Since the inception of Pakistan, a number of obstacles and hindrances have come in the way of the political system of the country. The country has seen severe backlash in the functionality of the federation. A number of political and governance models have been adopted which have a very extensive history of in-complete parliamentary terms, extensive martial laws and assassinations of first Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan and the then President General Zia ul Haq.
Though the country has been going through a lot of hardships but in all these 75 years many opportunities have also been availed and achieved and incidentally, most of them have been observed during the time of military coups.
There is no other example in the world that any country can excel during martial laws, but Pakistan did. That is why; it is very strange to accept the fact by comparing all the statistics of the economic growth and stability during the time of martial laws and parliamentary governments that the indicators of progress were high in the martial law tenures.
There is a need to stabilize the political system of Pakistan as the country is now in the 76th year of its independence and it is very much important for the country to stabalise politically as the international politics is changing. Now, according to the US Defense Strategic Report of 2018, the Asian giant China may replace US from the title of the world number one economic power. South Asia is the theatre of world politics and Pakistan is one of the most important countries in the region. It is essential for the prosperity and economic growth of the country to get maximum benefit from this opportunity. This is only possible if there is a stable and mature political system in the country. This maturity and stability will only come if the political governments complete their terms of five years without any hiccups. All major political parties PPP, PML (N) and PTI must realize that this is an urgent need for the prosperity of the country. Another major institution whose loyalties have always been towards the narrative of the State is the Pakistan Army. We must accept that we cannot ignore the role of Pakistan Army, when it comes to the protection of the narrative of the State especially during the time of external and internal threats, political vacuum etc.
Whereas political parties always tend to protect their seats in the assemblies, their terms and interests. They hardly pay any heed towards the protection of the narrative of State as compared to Pakistan Army.
As far as the current political scenario of Pakistan is concerned, there are numerous factors which have never been experienced and observed in the history of the country. All the key institutions from establishment to judiciary and all major political parties have never been perceived in that much miss-coordination, severe turbulence, and isolation. It is pertinent to mention that this situation did not just come up abruptly and directly targeted the economy of the country. The basic element which led the system in damaging the economy the most is the class of representatives present in the National assembly of Pakistan. Pakistani people must realize that it is important to elect the persons for National and Provincial assemblies who are well-educated, and have awareness of the governance. More importantly, they should not be benefiting only a set of people and ignoring the rest of the masses.
Here in Pakistan, a quite common trend is that majority of the businessmen usually come in the politics to spread their businesses and give benefits to only a special set of people. We need to discontinue this trend and should create awareness in our youth as the country has more than 64% of the youth.
A very strange aspect that the Nation has observed in the current political situation is that some politicians with their ambitions to get power have misguided the people especially the youth to stand against the armed forces of Pakistan. The hatred became alarming which resulted in the attack of people on Military and Government installations on May 9, 2023 when civil armed forces arrested former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The embarrassment and humiliation which was seen on that day was something that has never been observed in the history of the country which we cannot afford as a nuclear power. Upon the arrest of the former prime minister and chairperson of political party PTI Imran Khan, his supporters straight away rushed towards the cantonments in the whole country to attack and burn the setups of the forces. A number of important buildings like Radio Pakistan Office Peshawar, Jinnah House Lahore and numerous monuments of martyrs were destroyed and burned by the extremists and protestors. Armed forces displayed an immaculate discipline and composure by not harming any civilian on that day. It is particularly important to know that our enemies have always tried to tear down this country into fragments by giving a surge to issues like sectarianism, ethnicity problems, etc.
It is incredibly significant to admit that only one thing which has kept Pakistan together and away from an evil eye is the Armed forces of Pakistan. These things have already been admitted by the enemies and by the entire world as well. Pakistani armed forces are battle-hardened and have extensively damaged the terrorist organizations which tried to damage the country internally.
Our army comes in the world’s top ten professional and disciplined armed forces, which is a matter of pride for our Nation. Our enemies have always been trying to make the Pakistan Army weak and this is something which cannot be achieved easily as the power of this force lies in the trust, love, and support of the people of this Nation.
We cannot forget the sacrifices which have been rendered by the brave officers and soldiers of Pakistani Armed Forces for the defense of our Nation. The incident which took place on 9th of May tried to ignite that hatred between the people and armed forces, but our enemies failed to do so. This Nation loves its defenders and martyrs. Pakistan army cleared one thing in 2022 that they will act as “A-political” and will never get involved in the politics so all the political parties must respect this decision. All political parties have the same ambition, which is to get into power and serve the people of the country. So, it is recommended that all the political parties should work together on taking Pakistan forward by positive political approach. They should also clear all their grievances before competing in elections and must respect the results of the elections, which is important to stabilize the democracy in the country. People of this country also need to get education and proper awareness after which they can decide which political party can represent them. This can only be done by a positive political awareness by the media.
Lastly, we as a Nation should never forget the sacrifices of our armed forces and our heroes. First, we all are Pakistani after that we are supporters of any political party. May Allah almighty bless our country with prosperity and success. Amen!
About Author
Syed Haider Ali is a graduate of National University of Sciences & Technology Islamabad and right now he is pursuing MPhil in ‘Politics and International Relations’ from Lahore Leads University. He is a keen reader and has read many books on the political affairs of the world.
