The writer is a freelance columnist.
,,,,,,,,,, Consolidating the gains of democracy, ensuring rule of law and preserving sanctity of the constitution is the collective responsibility of the ruling as well as the opposition parties. But unfortunately, our history of the last seven decades belies the existence of that political culture. The country is victim of the self-inflicted tragedies that came about due to the political instability triggered by the irresponsible behaviour of the political forces. It has almost become visceral for the parties losing elections to declare them rigged. Instead of seeking redress of their complaints from respective legal forums they have invariably resorted to launching campaigns to bring down the incumbent government which have even led to wrapping up the system by the military dictators, pushing the country further away from the envisioned democratic path.
Regrettably they have not learnt their lessons from history and continue to stick to their anti-democratic antics. The PDM campaign is also very much similar to the previous such adventures. It is my considered view that it will not bring out any winners but will further push the country towards the edge of a precipice.
Under the given situation it would be advisable for the opposition parties represented in the PDM to revisit their course of action and allow the government to complete its tenure to end the vicious circle of fomenting political crisis. Let the people be the judge of its performance. ….
If it is felt that there are certain inbuilt flaws in the system of elections which facilitate rigging, the best way to deal with them is to sit together and use collective wisdom to fix the maladies afflicting the system so that in future nobody could have resort to machinations designed to pull down the government on the pretext of rigging and consign the country to perennial instability.
In this regard the ruling party has greater responsibility to create an environment of dialogue among the political forces to eradicate inadequacies in the system of governance and the way we elect the public representatives. This will not come about without a national dialogue. That is the only way to winch the country out of the perennial crisis.
https://nation.com.pk/11-Dec-2020/winching-the-country-out-of-crisis
Winching the country out of crisis: by Malik Muhammad Ashraf in the Nation, Dec 11, 2020
The writer is a freelance columnist.
,,,,,,,,,, Consolidating the gains of democracy, ensuring rule of law and preserving sanctity of the constitution is the collective responsibility of the ruling as well as the opposition parties. But unfortunately, our history of the last seven decades belies the existence of that political culture. The country is victim of the self-inflicted tragedies that came about due to the political instability triggered by the irresponsible behaviour of the political forces. It has almost become visceral for the parties losing elections to declare them rigged. Instead of seeking redress of their complaints from respective legal forums they have invariably resorted to launching campaigns to bring down the incumbent government which have even led to wrapping up the system by the military dictators, pushing the country further away from the envisioned democratic path.
Regrettably they have not learnt their lessons from history and continue to stick to their anti-democratic antics. The PDM campaign is also very much similar to the previous such adventures. It is my considered view that it will not bring out any winners but will further push the country towards the edge of a precipice.
Under the given situation it would be advisable for the opposition parties represented in the PDM to revisit their course of action and allow the government to complete its tenure to end the vicious circle of fomenting political crisis. Let the people be the judge of its performance. ….
If it is felt that there are certain inbuilt flaws in the system of elections which facilitate rigging, the best way to deal with them is to sit together and use collective wisdom to fix the maladies afflicting the system so that in future nobody could have resort to machinations designed to pull down the government on the pretext of rigging and consign the country to perennial instability.
In this regard the ruling party has greater responsibility to create an environment of dialogue among the political forces to eradicate inadequacies in the system of governance and the way we elect the public representatives. This will not come about without a national dialogue. That is the only way to winch the country out of the perennial crisis.
https://nation.com.pk/11-Dec-2020/winching-the-country-out-of-crisis
Published in Pak Media comment and Pakistan