By Sardar Khan Niazi
Political parties play a vital role in a democracy. A country is democratic if its elections constitute a real competition between two, or among several candidates backed by political parties or are running independently.
Political parties are organized groups of people who share a set of similar political aims and opinions and aim to influence public policy by getting their candidates elected. The main functions of these parties are to present their candidates and electoral campaigns to the electorate.
They also serve as mediators between society and the elected representatives who are responsible for deciding and implementing policies. Legislators meet with civil society representatives to seek opinions from individuals or organizations in the process of formulating public policy. By doing so, they allow the demands of their supporters to be represented in parliament and in the government.
Unfortunately, political polarization is growing. Political parties have deeply negative views of other parties. Opposing party is part of the country’s politics, but recent years have witnessed a growing intensity in these feelings.
For the first time in more than two decades, majorities of supporters have an unfavorable view of the other party. They view the other party in deeply negative terms. Intensely negative ratings of the opposing party were far less common in the past. By 2023 that has risen.
This strong dislike translates into an even greater sense of risk for many on both sides. Most of those who view the other party very unfavorably say that the opposing party’s policies are so misguided that they threaten the nation’s well-being.
Views of the opposing parties have grown colder over time. This year shows an increase in negative feelings about the opposing party. The share of both parties with cold feelings toward the opposing party has steadily increased.
These days political parties are doing selfish propaganda that can hurt national interest. When political parties pursue selfish interests and vicious propaganda that only benefit them and are against other parties, it damages the country’s political environment.
In addition, when a certain group cares more for its members rather than the entire country, it not only harms the political atmosphere but also disturbs the nation’s peace and order.
Political leaders should not behave negatively and render political life difficult. They should not create animosity between themselves, encourage jealousy, and develop occasional disturbances. They should not ruin individuality, and force people to support and share their views blindly.
They should allow their own people to criticize their shortcomings. In short, people should be allowed to form their individual opinions on certain issues and should not be expected to follow what their party is telling them.
Political parties need to discourage corruption. They should not distribute money to the electorate to secure votes for their candidates. Aside from that, their candidates may be making promises only to persuade the voting population into electing them.
However, once candidates are elected into office, they might never deliver on their promises. They might also place those who supported them in higher positions in exchange for their votes.
Political parties should not deprive the country of talented individuals who can contribute to its success. This is because people from the opposition parties are excluded from participating in the government for the betterment of the entire nation.
If managed properly, political parties can help encourage the opposition people into participating in development programs. This will ensure that the government officials appointed to different public offices will serve the majority, not only a few.
Over time, overall warmth toward the government’s own party and the opposition will remain largely stable, and intensely warm feelings will be higher than they were in the past.
