AS a result of General Elections-2024, no political party could attain even simple majority at the federal level, therefore the expected political stability is unlikely to be attained in near future. In the absence of political stability, the dream of economic growth and economic prosperity will remain unfulfilled for a foreseeable future. Those who lost the elections are accusing Election Commission for altering their results after the completion of voting process, thus, questioning the very transparency of the election process. Indeed, the Elections-2024 has created more divide among the masses rather bringing the people closer to each other for creating harmony and unity at national level. There is an immediate need to redress the grievances of the people through a fair play and judicious investigations. At this critical juncture of our history, Pakistan needs a cohesive society, unity at national level and tolerant social and political environment.
The people of Pakistan questions that; for decades they have been told that ‘state is in turmoil and we are passing through a critical stage of our history’. No one has ever told the nation that who is responsible for creating this instability and disorder and how the state and society of Pakistan will come out from this insecurity, injustices, political polarization, ethnic and sectarian prejudices, recurrent socio-political chaos and economic destitution of Pakistan. In the absence of consensus among the national leadership over the national issues there is a rapid rise of chaos and confusion among the masses at large. The political instability gives rise to social unrest and segmentation in the society. These factors further impact economy while simultaneously exposing Pakistan for exploitation by external forces.
Unfortunately, despite passage of seventy-six years, Pakistan has not come out from these elements of instability and chaos at national level. Each government face the challenge of its political survival from the day it is elected and instead of working for the national development and economic prosperity of the people, the governments have been taking all legal and illegal measures to complete their tenure. This includes; political bribe, violation of merit system, undesired and harmful alliances at home and abroad and above all ignoring the implementation of national interest and wellbeing of the people. This all is happening in Pakistan besides so many other ills and evils for decades now. The unfortunate aspect of this all is that, there is no realization among those who cause these problems and play with the future of Pakistan and its 230 million resilient people and yet remains at the helm of affairs.
The on-going struggle of powers among the political parties is badly damaging the national image and process of democratization as insinuated in the constitution of Pakistan. The unfortunate political polarization in Pakistan is impacting the country on two significant aspects; a) creating a chaos at domestic level and b) augmenting state’s vulnerability for external forces and rising trends of militancy. Internally, the people of Pakistan are confused about the future of state. Economy of the state is getting bad to worse with each passing day, questioning the very economic survivability of the state.Taking advantage of the political instability in Pakistan, the external rival forces find an opportune time to further destabilize the Pakistan by exploiting its existing fault lines; using militancy and economy as the main tools. Militancy emanating from western borders is spreading all over Pakistan, targeting security personnel and civilians alike.
History proves that, states with strong domestic order, social cohesion, political stability, unbiased judicial system, national harmony and a visionary leadership are less susceptible for foreign invasions and aggressive acts of external forces. On the other hand, countries with domestic chaos and political disorder can easily become victim to external conspiracies and aggression. Some of the recent examples are; Libya, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. These states once had admirable living standards and harmonized domestic order, giving job opportunities to rest of world. The domestic unrest, political rivalries, bad governance and lack of statesmanship among the top national leadership exposed them for external exploitation and current level of state breakdown.
Such a happening can take place anywhere with any country, since international system is based on power politics where states tend to weaken the rival states for the expansion of their influence and power. The state of Pakistan itself became a victim of external aggression in 1971, mainly because of political polarization, self-seeking political leadership, bad governance, festering social cohesion and self-centered leadership at the help of affairs. Today, once again the foes of Pakistan are all out to create domestic chaos and political unrest in Pakistan. This is a dangerous situation, facing Pakistan, since it cannot afford a political instability, social unrest and fragmented national image. Unfortunately, this all is happening after this resilient nation successfully defeated the globally imposed war on terror against the state and society of Pakistan. This externally imposed terrorism was defeated through valiant act of heroism, undertaken by Pakistani Military where masses firmly stood behind them wholeheartedly.
The evolving post elections political instability, social unrest, economic melt-down and resurgence of militancy can provide the rival forces with an opportunity to fuel the situation for the disadvantage of Pakistan. Therefore, the rising social and political unrest among the masses must be addressed on priority through a fair play, keeping in view the ground realities and in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan.
