Searching for a clearer vision

state grim enough to drive most of us to despair.

Principle is a lost notion; no party abides by it. Of course it has to be said that this is true of virtually every nation around the world. Politics and ethics only rarely go together, although our position is mostly even worse than others.

The run-up to the polls often exposes this, with expediency taking precedence over all else. Things will indeed be just the same this time around. We have no reason to believe they will be any different. And this means that the same, established parties are likely to dominate this time as well.

Almost certainly, the coming elections will once more be a tussle between established groups, with a resurgent PML-N most likely to challenge the PPP which hopes – by hook or by crook – to cling onto power.

Why should this be the case? After all, the past five years of mis-governance are there before us for all to see. So are the farcical charades of men like Rehman Malik and his various self-serving peers. Some of their comments could quite easily quickly fill a comic book – even if the consequences of their antics have been tragic.

Amidst all this, the many far-reaching acts of legislation achieved, releasing provinces from the centre’s hold and taking away powers held since General Ziaul Haq’s time by the president, become rather inconsequential to people.

Poorly implemented and poorly under- stood, they are after all mainly of interest only to those following the processes of law-making.

This holds true also to some degree for the laws on tribal areas, changes in the status of Gilgit-Baltistan, the package for Balochistan and the drastically expanded rights for women.

At some point, the existence of these clauses on the statute books may become relevant; they are therefore important – but right now it is the need for a more orderly state and for rule of law that holds sway.

And while memories are short, there are many who remember the last tenure of the PML-N, the wild attack on the judiciary by the party’s goons, the vicious assault on free media and the many corruption scan- dals that had surfaced.

Most frightening of all through the period from 1996 to 1999 was perhaps the attempt by Mian Nawaz Sharif to impose Shariah law and declare himself Amirul Momineen with all-out powers; the party’s tacit support for at least certain extremist forces also cannot be forgotten.

The idea that the choice to be made, in the long run, is really between these two parties is not therefore very comforting. Indeed it is downright frightening – but the reality that we must face is also that this is how things stand.

Yes, at one point, the Pakistan Tehreek- e- Insaf had offered hope of change; to some it still does – but there are suggestions that this number may