Collective national efforts are required to end political polarisation in Pakistan

Both Democrats and Republicans are now competing for the mantle of change, which is stated to have emerged as one of the early thematic battlegrounds of the US November presidential elections. The battle is especially significant at a moment when polls show that a sizeable majority of Americans are unhappy with the state of their nation’s affairs, says a political analyst.
An overwhelming 69 per cent of the voters said major changes to the country’s political and economic system were needed — or the system needed to be torn down completely, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll this spring of battleground states.
While far more voters still consider Donald Trump more likely than Kamala Harris to make major changes, they are divided on whether he would bring the kind of change they want. According to Shane Goldmacher, a political correspondent covering the 2024 election campaign and major developments, trends and forces shaping America, the desire for change has been a constant of modern American politics. Barack Obama promised “change you can believe in” and Mr Trump pledged in 2016 to “make America great again”.
“With the November election”, says Kamala Harris, “Americans have a fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past — a chance to chart a new way forward.”
Dwelling on the issue in his book ‘Liberalism and its Discontents,’ Francis Fukuyama wrote: when its (US) complex constitutional structure of checks and balances has combined with growing political polarisation, its institutions have gridlocked and have failed to confront many basic governing tasks like passing annual budgets. This is a condition, he labelled, as ‘vetocracy.’
The challenges in building a new social order may somewhat differ or be similar in nature from country to country but they are an interconnected global problem.
In Pakistan, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar says the country can progress again provided the invisible hands do not pull the government’s legs.
To end persisting political polarisation witnessed worldwide, including in Pakistan, collective national efforts are required. All individuals, groups and communities — majorities and minorities — should recognise the same rights for others that they seek for themselves and defend them as vigorously as their own. Individual and collective interests have to be harmonised to lay the foundation of an equitable society.
In America, says Mr Fukuyama, political decisions are extremely hard to make because of the large number of veto points that have accumulated in the American political system. American institutions have decayed over time, becoming rigid and hard to reform, and are suffering from the capture of the elite.
If the US did not fix its underlying structure, he warns, it would not be able to compete effectively with the rising powers. Criticism is widespread that marginalised groups were never accorded dignity and equal recognition in the manner promised by US liberalism. The expectation that the autonomy granted by liberalism to individuals would include the right to a share of political power through the right to vote was not realised.
The Auditor-General of Pakistan has noted that rising debt servicing costs — witnessed during FY03 — were crowding out spending on socio-economic services and compromising the living standards of citizens. Only 4pc of the Rs38.7 trillion budget was available for socio-economic development and 91pc of the expenditure went to debt servicing.
“It is time that we tried to change and stand on our feet rather than look outside for charity,” say Dawn’s analysts, referring to delayed funds, adding, “this could be tiring for our friends”.
Earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout and reform agendas encouraged the inflow of bilateral financial support. Now, with unsustainable debts, the Fund expects Pakistan to get bilateral donor support before committing its funds agreed upon at its staff level.
To improve the global financial landscape, the United Nations has come up with a draft Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation. It considers more inclusive and effective international tax cooperation critical in enabling countries to respond to existing tax-related challenges and to, mobilise domestic resources and use tax policy for sustainable, inclusive development.
The draft, however, recognises that every member state has the sovereign right to decide tax policies and practices while also respecting the sovereignty of other member states in such matters.
Dawn’s analysts also note that “a climate of insecurity jeopardises democracy and political parties. Offenders are vitalised when citizens and their opinions are disregarded, breeding discontent and eroding federalism.”
Referring to a series of recent militant attacks across less developed provinces, they suggest that it is by listening to and cooperating with the people of Balochistan — not ruling out military action — that the terrorists can be eliminated.
Drawing conclusions from the long-term evolutionary process of resistance against repression in general, analyst Zorain Nizamani notes that dissent can be only suppressed to an extent. After certain points, he adds, matters are bound to go beyond control.
Even frequent upheavals (not revolutions) spurred by social injustices tend to weaken the status quo, already hit by multiple crises, prompting a society’s evolutionary transformational change.
Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, September 2nd, 2024