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Showing posts from October, 2017

Pakistan’s reform moment missed again

Pakistan is again in the news with the dismissal of the Prime Minister by the Supreme court. The international media is calling it a manipulation of the Pakistan army. Yet experience shows that democratic governments reveal incompetence and corruption within a year of taking oath. The polity starts bubbling with rumors of misgovernance and corruption. The opposition which is always marginalized finds street protests preferable to parliament. Why? Part of the answer lies in the fact that Pakistan hastily adopted the UK constitution, which is an unwritten set of norms and rules embedded in British history and culture. No serious attempts have been made to adapt it to local environment and culture For example, election process and party system has never been properly defined. Every election is considered to be rigged and all parties are virtual personality cults with no internal process, management, policy development capacity or clear membership.   Elections are mere sele