The question of leadership

The following article  “The question of leadership” by Salman Abid, source “The News-Sunday, January 02, 2011”.

 

Politicians, it seems, are not hesitant in exposing themselves one more time.

The question whether Pakistan’s leaders believe in democratic values and practices is perhaps not very difficult to answer, especially after the recent no-holds-barred fight between politicians from the PML-N and MQM, we now know quite well. The gap between leaders, workers and common people is widening by every day passing and all of them seem to be living a life in isolation.

In the backdrop of WikiLeaks, the credibility of our political and military leadership is being discussed seriously in the country and outside. Not one political and military leader has denied the stories of WikiLeaks .On the contrary, they are trying to justify their own actions. Most of the people do not have any doubt about the role of our leaders.

The information disclosed by WikiLeaks is not new because mostly people are aware of the American role in our politics. The alarming and shocking news was the role of United State’s ambassador in the political management through discussion and consultation with our government and state representatives and political and military leaders, all following diligently the guidelines form the United State. These notes actually reflect our real leadership’s character, where they stand to defend democratic norms and values.

Unfortunately, the military regimes, especially that of General Ziaul Haq and his de-politicisation agenda created negative implications for our political process. We can criticise political leaders for their strategies and actions but by no means should we challenge their political commitment for change. The larger political movements of political activists over the few decades in the country brought change and that was remarkable.

Political dynamics of the day are based on power politics. Most of leaders seem to have lost belief in mass mobilization and people’s empowerment and have developed strong linkages with the establishment forces. WikiLeaks, similarly, reflects actions of our major political and others forces.

The whole political scenario from 2006 to 2010 proves that both national and international ‘establishment forces’ as we may call them, wield real power in politics. Our political leadership’s role, some argue, is only to facilitate and accept their dictated agenda. No real resistance, it has been observed by some critics, has come from political forces against dictatorship and international interventions.

Issue-based politics and leadership role is to strengthen each other and create space to work together. But what we are doing is totally opposite as some of our leaders are just focusing on their own agenda and personal interests at the expense of national interests.

Unfortunately, in the past, our leadership has come through the backdoor and not through the political process and people’s support. Since the political parties are weak and anyone can intervene easily within their framework, the threat is not only from internal forces but also from external forces’ intervention and the intention of capturing the decision-making process of political parties.

It’s very easy to criticise the external forces and ignore the question why we are allowing them space? We should openly admit the major crises that we presently have. Since our political system is largely based on individuals, and not on political institutions, our leadership is not accountable at any stage. Our leadership knows very well where the ‘intervention’ can be utilized to getting support. When a leadership behaves in undemocratic manner then obviously it affects the whole party and its structure.

Another vital question is how our political leadership can be held accountable? If the leadership comes with public and party support then we can achieve something in a better way. The intelligentsia can play a very significant role in democratisation of the society. Here, again, the major problem is that some of our intellectuals are affiliated with some individuals and their party and do not openly criticise undemocratic attitude and behaviours due to favouritism and personal interest. This does not augur well at a time when the country faces serious crises in the shape of the war on terror, bad governance, poor economic situation, and social and economic disparities, etc. As a nation, we expect from our leadership and their agenda to be based on peoples’ needs. Unfortunately, there are some who justify the current leadership role and their actions. They insist the practice of politics and their realties are different as compared to the bookish knowledge of politics in academic discourse.

The popular leadership has played its cards well for getting into the corridors of power like MQM and JUI, with the government and state forces. At this critical juncture, we need to insist politics and their leadership should be fair, accountable, transparent, and behave according to democratic norms. These values are very important and without these we cannot strengthen the democratic leadership in the country. So, we should be able to come out of the game of power politics and challenge the current practices of leadership in the name of democracy. One thing that also needs to be realized is the role of the political workers in the country to evaluate the internal leadership crisis and then re-define their own role in politics.

The writer is a political analyst and human rights campaigner. He can be reached at salmanabidpk@gmail.com

Link: http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jan2011-weekly/nos-02-01-2011/pol1.htm#8