Can Pakistan afford a new political party

Dr Lubna Zaheer

Ex-Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has recently founded a new political party "Awam Pakistan" in association with former Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and former Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Mehtab Abbasi. Some segments of society argue the former members of the PML-N after being disgruntled have come forward to announce the new party. Some others may also join this party in the days to come. Abbasi claims he has received a great response for his political party and soon many prominent politicians and others will become part of his party.

As far as forming a political party is concerned, according to the existing laws in Pakistan, anyone can form a political party, which is why we have so many political parties here. As many as 175 political parties are registered in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). More or less every political party declares itself as a national-level political party. While we are not even familiar with the names of the other parties except a few. For example, the late General Ziaul Haq’s son Ijaz-ul-Haq is running the Pakistan Muslim League-Zia (PML-Z) and seasoned politician Sheikh Rashid owns the Awami Muslim League (AML). Both parties are one-man shows as even in the elections, they probably contest on one seat and barely reach the assembly.

In Pakistan, there is a strange custom that any person rises and forms a political party. Here a judge retires and forms a political party like former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry did. An army general retires then he forms a political party like General Hameed Gul and General Aslam Baig did. If a politician is relieved of a heavy position in his party or is angry for some reason, then he forms a political party. A military dictator also followed suit like General Musharraf did. Atomic scientist Dr Abdul Qadir also formed his own political party. Jawad Ahmed, the famous singer of his time, has also formed a political party. Just think what good have all these political parties done for Pakistan? Keep the good of Pakistan aside. Consider whether these political parties made any impact on the country's politics or whether the presence of these political parties benefited the people of Pakistan. The truth is that we don't even remember the names of most of the parties.

Now look at India. There are only six registered parties, which have the status of a national party, while the other 57 parties are called state parties. In the United States (US), only two parties appear in the electoral field, the Democrats and the Republicans. Britain also has a two-party system. For years, the Labor Party and the Conservative Party have ruled there. Some people in Pakistan call the two-party rule a rotation, without noticing that countries like the US and the UK have also been ruled by two parties for decades.

Since it’s very easy to form a political party in Pakistan, anyone can start a political party. As far as Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is concerned, he is a conniving politician and has a clean reputation. Sardar Mehtab and Miftah Ismail also have no stain of corruption etc. These three are also educated. So it is their right to form a political party. However, the question is, do we need any more political parties in Pakistan? The more important question is whether a new political party is the solution to the problems Pakistan currently faces. Is there any new party and the people involved in it are capable and able to take the country out of the quagmire of problems? Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is giving interviews on various television channels these days. A few interviews have passed through my eyes. Shahid Khaqan is asked what is his political manifesto and how they will get the country out of a heck of problems. However, he has no clear agenda or manifesto to articulate. He talks about respecting the vote, which is the slogan of the PML-N. He uses the term Form 47 government, a term coined by the PTI.

It is talk of the town that when Shahid Khaqan was the Prime Minister, what changes did he bring? The same question is being asked to Miftah Ismail and Sardar Mehtab Abbasi. According to Shahid Khaqan, he parted ways with the PML-N because of ideological differences. But his sister Sadia Abbasi is sitting on the Senate seat of the PML-N. Shouldn't she, in principle, leave this seat? It is also being questioned that these three gentlemen who have formed a political party in the name of "Awam Pakistan", are related to the elite, and to what extent they are aware of the problems of the people. Referring to the ages of these senior politicians, it is also being said that it takes years for a political party to take off and gain popularity. Do these politicians have enough time to wait 10 or 20 years for the popularity of this new political party?

Isn't it better that instead of forming separate political parties, politicians like Shahid Khaqan stay in their old parties and work for the betterment of the country and the nation and influence the good or bad decisions and policies of the party? Being in a party and influencing some level and some issue is much better than disappearing from the political mantra by forming a separate party. Pakistan is currently in trouble as inflation, unemployment, political chaos, a weak judicial system, electricity, gas, water problems and lack of education and health facilities plague the nation. These and countless other problems have made life difficult for people. At this time, we don’t need new political parties. Currently, our society is suffering from political division and chaos due to three major political parties. We want this division to end as well. These political parties come together to solve the problems of the country rather new political parties are created to increase the existing division. Let's see what changes Awam Pakistan bring to the political scenario. It seems that this party will not be able to bring about any change.

-- The writer is a professor and analyst specializing in media and communication studies. She can be reached at lubna.zaheer91@gmail.com

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