Do Pakistanis deserve a democratic system?

You bet! However we must realize that democratic rule is a system that has a specific set of pre-conditions, followed by a set of operating procedures. This is just like any other system in the world. Pakistanis too can adopt democratic system as soon as they fulfill the pre-conditions for democracy and then faithfully stick to the “democratic operating procedures”.

We should not expect that a heavenly voice will say “kun (do it)”, and we would get democracy.

By democracy, I mean the “Western style” democracy (and not some mumbo jumbo Islamic democracy). So far Western style democracy is the only form of proven government that takes care of people’s will and generates prosperity for them. Other forms of democracy may exist on paper, but there is no proof of their success.

Evolution of any system, be it democratic or welfare, is very similar to a fruit tree. You can’t just make the oranges appear magically unless you are a Houdini. For non-magicians, the first step is to get a good seed for your desired fruit, then prepare the soil, then plant the seed, then protect the saplings, then nurture and feed the saplings until it matures and bears fruit. Even when the tree is bearing fruit, you must protect it from determined enemies, as well as stupid friends.

Before we start cursing Pakistanis or Pakistan’s current rulers we must see how democratic institutions have evolved in other societies. Such analysis hopefully will point the way forward for us as well. The following examples are very brief, and a single sentence based description of very complex set of histories. So please forgive me if I omit something.

American democratic system was set up by free-masons (i.e. enlightened and moderate), super-rich businessmen. English democracy evolved thanks to their super-rich “gentlemen” class that worked diligently and peacefully with English Aristocrats and the Royals.

On the other hand two European countries i.e. France and Germany traversed very erratic path towards democracy. French democracy resulted from bloody revolutions, and German democracy went through the growing pains in the form of Hitler, holocaust, and WWII.

There are other Western style democracies where old Royals and new democratic systems exist side by side. For example Nordic democracies evolved from a close cooperation of super-rich merchants and the Royals.

Close to home and even closer in history, we find three case studies including: Indian government, North vs. South Korean governments. Indian democracy survived thanks to their strong (and now super-rich) Pro-West Hindu business and industrial class. These pro-West Hindu industrialists such as: Tata or Birla stood like rocks against Nehru-Indira socialism. South Korean democracy was born from holy-marriage of military dictators and their pro-West & super-rich industrial and businessmen friends e.g. Chung Ju-yung of Hyundai. Please note that SK democratic system is still evolving. North Koreans killed their private enterprise, and see how that country is a basket case nuthouse.

Why people of Pakistan feel disenfranchised?

Pakistanis who believe in Monarch-less parliamentary system do feel disenfranchised. However the real gripe for most Pakistanis is less to do with voting rights, and a lot more to do with their financial well being. If we can ever open up the society, and let people generate national revenues in the order of $800 billion, then people will be happy and feel fully enfranchised. How do I reach this number? Just read on!

If you look closely, democracy evolves when people are optimistic about their future. Optimism comes from free market forces that allow individuals to work at their highest potential thus creating prosperity. On the other hand prosperity that is not earned but given (by God or God-like people) in the form of oil or diamonds, results in brutal systems (read Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Sierra Leon, and Iran).

Pakistani people feel dissatisfied not due to lack of democracy but for their want of better economy. The biggest complaint of an ordinary Pakistani is just one! Menhangai (inflation)! Our democratic governments have consistently failed to bring home the bacon. On the other hand our pro-West military leaders have done far better job in that arena. Ayub brought in industry and wealth by joining Western alliances like CETO, CENTO, and RCD. And now Musharraf has increased our revenues. That has helped us to bump up the spending to the tune of $20 billion (from $15 billion in prior years). However even $20 billion is not enough.

Why $20 billion is not enough? Let’s do the numbers. The city of New York has 1/3 rd of the population of Karachi but it spends $55 billion. That my friend is almost 3 times the spending of the whole country of Pakistan. Unless Pakistan increases its revenues at least 50 times (50x $16 billion = $800 billion), our people will remain dissatisfied and disenfranchised regardless of the form of government. Our people see the movies, pictures or visit European countries and become angry at Pakistan. This is the core of the negative feeling in Pakistan.

Our elected politicians Bhutto and Mujib wasted all that industry and wealth from Ayub era by following communist and anti-Western policies. Even in 2007 our economy is better thanks to a close cooperation with the West. Instead of cursing Musharraf, we should encourage him to join Western alliances such as NATO.

Another pre-condition for successful democracy is the nurturing of pro-West industrialists and businessmen in Pakistan. Unfortunately at this moment our businessmen fund Islamic leaders like Qazi Husain Ahmad, or the fascistic leaders like Altaf. Until our business elite push for a grass root level change in direction to the West, we won’t have Western style democracy.

Bottom line is that if you impose democracy without preparing the soil (and pro-West economy), and refuse to nurture the little saplings, democratic institutions will whither and die. This is what ails Pakistani democracy as well.

Democracy and undemocratic political parties!

Before asking Musharraf to leave, our intellectuals ought to present good path to future leadership. Why it is that there has not been any replacement of Benazir or Nawaz or Altaf? How much democracy have these guys allowed within their parties? Do they hold open and fair elections for the party leadership? Is army stopping Benazir or Nawaz to retire and let new blood come up? You ever wonder why our most educated community of Karachi is allowing a British citizen to dictate their daily activities!

In the name of democracy we allowed some of the most ruthless politicians to mangle our country i.e. ZAB, Mujib, Altaf, MMA and Liaqat. Following these bitter experiences, Pakistanis were wise to go with the last resort i.e. military option. Our intellectuals should in fact give credit to our people for selecting more stable and peaceful system of government. Look at Afghanistan, Somalia, and BDesh if you have any doubts regarding the condition of societies that fail to value stability.

Our intellectuals continue to forget that Pakistan was formed on the basis of strong army and free market economy as opposed to Nehruvian socialism. No matter how hard our people reject socialism, our intellectuals are hell bent on Indianizing or socializing Pakistan. As long as we give a chance to Pakistani free market forces, avoid socialist blunders (like those by ZAB), we will progress and democratic system will evolve.

On the other hand, if we continue hampering our free market, engage in anti-state behavior, play Robin Hood by attacking and looting our rich business class, snatching houses, lands, or cars from the “haves” in the pretext of giving them to “have-nots”, there won’t be a Western style democracy.

Conclusions

In summary, the pre-conditions for democracy are many. But a couple of them are more important than the rest: 1. Pro-Western industrial and business class, 2. General sense of stability that supports the pro-West business and industry. Once these pre-requisite are met, and we gain a foothold in democratic system, then we need to worry about operating principles of democratic systems. The first and foremost principle is the patience mixed with tolerance. The intellectuals, the bureaucrats, and the politicians must remain patient even during fiercest debates. They need to figure out their final limit that must never be crossed. That final limit happens to be not creating anarchy and calling in "army".