PARTLY FACETIOUS: Challenges to democracy

09 Feb, 2018

"How do you elect a party leader in a democracy?"
"I reckon if parliament allows a disqualified person to become a party leader then so be it."
"You mean if the people of this country can vote for the corrupt again and again and again then why can't these elected people elect as their party leader some individual who the courts reckon is neither honest nor..."
"I talk of the moon and you come back to your hero Nawaz Sharif, I talk of a Bollywood hero and you are reminded of Nawaz Sharif - I mean what kind of an individual are you!"
"I am Nawaz Sharif, OK, OK Maryam Nawaz stole that slogan from Benazir Bhutto and Charlie Hebdo, the French magazine that came under a terrorist attack..."
"Z A Bhutto's death is widely believed to be judicial murder while Nawaz Sharif is not only very much alive but is extremely angry and..."
"And not allowed to get the only job that he covets, and that's not fair."
"Anyway this argument will go round and round and round but my question was how do you elect a party leader in a democracy? And the correct answer is the party members vote for the party leader and the party members can challenge the leadership of the party..."
"There is no correct answer my friend. And especially not if you are the one who created the party, or legally inherited it through marriage or blood, and..."
"That's not democracy - that reflects inheritance laws, and should not determine the leadership of a party."
"Well that's where you are wrong. In Pakistan let me name the party leaders who belong to this category: Nawaz Sharif's PML-N and the N stands for Nawaz..."
"Excuse me, but PML was the party that was created by Jinnah, the father of the nation."
"Imitation with a healthy dose of egotism which may explain the N is the sincerest form of flattery."
"Oh dear."
"The Khan created his party, and Zardari sahib inherited the party through marriage, and that's where Farooq Sattar is failing - the actual creator of the party is not relevant any more and Sattar is not a blood relative, and inherited the party leadership but unfortunately without the tools that were available to the creator and so he mimics the creator and cites the creator's terms of reference but really is struggling to keep his hold on the party. I mean if you have to bring out your ailing mother to safe face and agree to a compromise then..."
"I get it, and there is the ANP run by a man with family connections..."
"What about the Maulana?"
"Sirajul Haq's party is the only truly democratic party where elections are held for party leadership."
"I meant the other Maulana."
"He has good connections in the diesel industry and that's all I will say."

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