Ayesha Arshad
Pakistan is going through a period of turmoil in terms of politics and the economy. After 75 years of its existence, the grass-root issues still haunt the socio-political arena of this region. The current political structure failed to encounter the grappling economic conditions of Pakistan. The answer lies in the structural failure that halted the overall progress of Pakistan in every dynamic. The politics in Pakistan is always a big if. If the elite in power converges its interest, it would serve us some possible outcomes.
Currently, the political boat of Pakistan is sinking and traditional approaches failed to explain the leak in the boat as all the parties are hanging under the same branch. The elite behavior could somewhat explain the gap between progress and stability in terms of politics. Elite in the definition of Gaetano Mosca is the ruling class with an implied eulogy and all the elites combined form a group called oligarchy.In a social structure organization leads to political systems and as Mosca quotes;“Who says organization, says oligarchy.”
Iron law of oligarchy
Pakistan, in current times, is undergoing an economic crisis. The floods and ongoing inflation have grappled the already struggling economy. In the times like this, political instability is playing a very catastrophic role for Pakistan. The elites are busy in a tug of war regarding their interests and compromising the state interest in a larger picture. The recent shift in the political convergence between PPP and both PML-N and PML-Q based on its interests explains the politics at hand. PPP once termed PML-Q as ‘Qatil league’ after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and is now ready to join hands with them to “save Pakistan”. At one point party’s co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari also mentioned that PML-N only listened to us when they need us.
On the other hand, the governing elites seem to fulfill their interests and follow a similar pattern when it comes to exploiting the institutions to gain personal benefits. National Accountability Bureau amendment bill (second amendment)has favored the ruling power in exemption of almost 90% of their cases.
Sections 14 and 23 of the NAB ordinance act 1999 have been deleted completely. Constitutional expert Hamid Khan terms it a license to corruption. But despite opposition from several lawmakers and PTI, the PDM coalition has been able to pass the bill with a 2/3rd majority in both the upper house and senate. The government’s perspective towards the NAB amendment bill was to avoid the misuse of law for political rhetoric.
The political narrative of PTI seems to be unruffled by the chaotic environment due to economic crises or the political trauma in the country. The narrative supported by the chairman of PTI Imran Khan and his team about foreign conspiracy and imported government created a lot of BUZZ but its authenticity is yet to be determined. However, this conspiracy theory is termed as a spark of anarchy and division by PM Shahbaz Sharif. This tug of war against each other through discourse formation highlights the competition among the key elites in the political realm. Imran Khan claimed to be under immense pressure to recognize Israel but is not willing to reveal the sources. The quest for power and the radical-rivalry approach in their narrative can be analyzed through speech-act theory (J.L Austin). Chairman of PTI Imran Khan stated that he started his political struggle against former PM Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari 26 years ago. Elite theory refers elite as being the state. Imran Khan seems to be of this opinion. In a recent jalsa, he said his disqualification will be the nation’s loss. Recently the chairman said, rallies will be held in floods even in wars. His telethon is also referred to as the referendum of trust.
All the political parties and the ruling elites in the scene seem to be walking on the pluralistic stream. Every party is following their narratives and in doing so, compromising the interests of people at large. The lack of strong institutions to provide a backbone for the system also plays a significant role. The use of excessive power at hand and lack of accountability leads to a system with no checks and balances that ultimately destroy the web of politics.
Elites are always an integral part of politics. They are the inevitable entities in the political arena that plays a key role in the working of the system. In pursuit of their interest, they need to converge at some point to avoid instability and chaos in the environment. The current need of the hour is to bring all the key actors on one page to develop a charter of the economy to tackle the devastating impacts of floods and inflation on the country. We have seen the elites converging for the gains of their interest in the past i.e., PDM, the dire need of the contemporary situation is the blending of their interests in one to combat the crises at hand.
The writer is BS-IR student at National Defense University (NDU) Islamabad
