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Politics is considered a dirty game the world over but has been played within certain rules. However, as technological advancements make the masses ever more aware of the issues on which politics is played, the rules are falling by the wayside.
This phenomenon is quite visible in our national politics. For instance, under the rules, next general elections are scheduled in early 2013 but demands for early elections have filled the air for many years already. Instead of seeing good governance from the political parties elected in 2008, all that their voters have witnessed is the ‘dirty politics’ of running down each other.
In the past, such polarisation and frenzy was seen after election dates were announced. The next elections may be a year away, but we are witnessing the mainstream parties competing in taking out rallies all over the country as if the elections are next month.
They are in a hurry to tell the people struggling for economic survival how they would lead them to the promised land when the future looks so dark. For the overwhelming majority of the people the party manifesto would be beyond comprehension. However, the politically motivated among them do get the opportunity to size up the leader of the party of their liking.
Last week, Imran Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), was in the political minefield that Balochistan has become.
His was a reasonably well attended rally in Quetta city, which perhaps made him challenge rival parties to match it to test their support in the province.
On the other hand, President Asif Ali Zardari, long criticised for doing party politics while occupying the non-partisan office, surprised many by addressing a public rally in Okara.
Before that he spent a couple of days in Multan, to show solidarity with his beleaguered Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Eversince he took the high office in Sept 2008, President Zardari had been target of ridicule by the opposition political parties and a section of the media for playing politics.
Until Okara, his politically-tainted public appearances had be on the death anniversaries of Benazir Bhutto. But his Okara rally showed that the PPP has also been bitten by the election mood.
That has only added fuel to the firestorm that its rival PML-N had been trying to raise for years against the PPP while, at the same time, cooperating in the legislations that politically suited it.
For four years, brothers Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif leading the PML-N have constantly been on the move whipping up sentiments against the PPP.
They were evidently making up for the decade they lost being absent from the political scene during their exile in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the threat that the sudden rise of PTI on the political horizon, gave a flip to their efforts to reach out to the people.
Last week, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, known for his emotional outbursts against President Zardari, addressed several public meetings in southern Punjab which has become a vulnerable constituency for the PML-N because of a PPP-led campaign to carve the region out of Punjab as a new province.
There the politician, who has the reputation of a “gutsy administrator”, talked less about what PML-N would do for the people and more about what the PPP government did not do.
Other smaller parties such as MQM, JUI-F, ANP and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) are also out holding public rallies in their respective bastions. What has changed that has prompted all of them to launch election campaigns so early?
According to Rasool Bakhsh Rais, a teacher and political scientist, the political arena is becoming ever more competitive with the passage of time.
But why?
“Because, today voters particularly those in urban areas, are more educated. They not only keep themselves updated on national issues but also have the urge to participate in the electoral process. The healthy turnout at the recently held by-elections is the case in point,” said Dr Rais.
“Also the time span of election campaigns all over the world has expanded to more than one year, and the same can happen in our country,” he said.
A senior journalist foresees the next general elections to be “the mother of all elections” in the country. There is 24/7 live media coverage, vibrant civil society and an assertive judiciary.
Above all the 20th Constitution Amendment, for the first time, ensures an independent election commission and an impartial caretaker setup to conduct elections.
“This time the political parties will have to act responsibly to get votes,” said a journalist. “I believe this is the reason of their early jump in the arena.”
No wonder all of them have opened their doors unabashedly to the veterans who were shunned until recently betraying the party in the past.
The PML-N appears to be the keenest among them.
khawar.ghumman@gmail.com
