spirit of reconciliation and in the same manner, the elections would be held as per schedule without even the slightest chances of delay or rigging (or even engineered polls).

Gone are the days of the hijacking of public trust and vote. This reality has come to stay and there is no reason to despair or even enter into debates on the dates of elections (which means doubting the election schedule or unrealistically anticipating postponements). Do we ever hear such nasty, skeptic debates in advanced democracies, viz. in US, UK, India or other countries? Of course, we don’t hear such debates over there.

In Pakistan too, such debates and controversies must come to an end since the masses, the society, mainstream political forces and national institutions as well as media all support strong and sustained democratic setup in the country.