Q1) Discuss the key reasons behind the problems of Political Parties in

Pakistan. Logically justify each reason.

From the very start Pakistan has chosen to the democratic choice of government for itself. Quaid-
I-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah himself chose democracy as a best way for the governance of
Pakistan in the speech he made at the Staff College on June 14, 1948, however it is also said that,
Quaid-I-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah himself laid the foundation of non-democratic trends
by centralizing the structure of Muslim League and dissolving the non-democratic Sindh
Assembly and the ministry of Khan Sahib in KPK in 1948. Despite all this he chose
democracy in order to make Pakistan a people friendly and welfare state. In the 1954
elections in East Bengal, when the United Front won the Elections, Muslim League lost its
influence in West Pakistan, when a Bengali, Hussein Shaheed Suhrawardy, took charge as the
prime minister in 1956. Following this the Punjabi landlords sought refuge in a jerry-build
organization named, Republican Party. Due to this the military-led establishment decided to
terminate the constitutional experiment and the 1956 constitution was abrogated, the
legislatures were closed and all the political parties were banned. Between 1958 and 1971
President Ayub Khan, through autocratic rule was able to centralize the government without
the inconvenience of unstable ministerial coalitions that had characterized its first decade
after independence.

The development of political parties is related to the level of development of a society, the
quality of mutual relations and the nature of the state structure. It was the uneven political
development in rural and urban areas that affected the growth of parties in the colonial period
also persisted, though it gradually narrowed down in 1990s. The trend affected the
development of parties in Pakistan. They mostly remained urban-based, with limited contacts
with rural population. In the absence of regular elections there was no pressure on the city-
based political parties to reach the 70 percent rural population and integrate it in the political
process.

The main problem with the political parties of Pakistan is the lack of inner democracy.
Almost all the major political parties do democratic malpractice in such a way that the party
leaders appoint themselves as the chairpersons and their heirs are groomed to take over their
father’s position in the party. With a few exceptions, political parties in Pakistan have never
held elections within their ranks. Often, influential politicians (landlords and industrial
barons) sought and secured important positions in major political parties on the basis of
nominations. The heads of major political parties are nominated by their so-called working
committees or Central Boards, which again comprise non-elected nominated members.

Another problem with the political system is the lack of building up of leaders. The leaders of
major political parties never encouraged the growth of alternate leadership in their parties.
The parties in Pakistan do not build politicians from workers to leaders from low-ranking to
high-ranking public activists, and from weak to powerful decision makers. Hence these
parties have problems in mobilizing their disenchanted workers who seem to be in no mood
to make sacrifices for the leadership.
Political parties, before election make their manifestoes in which they try to be “all things to
all people”. The manifestoes tend to have a list of problems that the party aims to solve but
they are unable to prioritize those problems. While they promise a long list of outputs, they
rarely specify how resources, not only financial and economic but political, administrative,
cultural and social are to be generated and allocated to mutually competing promises. Lastly
parties are rarely serious enough to sift through and solve even serious contradictions among
pledges made in their manifestoes.

Last but definitely not least, the main and the biggest reason for political failure in our
country is the corruption within the political party. Our political leaders and focused
completely on their interests instead of national interests or the interests of the common
people. They have never respected the norms of democracy After the October 1999 military
coup; many analysts described the two major political parties of Pakistan as “corrupt,
incompetent, unpopular and highly damaging to the welfare of the people in Pakistan”. The
political party funding in Pakistan remains an unanswered question because of which our
country has failed to develop a healthy and long-lasting political institution and democracy.

Q2) Suggest a practical solution for each problem in political parties.

We have failed miserably to recognize the need to fix our political parties in Pakistan. This
fixing or restructuring will only be done if the parties have internal democracy. Failure in
achieving internal democracy in political parties has contributed a lot to the political miseries
of the country. In Pakistani political system, many things need to be improved. It has been
observed in last few decades that politicians once elected start thinking that they are not
accountable or answerable to anyone in this country. Despite the presence of institutions like
Supreme Court and other low level courts, over the past few decades, a perception is built
among politicians that once they are selected, they will enjoy the government office fully and
will not be answerable to any institution or person. There is a need of well recognized policy
for political parties which so that it will be strictly followed once they are elected. Extra
funds should not be used against unnecessary projects. The gap between poor and rich should
be minimized.

In order to solve out political problems we need to start by introducing democracy in our
political parties in such a way, that each and every member of the political party gets an equal
opportunity to express their opinion and all the members should get the chance to vote in
order to contribute towards development.

The leaders of the political party should be held accountable for whatever they do during
their political career. In Pakistan we have a democratic system where the leader is elected by
other members. That leader is answerable to them even after taking the oath but it is usually
ignored and the leader misuses his power and tarts to think that he is better than the others
and that he is above the law. In reality this is not how it works, it is observed that the best
democratic political system has the strongest accountability system.

In a mature and democratic political system, financial resources are best utilized. Extra
expenditure on unnecessary projects is always discouraged.

Political parties have to draw their strength from citizens for sustainable democracy instead
of looking for behind-the-scene intrigues to grab power. They should consider public the
main source of power in democratic system.