The curse of dynastic politics

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) decision to appoint Maryam Nawaz as the senior vice president and chief organiser of the party has again stirred a necessary debate over the curse of dynastic politics in Pakistan. This is not to undermine Maryam’s credentials as a politician – there is already a dearth of women in senior party positions – but to identify the deeper malaise. Her foray into politics will always be marked by the fact that it was only after the father was ushered out of the political scene that she entered it with the sole objective of protecting the family’s political and business interests. However, the problem of dynastic politics is not restricted to the PML-N alone. Almost all the mainstream political parties have been transformed into family enterprises and fiefdoms, barring the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Jamaat-e-Islami and a couple of small nationalist parties.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has remained in the grip of dynasties – initially the Bhuttos and now the Zardaris — since the death of its founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. And as far as constituency politics is concerned, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which initially garnered much applause over its anti-dynastic politics stance, also had to turn to electable candidates in 2018 elections. The country’s so-called democratic system does not allow the proverbial common man to contest elections, let alone win them in at least 60 per cent of the constituencies in the rural and tribal areas. The debate over dynastic politics is not new, but its ardent opponents mainly come from Pakistan’s urban centres comprising educated middle- and lower-middle class Pakistanis and professionals. It is true that the practice is not just exclusive to Pakistan, rather serves as the foundation for several political parties across South Asia. However, the grip of dynastic politics is weakening in countries like India. But Pakistan’s semi-feudal, and semi-tribal social and political order is keeping the grip of political dynasties strong both at the national and the constituency level.

Electoral constituencies are an important component of the jagirs that the older generation of landowning classes pass on to successive generations as family seats. Turning an entire political party into the property of a family, and the political process the privilege of those with means. The role of party members in such situations is subsequently limited to being at the beck and call of the party hierarchy. Even our religious parties and politicians claiming to be from saintly lineages strengthen dynastic politics, which in its essence remains against merit and all the democratic norms. This is why the culture of horse-trading and buying and selling of loyalties remains rampant in the elitist Pakistani democracy. This system has altogether shunned ordinary Pakistanis from being any kind of shareholders in the country’s power structure.

However, to understand dynastic politics as a structural issue is not enough. It is equally important to identify and reverse the deliberate adoption of policies in Pakistan that gradually excluded the middle, lower-middle and working classes as well as the landless and small peasants from the political processes. These came over a sustained period of time and included the bans on student and labour unions, disruption of the local bodies system, as well as the dishonest politicking against land reforms among many other regressive policies. The more a politics sans ideological guidelines and values was encouraged in Pakistan, the bigger a behemoth dynastic politics became. Today we see no permanent alternatives to the Zardaris, Sharifs, Khans and Sardars or the Chaudhrys of Pakistan, whose politics is dominated by their capitalist interests.

What must then be done? While pressuring existing political parties to bring about democratic changes in their party structures is important, to expect them to fulfil this demand will be akin to living in a fool’s paradise. Real change can only come through the active encouragement of pro-people politics that includes struggling for the restoration of democratic units. These include paving the way for students to engage in politics on campuses, for labourers to openly practice their right to unionise, and for citizens to be able to partake in politics through district and union councils. The role of the civil society needs to be enhanced to bring about land reforms, and curb the influence of feudal and patriarchal practices. Dynastic politics will continue to reign supreme in Pakistan till these structural reforms are brought about. The one ray of hope is that more people have started questioning it. This is the first step towards change. Let’s hope it comes sooner rather than later.