Pakistani Election: More interesting than the US election?
As riveting and intriguing events lead to the disputed, allegedly rigged, fair or unfair and dangerous elections in Pakistan, I find myself reading less about the elections in Pakistan and more about the US elections. Although I’ve spent the majority of my life in Pakistan, I somehow find the pattern of the US elections to be much more interesting and nail-biting than the Pakistani Elections. Sometimes I want to ask myself, “which really is a more interesting election?”
Well, nothing beats Hollywood. That’s why I follow the US election more closely. But just having left Pakistan two weeks before the assassination/murder of Benazir Bhutto, I have a an understanding of Pakistani politics and bureaucracy that very few do. I come from a Bureaucratic family in Pakistan, and without getting into any of that discussion, let’s just shed some light on why the Pakistani election, without giving any importance to how strategically important the control of Pakistan is to the US or any other first world country, is so interesting in standalone mode.
Murder, family, death threats, allegations, lies, truths, bombings, mass killings and drama. If only we had the media that America does in Pakistan, you’d see a cross between Tony Soprano and Rambo, and imagine how many you could attract to the TV or movies with that.
There are basically three parties competing for control of Pakistan today. The Pakistan People’s Party, started by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, father of Benazir Bhutto, who was then hung by Zia ul Haq (who most of you probably recently know from Charlie Wilson’s War). By the way, two important facts to consider here are that Zia ul Haq was blown up by the CIA (proudly, as a matter of fact) and out of the 60 years Pakistan has been a country, during 30+ it has seen Martial Law.
Pakistan People’s Party was, and probably is, by all means, a very popular political party in Pakistan. It’s family run, full of stories of love, hatred, adultery, sex, murder, Swiss Bank Accounts, and all the good stuff that a John Grisham Novel contains. The latest of these adventurous, albeit sad events, is the murder of Benazir Bhutto. It doesn’t matter what Scotland Yard or anyone else concludes. Hell, I think the British Metropolitan Police should have stayed out of it (after their wreckless record with Princess Diana’s murder). There was absolutely no evidence to conclude that Benazir Bhutto died from a concussion and not a bullet wound. There was no body to be looked at, so I just don’t get how they made the conclusion they did and how the world can buy it. It’s pathetic, even by English standards.
It is highly likely that Benazir Bhutto was set up to be passed on by her not-so-beloved and devil like husband Asif Ali Zardari. He, so far, has been the sole beneficiary of the whole incident. He changed his name, conveniently removed the guy (Ameen Faheem) who was supposed to become Prime Minister, and decides to become Prime Minister if PPP wins the elections. It’s sad and horrible, but let’s look at his past: he is more than capable of doing something like this, and he probably did. Who’s to say he didn’t just think “it’s my turn, woman” and got her killed. I wouldn’t put it past him. No reasonable Pakistani would. So, Pakistan People’s Party and Zardari have the sympathy card going. From their angle, Benazir was martyred, and PPPs winning elections will be bringing peace to her soul and what not. They definitely have a chance, and although Asif Zardari is a major drug, land, and lady lord out of Sindh, I’m not sure the sympathy card will be enough to get him through. Who knows though, luck may just favour him; it typically does the evil folk.
Then we have the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz Sharif Group (PML-N). Nawaz Sharif has just returned to Pakistan after 8 years of exile, only when Musharraf thought it was important for him to let Sharif in the country to maintain his position of indifference and fairness in the election process. Let’s be honest: when have Pakistanis been honest about anything? We delude ourselves with distorted versions of Islam, sell our souls to earn British Pounds and US Dollars, and our President shakes up the judiciary to save his seat and declares Martial Law. Do you really think there will be any form of fairness or justice in this country or its election? Not a chance! Nawaz Sharif holds a very strong position in Punjab, and although Benazir was making a dent into his support, with her departure to the next world, I’m not so sure that Asif Zardari can do much at all to take away the lead from him except call to his possibly sympathetic position. But Benazir has been gone for over a month, and the Pakistani public suffers from what I call a 48 hour memory. It’s in the inactive part of their brain by now or they’ve already forgotten it. That simply means that the competition between PML N and PPP is stiff, which is exactly what Musharraf needs to stay in power. However, they may join hands to get rid of him; Musharraf is an unpopular character in the eyes of Pakistani Public nowadays. He was probably good for his first couple of years, but then power corrupts, and army is one of the major sources of all corruption in any country. In a country like Pakistan where over half of the whole budget is defence, imagine the potential for corruption in the army,
So, Musharraf wants to stay, and that’s where the third political party, Pakistan Muslim League – Q comes into play. This was a party Musharraf forged after he exiled Nawaz Sharif from some of his then supporters, and this is where the allegations of rigged elections come into play. PML Q probably doesn’t stand a chance to win the election, but if they rig the election well enough (let’s not forget, the interm government is all PML Q), they can get enough seats in the National Assembly to stop the new Prime Minister from ridding himself and his new government of Pervez Musharraf. Ultimately, that’s the whole idea.
Amidst all this political mess, we get suicide bombings on a weekly basis. People make emotional and sentimental statements and change them every week. It’s basically a very amateur and immature election, but it’s so full of emotion, passion, lies, and bad acting, along with a serious touch of reality with all the deaths, murders, and hunger that the people of Pakistan suffer.
The only weak part is that unlike Obama or Clinton in the US, neither political party in Pakistan has an agenda, discussion or goal for the public. Social Security is not a concern. Inflation, maybe. Unemployment? No one gives a damn. The economy? It really hasn’t functioned in the last 60 years. Education? Not for Pakistan, because then who could have servants. Global Warming? No one gives a damn in Pakistan. Hunger? Yeah, we’ll try to fix that one. No promises, no solutions, no agenda. It’s all about the power and that one chair, and absolutely no accountability for it. Worst part of lack of agenda is that this time around even if these candidates had any agenda, they’ve had to spend a lot of time indoors due to the threats of suicide bombings and mass killings, so it has been difficult to guage who has promised what, and how popular who is.
It’s all a mystery. However, that is bad news. The world awaits the future of Pakistan. It is, after all, and extremist Muslim populated country harbouring the Taliban, located right next to and on friendly terms with both China and Iran. Could there be anything else that should interest the US public more at this time?
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