SINCE the victory of Trump in the US elections on 5 November 2024, a section of society in Pakistan has developed person-specific wishful thinking that Trump might do a special favour to get someone released from prison. To analyze this, we need to understand US politics and the electoral system. The United States operates under a two-party electoral system dominated by the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.
There are steep differences between the policies and political positions of the Democratic and Republican parties on major issues such as taxes, the role of government, social security, gun control, immigration, healthcare, abortion, and environmental policy and regulation. These two parties dominate America’s political landscape but differ greatly in their philosophies and ideas.
Pakistan has remained closer to the Republicans’ philosophy, policies, and ideas. The first US President who visited Pakistan was also Republican. In 1959, US President Dwight Eisenhower became the first US leader to visit Pakistan. The people of Pakistan also received him warmly. During the 1950s and 1960s, the sentiment of the people of Pakistan toward the US was high. In the 1970s, Pakistan got its first democratically elected Prime Minister, and in 1973, Richard Nixon declared that “the integrity of Pakistan is the cornerstone of American foreign policy.” Nowadays, such a hot favourite status is only enjoyed by Israel and the United Kingdom.
Ties between Pakistan and the United States deteriorated under President Jimmy Carter, who was a Democrat. In the 1980s, Republican President Ronald Reagan poured endless money and military assistance into Pakistan. Both Republican Presidents Reagan and George W. Bush Sr. were very close to Pakistan. But in the 1990s, the US and Pakistan were not on good terms as the US was being led by Democrats. After 9/11, Republican President George W. Bush declared Pakistan a ‘frontline state’ and assisted Pakistan in terms of civilian aid with a prime focus on strengthening Pakistani civil society and good governance.
After the return of Democrats to the White House in 2008, in the first presidential speech, Pakistan was declared ‘a safe haven for terrorists,’ resulting in a trust deficit between the two allies. Things worsened over the Raymond Davis incident, the OBL killings, and drone strikes. Then in 2016, Republican President Donald Trump took the reins of Washington. He ended all US wars in the world, and now he is back in the White House.
In a nutshell, Republican presidents have been better for Pakistan. Therefore, person-specific wishful thinking of people does not fit into the equation of the bilateral Pakistan-US relationship under the Republicans in particular. For any president, it is not an easy job; they will have to get approval from Congress to take such decisions, and the President will also be held accountable for such decisions in the context of a violation of the sovereignty of an independent nation.
—The writer is a medical doctor and fitness geek passionate about public health and human rights.
