In the path that Pakistan is on today, hereditary politics is not an exception.
Engr! Shahid Siddique Khanzada
In Pakistan, hereditary politics has been increasing its influence on most of the major political parties of the country for the past decades. Due to which, a true democracy and democratic system is not flourishing in the country. The complaint of the majority of the youth of Pakistan today is absolutely right and justified that only hereditaryism is preferred in every political, religious and linguistic party and these influential traditional politicians often make their place, but for how long now, more than 65% of the country's population is a majority of youth and for the bright future of every political party, it is necessary that they, keeping in mind the modern requirements of their respective parties, bring forward new faces and new blood in the form of central and provincial officials. Many Pakistanis expected the leadership of Pakistan's major political party, Tehreek-e-Insaf, to bring forward new faces and young, capable people and encourage them to join their party, but the opposite happened. Unfortunately, the youth of Tehreek-e-Insaf were also quite disappointed in this matter and openly expressed their displeasure. Whenever any party forms a government in the federal or provincial government, the important stage of cabinet formation comes, and the first criterion of any political party is the loyalty and sacrifice of the members of these parties. While the qualifications and capabilities of an individual are put aside. Every political party has this idea in their minds that loyalists who make sacrifices should be included in the cabinet as a reward. In Pakistan, family politics is no longer limited to the big political parties, this style of politics is also very much on the rise among the lower classes of society. Today's style of politics is not limited to the monopoly of a family only in the national or provincial assemblies, but the percentage of candidates in local government also clearly shows hereditary politics. On the electronic media of Pakistan, people are sitting day after day criticizing hereditary or family politics, but they are shouting about it. They are criticizing it, but in practice, they have never raised their voice against it within their own parties because everyone is naked in this bathhouse. If the people of Pakistan compare hereditary politics with some of the big countries of the world, if they compare it with other countries, then in these other countries, the share of hereditary politics in the US Congress in 2022 was about 7 percent, in the Lok Sabha of India by 2022, it was 29 percent, while the share of hereditary politicians in the National Assembly of Pakistan and the Provincial Assembly of Punjab was 55 percent. And in 2226, the position of hereditary politics has been similar. The misfortune of our country, or in a democracy (this rate of hereditary politics is unacceptable for any democratic society). One of the main reasons for family politics in Pakistan that comes to the fore is that for the last three decades, there are about 402 families in Punjab who have been continuously making such policies and manipulating legislations due to which their power in national resources and private sector sectors is gradually increasing and their influence is also spreading throughout the country. In Pakistan, from the 1985 elections to the 2018 elections, a total of two-thirds of the first three candidates in every constituency have been related to hereditary or family politics and even now, instead of changing, this situation in Pakistan is increasing and it does not seem to be stopped.
In Pakistan, family politicians have been 50% in the National Assembly until the 2018 elections. This is the misfortune of this country that every party tries to find "electable" candidates and because of this, even the new party in our country cannot succeed and cannot escape these hereditary politics. But after 26 years of struggle, the PTI has still been able to compete with these old political parties and is still doing so. But this party also brought hereditary seals to the assemblies in Balochistan, rural Sindh, Saraiki belt of Punjab and to some extent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Politics in the rural areas of Sindh has always been in the hands of the elders and landlords of Sindh and still revolves around them. Hereditary politics is very strong socially in the villages of Sindh. But in the urban areas of Sindh, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) of 1992 had shaken the hereditary or family politics by being a new party in its constituencies. Now that this party is suffering from internal conflicts and some units (reproach). Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab are also like the politics of Sindh villages, but in the cities of Punjab, the roots of hereditary politics are strong in most areas. During the dictatorship, new candidates did come to the elections in non-party elections, but some of these newcomers changed their new family relationships and in this way they were able to enter hereditary politics and their political monopolies were also established. Some Pakistani intellectuals have their own analysis that when the members of hereditary politics get power in power, then they waste all their strength in limiting their opponents in their arrogance or ego. Which not only harms its politics, but the country also suffers from it. Historically, large political families have monopolized state resources, their family wealth, the ability to control situations, and the ability to use violence against opponents or others, so it is easier for the next generation of these families to establish or assert their position in politics. However, on the contrary, the analysis of some young intellectuals is different from that of their seniors. They say that hereditary politics is stronger and more durable in societies in which democratic traditions are still far away and undemocratic forces occasionally interfere in the democratic system. But over the past decade, Pakistan's electronic media, print media and social media have greatly influenced the public in the cities, and the debate on hereditary politics and their monopoly in the media and social media has led to a new way of thinking. Now, a trend is being seen in the cities of Pakistan that hereditary politics is weakening in urban areas compared to rural areas. It is possible that after a few years, family politics will be living its last days in the cities. In order to change hereditary politics or leadership in Pakistan, it is necessary that an impartial judicial system monitors the performance of governments, while a powerful Election Commission strictly monitors the electoral system. And better distribution of national wealth and industrial development can also weaken hereditary politics. If we look at it, some factors are indeed involved in the path that Pakistan has taken today, but in the political situation, economic difficulties, internal and external situation of Pakistan, hereditary politics cannot be considered an acquittal in the position it has been brought to today. |