What the stars (or other heavenly bodies for that matter) foretell!? Wrong expression! I use it only as a metaphor. Those heavenly objects adorn the sky and do not tell or foretell anything. They are merely there to display the splendor of Allah's creation and to serve us in various ways.
For example, they light our way at times and show us where we are or which way we are headed on earth or on the waters of the oceans, in space or anywhere else: mere reference points with no influence or power to alter or forecast our destiny, whatever some people on programmes on several TV channels have to claim. However, let me not digress further.
The current political scenario is dominated by two major political parties, which have ruled the country over its entire history except when men in uniform threw them out or their own misrule caused their downfall. Both are under dictatorial or hereditary leaders. The hold of their chiefs over their parties is near absolute. Without their approval no position in the party or a ticket for contesting an election can be awarded to any aspirant. The second tiers in the party are forced to toe the party line and to defend every action - right or wrong - of their chief if they do not wish to be sidelined or even expelled from the party. A hereditary approach is highly visible in grooming new leadership to eventually replace the present leaders. Sons, sons-in-law, brothers and sisters gain easy access to responsible positions in the party without having done anything to earn it.
Two theories juxtaposed to each other are going round at the moment. One says nothing is going to change after the next general elections (assuming they will be held as per schedule in 2013 or is it late 2012) in the context of the way we are governed or in respect of those who will rule over us. The proponents of this view argue as follows:
Thus armed with money, trained functionaries, well oiled election machinery, countless tricks up their sleeve, they are in a position to outmanoeuvre and rout any political Johnny-come-lately. Outside of these parties, there are no leaders of stature in the country, no party apparatus of the size needed, no resources to match, not many well-known party functionaries, who could be candidates with wide face-recognition. So, despite everything, the same people will get elected, more or less.
But what actually happened. Quite the opposite! In all these vital areas the failure of the government was so comprehensive and so spectacular that it defies description. After three years of rule, the PPP government and its allies has reduced the country to a basket case for now and for well into the foreseeable future. We are soon about to enter an era when the government may not be able to pay for its bread and butter requirement without dole from donors or without heedlessly using the State Bank as a printing press to print more and yet more currency notes with all its horrendous implications. On the war against terror, the government has sat on its haunches throughout its three years in office. Its only action in respect of the rising tide of corruption was to raise it to new levels by appointing people accused of high crime themselves to head ministries and departments whose responsibility it is to eradicate corruption. It is shamelessly active in thwarting the efforts of the judiciary to check corruption and bad governance.
People may not forgive the PML-N its acts of omission. Except for making hard hitting speeches in the Parliament now and then and issuing statements once a quarter or so it has done precious little to raise its voice against government's catastrophic policies or to offer a viable alternative. Nawaz Sharif as the party supermo has mysteriously dilly dallied with his role as the chief of the main opposition party. Content to be a Punjab party, the PML-N has made no efforts to organise itself in other provinces or to garner grassroots support through projecting a vision and getting people to share it. The PPP may be setback in the elections to come but it does not mean that its loss will automatically be Nawaz Leagues gain.
(owajid@yahoo.com)