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WHILE I have never kept it a secret, for this particular write-up, I feel morally obliged to outrightly affirm that I am sceptical about the entire concept of — and hence don’t particularly support — democracy.
And to be clear, my disagreement is not in the context of Pakistan alone, it’s with the basic idea itself since empirical evidence does not support that democracy works for the betterment of the common man; more importantly, however, this disagreement by default does not imply support for military dictatorship. I feel that democracy is an illusion of freedom, conceived by the elite to befool the masses into believing they are in the driving seat, except that they are not.
Notwithstanding that it would be pleasurable to continue with an anti-democratic discourse, space limitations inhibit any further argumentation today; except for some necessary food for thought. After a decade of ill affordable bountiful living and excessive spending on white elephants aided by subsidies financed through borrowed money, the days of reckoning are perhaps here.
In simple English, if you party uncontrollably on the first day of the month, you shall end up starving for the rest of the month, simply trying to make ends meet. In this context, I ask, is it possible for a democratic government to even consider inflationary policy decisions necessary to enforce much needed austerity?
Democracy is an illusion of freedom.
Although I may broadly concur with the narrative that the current uncertain and unstable political environment is because of a power struggle between forces supporting and opposing democracy, my take is the polar opposite of conventional rumorology.
It is a power struggle in reverse; everybody wants somebody else to assume responsibility for the urgently needed, but probably highly unpopular, decisions of raising prices of necessities coupled with unsubsidised, across the board commodity load-shedding. Except that most of the ruling elite, political or otherwise, is painfully aware that whoever ends up belling this particular cat is highly likely to be hanged, drawn and quartered by an angry mob. In short, even the establishment, rationally speaking, should not want to be ‘king’ in current times!
Now, let’s get to the point for today. For people like me, and there must be more of us, suffering democracy per se has not been the worst part; the associated loudmouths have been, and continue to be, a big pain in the nether regions. So, all of you out there, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is.
If democracy is all that it claims to be, I ask all the celebrity anchors, the analysts and the experts on the electronic media, the activist legal and judicial fraternity, the journalist community, the civic society, the intelligentsia, the voters and all the supporters of democracy to ferociously support, actively push for and ensure the inclusion of four agendas in the manifestos of all political parties before the coming elections in the first instance, and thereafter pursue them even more proactively for compliance.
In summary, without getting into any nitty-gritty, these four agendas are: substantive land reforms; resolution of long-standing land disputes; ensuring that electoral candidates have paid, or pay, irrespective of available waivers and exemptions, income tax equivalent to the three years’ average direct tax paid by a Pakistani taxpayer and filer; and, legislation to tax the inheritance of the super-rich.
I am sure that the pundits can easily figure out the economic and social justifications of the above four steps. For the laymen, suffice it to say that these four steps will actually foster the elusive economic stability that we all love to talk about but never see in Pakistan, and simultaneously alleviate poverty.
It would ensure the inclusive kind of growth which most everyone insists can only be delivered by a system which is built upon freedom and sustained by accountability, supposedly the best of the worst, democracy.
I remain sceptical that the above will, or in fact even can, ever happen in a democracy. Most likely these four suggestions, come next elections, shall not even form part of the electoral issues. By a very long shot, even if these issues do get to see the light on the political stage, they will quickly be demonised either as controversial or undoable based on the standard plethora of excuses: too little time, has been tried before, what difference would it make, it’s an establishment conspiracy etc.
But if the unthinkable does come to pass, I shall accept I was wrong and shall thereafter proactively support democracy, and even vote, despite my rational view that one vote cannot make a difference. Most likely, however, I will continue with my democracy bashing, because it is a war that I just cannot lose.
The writer is a chartered accountant.
Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2018
