Dynastic politics is a global phenomenon

As the results of the PML-N intra-party elections indicate, the affairs of this ruling political party will continue to revolve around Premier Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif, meaning thereby that it will all be in the family--as is the case with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) where blood relatives have loomed larger than the ideologies.

By the way, along with the Awami National Party (ANP), the Asif Zardari-led PPP serves as the best example of dynastic or hereditary politics in Pakistan today.

Feeling threatened by adversaries even when elected amidst fervour, leaders of the various key Pakistani political parties have often been seen preoccupied with personal survival.

As far as the MQM and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf are concerned, they are no different too because Messrs Altaf Hussain and Imran Khan continue to call shots in these two political entities since March 1984 and April 1996 respectively…with none having the guts or credentials to challenge their supremacy and prowess.

It goes without saying that under the 18th Constitutional Amendment of April 8, 2010, there is no binding upon the political parties to hold elections within their rank and file, hence paving way for the throne to circulate around the families of party bosses.

It is imperative to note that the 18th Constitutional Amendment had conferred Godly powers upon the Pakistani political leaders to run their parties like dictators.

The 18th Amendment gave party leaders (whether elected or un-elected to Parliament), the powers to suspend/terminate the memberships of even their Parliamentary leaders if they deviated from the party policy.

This means that in case of ruling party, even a prime minister could be removed from office by his party’s head if he was found guilty of dissenting with his party’s views--what to talk of ordinary legislators or office-bearers!

Dynastic politics in other South Asian nations like India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka:

Research reveals dynastic or hereditary politics is a common phenomenon in various South Asian countries like India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka where Nehrus and Gandhis of Congress, Khalida Zia and Hasina Wajid families and the Bandaranaike kinfolks continue to dominate the political proceedings for decades.

Dynastic politics in the United States:

In United States, the Kennedys, Clintons and the Bush family have ruled the country’s political horizon for many years. The “New York Times” had once reckoned that the son of a governor was 6,000 times more likely than the average American male baby-boomer to become a governor himself, and the son of a senator was 8,500 times more likely to become a senator. The concentration of power and wealth in a small elite raises questions about legitimacy.

Hereditary politics around the world:

The April 18, 2015, edition of the “Economist” had stated: “In politics the Clintons and the Bushes hardly count as exceptions. The leaders of Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Bangladesh are all related to former political chiefs. The “Stans” of Central Asia are family fiefs. The Gandhis are struggling in India as are the Bhuttos in Pakistan, but the Kenyattas are kings in Kenya, a Fujimori is once again leading the polls in Peru and a Trudeau has a fighting chance in Canada. Meanwhile, the lengthy catalogue of China’s “princelings”, the children of Communist Party grandees, starts right at the top with the president Xi Jinping.”

The globally-acknowledged American magazine had added: “In Europe family power is one reason why politics seems like a closed shop. Some 57 of the 650 members of the recently dissolved British Parliament are related to current or former MPs. François Hollande, France’s president, has four children with Segolene Royal, who ran for the presidency in 2007. Three generations of Le Pens are squabbling over their insurgent party, the Front National. Belgium’s prime minister is the son of a former foreign minister and European commissioner. The names Papandreou and Karamanlis still count for something in Greece.”

The “Economist” had gone on to write: “The importance of power families would have surprised the founders of modern economic and political theory. Political dynasties were supposed to fade as ordinary people got the vote. Family businesses were supposed to lose ground as public companies raised money from millions of small investors. Political dynasties have a powerful mixture of brand names and personal connections. Family companies can be more flexible and far-seeing than public companies. Family owners typically want their firms to last for generations, and they can make long-term investments without worrying about shareholders hunting for immediate profits. Power families have also prospered from big, and welcome, social and economic shifts. Their prominence reflects the increasing prosperity of Asia, where families traditionally play a large role. The emancipation of women is doubling the talent pool.”

In June 2016, a leading Russian media house “Sputnik” had written: “The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is probably the first person who comes to mind. While his two elder brothers, Kim Jong-nam and Kim Jong-chul, were apparently deemed by Kim Jong-il as too depraved to lead the country (the former even managed to embarrass himself by attempting to enter Japan using a fake passport in order to visit Tokyo Disneyland), Kim Jong-un spent much of his youth attending a closed elite school in Switzerland and appeared unwilling to repeat his brothers’ shenanigans. It should also be noted that the current leader of South Korea, President Park Geun-hye, can also be considered a member of political dynasty as she is the daughter of Park Chung-hee – a controversial authoritarian leader who stewarded the country for 18 years, turning it into an economic power to be reckoned with, but at the same time often achieving his goals at the expense of democracy and human rights.”

The Russian media outlet had maintained: “When Bassel Assad, the eldest son of former Syrian President Hafez Assad, was killed in a car accident, many doubted that his younger brother, a quiet ophthalmologist named Bashar Assad, would be able to replace him as 'heir apparent.’ At the same time, Marine Le Pen, the current leader of the French far-right political party National Front and daughter of the organisation’s founder Jean-Mari Le Pen, was not only able to successfully replace her father as the party’s head, but even managed to steer the movement in a slightly different direction despite the former leader’s wishes. In fact, after making a number of controversial statements, Jean-Mari Le Pen ended up expelled from the party he once helped establish.”

In its November 30, 2015, edition, a renowned Tokyo-based international news magazine covering politics, society, and culture in the Asia-Pacific region, the “Diplomat” had viewed: “Dynastic politics remains crucial to understanding postwar Asia while untangling the intestines of dynastic relationships is still a key indicator as to who the future leaders of Asia will be. The dynasties may not now always be entirely blood relations, but rather deeply co-dependent networks of families built up over the last 70 years. For a while it looked as if the era of postwar dynastic politics was coming to an end. The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and its political vehicle, Congress, took an electoral battering in the May 2014 Indian elections. Two months later in Indonesia Prabowo Subianto, the son-in-law of the former president Suharto, was bested in the polls by man-of-the-people Joko Widodo–the first president not to have emerged from Jakarta’s political elite. Elsewhere dynastic politics looked increasingly fragile.”

The “Diplomat” had asserted: “Fourth-generation politician Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has faced repeated scandals reducing his popularity; similarly in Malaysia with Najib Razak–the son of former Prime Minister Abdul Razak. Elsewhere it seemed perhaps it was time to move on. Lee Kuan Yew died in March 2015 and the succession was not altogether clear; Kim Jong-un, grandson of the DPRK’s founder Kim Il-sung, looked weak in Pyongyang; in Taiwan, the KMT of Chiang Kai-shek, and then his son Chiang Ching-kuo, looks headed for a major electoral defeat.”

The heavy price paid by powerful political families:

The Kennedys, Gandhis and the Bhuttos had met a similar fate and carved the same destiny for themselves.

An analyst had once viewed: “The intertwined dynasties of these families were given the same screen play, with different settings and dialogues.”