Political parties known as “KING’S” parties, which are thought to have been founded and supported by unelected forces, have a troubled past in Pakistan.
Certain parties have garnered genuine popularity, but other endeavors have quickly faded into obscurity. In the elections held last week, three king’s parties experienced the latter outcome.
Constructed by bringing together PTI deserters, the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party was being hailed as the next big thing, especially in Punjab. However, this prediction was a colossal failure, garnering only two seats in the National Assembly and performing terribly in Punjab. The IPP supremo, Jahangir Tareen, resigned from politics after being humiliated. It is unclear whether the IPP will be around for the next election cycle.
The Balochistan Awami Party, which was founded by the ruling class in 2018 and is primarily made up of former members of the PML-N, performed worse in the polls than the PTI-Parliamentarians, who managed to win zero NA seats.
As previously stated, assembling king’s parties is not a novel occurrence. Strongmen in the military, such as generals Ayub Khan and Zia, had long used the name of Pakistan’s oldest party, the Muslim League, to create political organizations that would allow them to project a civilian image.In 2002, Gen. Musharraf broke away from the PML by endorsing the PML-Q. However, in contrast to the Sharifs’ party, which has endured, the Q-League is not a strong political force. The Muslim League is divided into innumerable groups today, many of which are the result of military rule or one-man parties. In other cases, like with the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad in 1988, electoral alliances were forged to hold popular parties in check.
However, some political parties have merited their democratic status, even though they originated from autocracies. One such example is the PML-N, whose leader, Nawaz Sharif, started his political career during the Zia era and now enjoys genuine support. Other political forces, who are not the king’s men, exist in addition to the parties that the gentlemen in Rawalpindi custom-built.In Karachi, the MQM serves as an example, having fulfilled the establishment’s requests on several occasions and receiving “heavy” mandates in return. In the turbulent 1990s, the PPP wasn’t above playing nice with the powers that be. Although these parties’ short-term interests were served, Pakistani democracy has suffered long-term consequences from these alliances with unelected forces.
It is imperative that influential groups cease the creation and support of political parties in order to allow representatives who have been duly elected by the people to steer Pakistan’s politics away from perpetual crises.
Despite extensive systemic manipulation, voters reject inorganic creations because they are unappealing and have a short shelf life. Only those political movements that either reject their founders or seek legitimacy solely from the people prosper.
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