I'm still in shock over Benazir's death, and I'm shakily trying to figure out what the next steps should be. But even if much is uncertain, one thing is very clear which is that Zardari taking over the PPP is the worst possible step for the party and for the country. Zardari belongs to the group of party leaders that is the most traditional and feudal-minded, and seeks power simply to extract personal material gain, not to enact policies to help the poor, or to enact any kind of policies at all. Of course he sees nothing wrong in the party being "passed" to him in Benazir's will, as if it were personal property - because he really does believe that the party is personal property.
What is even more astonishing than the coronation of Prince Bilawal and the seizure of party control by the Regent Zardari is the number of people who are actually defending this move and the utter lack of internal democracy in the party. And I don't mean conservatives, military types, anti-democrats, feudals, and the like. I'm talking about the left. That includes friends, acquaintances, Communist Party members, long-time feminist activists, even fricking Ayesha Siddiqa!
What gives? Well, it's obvious that these folks have a very visceral and emotional connection to Benazir (and to Zulfikar). But why does this connection exist? Well, I have two theories. One is that these folks are really really dumb. Since I don't want to believe that, I prefer to go with a second theory. The second possibility is that all of us in Pakistan have become conditioned to look for individual saviors, and this conditioning is so deep that it has affected even the most intellectual and cerebral among us - that is, even those folks who know that political change is not about individuals but about systems. And so these folks continue to look for saviors. The problem is that things in Pakistan have become so bad, and so hopeless, that the only straw worth clutching at is the feudal-laden shell that is PPP. So despite Benazir's awful track record, proven over not one but two terms in office, and despite many other indications that she was going to give us the same old, same old, these folks continue to keep hope. Hope that, despite everything, she was a changed person and was going to deliver us to the promised land, to good progressive policies, to true social justice and equality. It's a lot like a cheating lover - every time they promise to change, and every time you believe it, thinking this time they really mean it. But things never do change.
What is even more astonishing than the coronation of Prince Bilawal and the seizure of party control by the Regent Zardari is the number of people who are actually defending this move and the utter lack of internal democracy in the party. And I don't mean conservatives, military types, anti-democrats, feudals, and the like. I'm talking about the left. That includes friends, acquaintances, Communist Party members, long-time feminist activists, even fricking Ayesha Siddiqa!
What gives? Well, it's obvious that these folks have a very visceral and emotional connection to Benazir (and to Zulfikar). But why does this connection exist? Well, I have two theories. One is that these folks are really really dumb. Since I don't want to believe that, I prefer to go with a second theory. The second possibility is that all of us in Pakistan have become conditioned to look for individual saviors, and this conditioning is so deep that it has affected even the most intellectual and cerebral among us - that is, even those folks who know that political change is not about individuals but about systems. And so these folks continue to look for saviors. The problem is that things in Pakistan have become so bad, and so hopeless, that the only straw worth clutching at is the feudal-laden shell that is PPP. So despite Benazir's awful track record, proven over not one but two terms in office, and despite many other indications that she was going to give us the same old, same old, these folks continue to keep hope. Hope that, despite everything, she was a changed person and was going to deliver us to the promised land, to good progressive policies, to true social justice and equality. It's a lot like a cheating lover - every time they promise to change, and every time you believe it, thinking this time they really mean it. But things never do change.
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