True democracy

Pakistan’s constitution says that all matters of national importance are required to be discussed in parliament. But since the incumbent PTI-led government has come into power, it never paid attention to constitutional norms. It never takes the opposition in confidence for its support on the issues of national interest or honour its presence in parliament. Even the prime minister, who had been fighting for the supremacy of parliament for the last twenty years, himself undermined the sanctity and decorum of this august debating forum. Since August 2018, he has hardly attended five or six sessions of parliament. During those sessions, he never took criticism from the opposition parties on his government policies gracefully. Secondly, his cabinet has more unelected members than the elected ones. Almost all key portfolios have been given to the unelected people. It seems as if a technocrat government is ruling the country and parliament is merely a rubber stamp. Besides, the so-called accountability process has been launched only against the opposition parties while all others have been given a clean chit to do whatever they want.

A true democracy has across-the-board accountability. The government uses an even-handed approach to deal with all wrong-doers – regardless of the fact that they are from the opposition or the government. But in our democratic system, only those are under fire who decry the government’s policies or unveil its shortcomings.

Guldar Khan Wazir

Loralai