Seven Habits of Highly Dispensable Political Leaders
Athar Osama August 24th, 2007
By: Athar Osama
One of things that I’ve often said in my writings (and otherwise) about Pakistan’s messy and un-inspiring politics is that it is one dominated by personalities rather than issues. In Pakistan, personalities, in the absence of checks and balances, have often become bigger than institutions with the result that we have failed–in the 60 year old history of our country–in creating institutions. This alone has caused immeasurable damage to the country over time.
(The picture of Bhutto and Zia on the right is one my favorite and most “prized” pictures of Pakistan’s history. It reflects, to my mind, all that is wrong about Pakistani politics and its politicians. Misplaced loyalties, individuals over institutions, virtually all of it, in just one simple graphic. This, unfortunately, is the story of Pakistan’s politics being repeated over and over again over the last 60 years. This is the kind of politics that we must all do our utmost to change)
I have a childhood friend–now a professor at British University– who was a die-hard People’s Party supporter and I remember having fiery discussions with him about the deeds and misdeeds of his cherished leader–Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. He maintained, and probably still does, that Pakistan Peoples Party is the only true political party in the country and that all else is engineered by military dictators and intelligence agencies and hence is a hogwash.
With the recent talk of a deal between Benazir Bhutto and Musharraf, I decided to give him a call to see if he still stood by his leader. I wanted to know how he would now justify the actions of the Peoples Party leader Benazir Bhutto. Much to my surprise–a pleasant one, though–he was seriously reconsidering his support for Peoples Party and remarked: “ab tu saray hi aik jaisay hain ” (now all of them are the same!)
Anyways, his comment got me to begin thinking about what are the tell-tale signs of a leader’s insincerity and ultimate downfall–not just political leader, perhaps–but any leader and not just a leader in Pakistan but a leader anywhere. In other words, what are some of the signs that should tell you that it is time to ditch your favorite politician? Switch your political party? or demand a change in your party’s political leadership? If our politicians can switch their loyalties, why can’t we?
Drawing upon our rich and colorful political history, what criteria can we apply to make that decision? Based on my own limited reading of Pakistan’s history–through the Understanding Pakistan Project–here are Understanding Pakistan’s Seven Habits of Highly Dispensable Political Leaders:
1. The leader acts as if he or she is bigger than institutions –This is one of the most long-held positions of Pakistan’s highly dispensable politicians. It is now so ingrained in our political psyche that Pakistan is left with no real (political) institutions today. The Election Commission, The Ehtesab Bureau, or The Supreme Court of Pakistan–we’ve seen it all and they’ve done it to all. Perhaps the most sacred of these institutions is supposed to the Constitution itself and when the Constitution is not safe from the whims and fancies of individuals, what is?
Loading ...