The terrible twins

Pakistans two major so-called political parties that have sporadically played yo-yo with the country are not political parties in the strict sense of the word. They are private organisations, bereft of internal democracy, conducted as fiefdoms under a self-appointed liege-lord to whom total obeisance is owed by all subjects. Thus, it has always been and the individual vice-like grip has not loosened over the years. And both have successfully conned a numbed electorate into voting them in turn by turn. The alternative to the present - some would label it disastrous - government in the shape of an individual, Asif Ali Zardari, who has assumed unto himself dictatorial powers within and without the party he chairs is another individual, Mian Nawaz Sharif, to whom, in the mid-1980s (a quarter of a century ago) the Muslim League was handed over by military dictator Ziaul Haq whose archaic policies continue to haunt this country. The president also is the product of a 'deal done between a military dictator, Pervez Musharraf, whose policies were so detrimental that - for the time being - his rule seems to have dispelled the national myth that army rule is less damaging than the civilian type, and the capo di capi, the USA. The party of the people has been a flaky organisation since it was founded in 1969 by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto under a strong socialist manifesto promising the people of Pakistan the basic amenities of life. But the people got nothing, other than a voice. Bhutto, rather than dwelling on the basic needs of the people shed his socialism and donned his party uniform. At one point, his idea was to turn Pakistan into Lebanon and Karachi in particular into a Beirut. Had he continued on that particular path, Pakistan may have joined the progressive world and even given Dubai a run for its money. Anyhow, Bhutto at the end of his quasi-democratic rule went in the worst possible way, to the gallows, having set the scene for Ziaul Haq to propagate his wicked religiosity, dragging back the country into the middle ages. After a hibernation of 11 years, the PPP resurfaced in 1988 with Benazir Bhutto, who was never able to get to grips with the country as she was subdued by the army, the bureaucracy and the alleged corrupt practices of her husband. She was never able to get going, never able to make her own individual thumbprint, burdened as she was with heavy baggage. Now, after a further hibernation period of nine years, the PPP is back, headed by the widower of the assassinated Benazir, using the Bhutto name without which the PPP would have had difficulty in surviving - he used Benazirs son, endowing upon him the Bhutto label and thus achieved his coup. Where is an alternative leadership of the party? We can see none. Political parties of course evolve, as do their policies. What policies does the president propagate other than clinging to power and a continuance of his old worn ways too well known to us and to the world? Admittedly his hamstrung government has come up with a couple of good deeds, but these have been vastly overshadowed by its blunders, by the promises made and broken by Zardari - he successfully outwitted and betrayed both the man whose partnership with the USA allowed him to wangle his way into the presidency, and the more experienced Nawaz Sharif. The ruling parties two year record is more than dismal. What will it leave behind if it is allowed by the USA to complete its full term in return for full amenability? If the trend persists, perhaps a political and economical wasteland, ready to be 'rescued by the sole superpower. Many feel it should somehow manage to hang on for five years, as they optimistically hope that by then maybe the electorate will awaken and realise that they cannot continue to vote under pressure and let the national feudal mindset take matters into their own hands to bring about a change. If by then, the quaid of the Muslim League remains the sole alternative and manages an ouster of the sitting government - of course with the blessings of the USA - then the country is in for a really rough ride. Nawaz Sharifs past record on all counts is as forbidding as is that of Zardari - though slightly different in manner and manipulation. But he is certainly no answer to Pakistans woes - and possibly not to the needs of the sole superpower. The writer is a freelance columnist. Email: jilani.amina@gmail.com