A round of applause for all. Maryam Nawaz Sharif has entered the arena of quicksand called democracy in Pakistan, where you sink to the lowest depths of misery to your death or you keep piling on the opponent to stat afloat. Meanwhile, the dark shadows around the arena shift and murmur ominously. But there’s a new sound that has been deafening out the cries of the people – leaked audio files.
A democracy is only as strong as the flow of communication within the country, inter-state institution, civil-political and so on. Where there is censorship, the foundation of the elected government is already weak and where there is suppression, there are problems of legitimacy. But when there is communication and it is a massive national security breach, what is that? That does not help the political course nor does it legitimise those who cannot seek government, however they want.
Pressure tactics are nothing new. In this situation it started with the dharna culture and then external factors such as Panama Leaks which are viewed as manna from heaven, a dangerous perspective to take as it is akin to claiming divine legitimacy. The next stage was adopting a new strategy – the face was pretty, the back end was as murky as ever. Choona on a heritage site. And of course, when the substance is crumbly, the choona makes it look even uglier. And if old tactics are brought in to force legitimacy, such as adding in water to the choona mix, in this case bringing back the culture of political prisoners and thuggery against journalists, well the end result is even uglier.
Clearly when all has failed, what do you do? They say all problems can be solved via dialogue. And what better than to talk to the people, a nation of young people, than via the internet? Bring in the audio files. Imagine this – you’re so unsure of your choona experiment, you think you need something to convince people you tried to do the right thing. In some cases, people document details, others maintain photographic evidence and some compromise national security. The smoothness with which something is conducted is evident of how experienced they are.
The audio files are means of pressure and more, evidence of the shakiness of the situation previously and even now. These files are nothing to be celebrated as they prove what was known all along. Maryam Nawaz’s acquittal is the cherry on the cake, as it is evident of how precarious the grand PDM strategy has been. What are we left with? Imran Khan continues to follow down the path which he believes will enshrine his role as a hero forever, Nawaz Sharif watches from afar as the PML N Old Boys Club try to salvage what they can and Maryam Nawaz returns to claim her legitimacy and democracy is no longer a word that can be used anymore.
Send in the clowns.
A democracy is only as strong as the flow of communication within the country, inter-state institution, civil-political and so on. Where there is censorship, the foundation of the elected government is already weak and where there is suppression, there are problems of legitimacy. But when there is communication and it is a massive national security breach, what is that? That does not help the political course nor does it legitimise those who cannot seek government, however they want.
Pressure tactics are nothing new. In this situation it started with the dharna culture and then external factors such as Panama Leaks which are viewed as manna from heaven, a dangerous perspective to take as it is akin to claiming divine legitimacy. The next stage was adopting a new strategy – the face was pretty, the back end was as murky as ever. Choona on a heritage site. And of course, when the substance is crumbly, the choona makes it look even uglier. And if old tactics are brought in to force legitimacy, such as adding in water to the choona mix, in this case bringing back the culture of political prisoners and thuggery against journalists, well the end result is even uglier.
Clearly when all has failed, what do you do? They say all problems can be solved via dialogue. And what better than to talk to the people, a nation of young people, than via the internet? Bring in the audio files. Imagine this – you’re so unsure of your choona experiment, you think you need something to convince people you tried to do the right thing. In some cases, people document details, others maintain photographic evidence and some compromise national security. The smoothness with which something is conducted is evident of how experienced they are.
The audio files are means of pressure and more, evidence of the shakiness of the situation previously and even now. These files are nothing to be celebrated as they prove what was known all along. Maryam Nawaz’s acquittal is the cherry on the cake, as it is evident of how precarious the grand PDM strategy has been. What are we left with? Imran Khan continues to follow down the path which he believes will enshrine his role as a hero forever, Nawaz Sharif watches from afar as the PML N Old Boys Club try to salvage what they can and Maryam Nawaz returns to claim her legitimacy and democracy is no longer a word that can be used anymore.
Send in the clowns.