A dysfunctional political system

by Dr Farooq Hassan

The recent events in Pakistan bespeak volumes of various imperial intrigues which may desire that the state may suffer if the end result helps those in charge of the current show. By imperial I mean, the presidency and the pivotal place that has been accorded to the foreign elements in the management of the policies of Pakistan. Such an outcome and its ultimate realisation will depend on the internal dynamics of the state and the society. Perhaps the latter phenomenon alone can actually make or break a state. It will be foolhardy to deny that because of such phenomenon the state may well be already on the road to implode since the presidency and the prevalent political system are stymied and utterly dysfunctional.
The foremost focus of everyone’s attention is the massive allegation of corruption against the president and the undoing of the NRO by the Supreme Court. Yet, naively it is hoped by most that this judgment may still be executed. However, many fail to understand why President Asif Zardari has increased his own burdens by keeping in tact the persons who are accused of corruption? Many are there by virtue of the NRO. The perennial disregard of transparency in government ensures that it is now utterly stymied, unable to do much in any realistic sense.
I think that feeling totally toothless Zardari’s civilian set up raised the spectre of the country’s dissolution by actively, but unsuccessfully, playing the Sindh card. He denies doing this, insisting that he has Pakistan’s interests at heart. While this nature of devastation was avoided for the time being, the basic disconnect between constitutional propriety and reality is most bothersome.
This is the simple foundation of the system’s basic dysfunctional character. Even the opposition does not have a clue what to do. The mental bankruptcy of the current leadership is its inability to develop a sense of urgency to play their constitutional roles in accordance with the established norms of a government.