After the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in 2007, her son Bilawal had calmed down the enraged Pakistan People’s Party workers by telling them that his mother had taught him that “Democracy is the best revenge”. Democracy did return to the country the next year - and in a mellowed form, but only to the extent that the PPP’s arch rival, the PML-N, earned the taunt of “friendly opposition” from the rest of the anti-PPP parties.

This week, our parliamentary democracy took another step forward. During the ongoing debate on the national budget in the National Assembly and the Senate, the ruling PML-N agreed to the demand of the opposition parties to broadcast the parliamentary proceedings live.

Their argument was that if the loquacious federal finance minister Senator Ishaq Dar can have uninterrupted live streaming of his budget speech through the terrestrial national television, why not their expose of the weaknesses in the budgetary proposals reach the masses the same way? On Tuesday, the government agreed to the demand, only to backtrack the next day pleading that full live coverage isn’t possible due to its high cost.

When the opposition benches poured scorn on the plea by recalling the live broadcast of the united stand the government and the opposition took in the parliament against the volatile PTI-PAT sit-ins outside the parliament, the PML-N government again changed the tack.

On Thursday, information minister Senator Parvez Rashid assured the opposition that PTV will provide live coverage of the ongoing budget session of the National Assembly and the Senate.

But the live broadcast of parliamentary proceedings is not a new issue. It has been a practice in established democracies for long, and the demand for a separate TV channel for the parliament has been heard in Pakistan quite often.

Most recently, many argued for the same in the previous assembly, led by Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, saying a TV channel dedicated to covering the parliament’s proceedings will help improve attendance and quality of debates.

Both the government and opposition sides had been reluctant to act on the idea until last year’s dharnas changed the ways to do politics.

Since the advent of private TV channels and their 24/7 live coverage, the politicians feel more the need to connect with the masses.

“They want to learn quickly the public response to their acts of commission and omission, notably of their constituents,” a media analyst told Dawn, on the condition of anonymity for he works with a government organization.

In his opinion, the television coverage of PTI rowdy street agitation by the PTI broke whatever barriers stood between the politicians and the electronic media.

After all Imran Khan’s daily harangues targeting politicians in power and out of power required to be answered. Those were the days when people of all walks of life remained glued to their TV sets to watch political drama that played out from August to December 2014, with lots of turns and twists to the story. In response the government and other political parties opted for a joint sitting of the parliament with live telecast.  

“This is what, I think, changed the political landscape of the country in terms of openness. Now the politicians want even the smallest happening to be highlighted in media,” said the media analyst.

Participants in a recent roundtable conference organized by a think tank on the issue, concurred that direct telecast of the parliamentary proceedings can go a long way in improving the working of democracy in the country. Incumbent and former lawmakers agreed at the conference that a legislator knowing that he or she was being heard and watched all over will come prepared.

“It will let our voters know what we are doing in the legislatures and we will benefit from their feedback,” said a PTI MNA who attended the conference. And for a former deputy speaker of the National Assembly, live telecast will, if nothing else, “address the chronic quorum problem.”

Indeed, the electronic media has made even lazy political parties wake up. An insider of a party confided that party leaders are being appraised daily for the impact they make in their appearance in TV talk shows.

It is a different thing that the new political heroes TV talk shows are creating are mostly quarrelsome and aggressive. But their party values them for that.

Saner elements though feel the development needs to be checked rather than applauded.

“By outshouting an opponent, they discredit themselves too and also tarnish the image of politics as a whole. To argue a viewpoint is one thing, but to browbeat the opponent is another,” observed a disgusted viewer.

Since TV is part of life now, viewers like him hope that the politicians will learn to make the best use of it.

Democracy is all about openness and transparency, but sadly television has reduced it to about image instead of ideas.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2015

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