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#Pakistan #PPP #Zardari vows continuing struggle for respectable status to #women in society

President Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians Asif Ali Zardari Thursday said that his party would continue its struggle for granting a respectable status to womenfolk in the society.

In his International Women’s Day message, he said that the women had played a pivotal role in the development of Pakistan as they hag fought valiantly not only for their own democratic rights but also for the rights of the people of Pakistan.

Women suffered immense hardships during dictatorships in Pakistan but continued to struggle for a democratic, plural, progressive and prosperous Pakistan, said a press release issued here.

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto always raised her voice for women’s rights and took several measures to give them equal status in the society.

She established separate women police stations and First Women Bank and reserved quota for women in every department.

PPP initiated Benazir Income Support Program during its government in 2008-2013. PPP provided every opportunity to women so that they could compete with their counterpart, he concluded.

https://www.brecorder.com/2019/03/07/479570/zardari-vows-continuing-struggle-for-respectable-status-to-women-in-society/

#Pakistan - #PPP - #Bilawal As HR Chairman

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was elected chairman of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Tuesday. This decision has been made unanimously by the National Assembly (NA) which is a great sign for the newly elected member of the party. Several political experts had predicted a great political future for the young leader due to his expertise in dealing with the foreign press regarding matters of state and security. This position shows a bright tenure for the young politician because a large chunk of the population is youth and they voice out their concerns via offline and online measures.

Chairman Bilawal Bhutto should thoroughly investigate the human rights issues pertaining to the country. His party has had a long history of siding with the masses and voicing concerns for those being denied basic rights. If only the committee can be mobilised to work on the Articles of the Constitution ensuring basic rights to all the citizens of Pakistan, this will improve the social set up of the country significantly. With the enforcement of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) ten-point agenda, the focus will be towards ending extremism and that will automatically improve the human rights gradient of Pakistan.

At the moment, issues which require the urgent attention of the committee are those of female empowerment, prison reforms, enforced disappearances, and extra-judicial killings. These are some of the core issues being discussed on both, social media platforms and in the protests of the civil society. The more the Human Rights Committee is in line with the voice of the youth, the easier it will be to track the changes of time and implement progressive policies without having to look to the West for a model which also lacks cultural sensitivity.

https://nation.com.pk/07-Mar-2019/bilawal-as-hr-chairman

Editorial: #FATF action plan - The scourge of proscribed groups must be eliminated if #Pakistan is to escape FATF sanctions

THE finance secretary has warned that Pakistan risks coming under sanctions if the action plan given to the Financial Action Task Force is not implemented in full. Considering that he was present at the latest meetings of the global terror-financing watchdog held in Paris, and personally witnessed the proceedings, his warnings need to be taken seriously.

The prime minister has struck the right note in emphasising the National Action Plan once again and issuing the necessary orders to seize the assets and halt the operations of proscribed outfits. In the days to come, the resolve behind this move will be tested, and it is important that the government’s focus not be diluted as it moves ahead to clamp down on banned outfits here.

The finance secretary’s remarks suggest that Pakistan had a difficult time at the Paris meetings of FATF last month. Eight organisations were named in the FATF press release issued afterwards. This is unusual, because while these groups have always been at the heart of Pakistan’s dealings with FATF, they had never been named previously.

Pakistan on FATF’s grey list: what, why, and why now?

Apparently in the run-up to the Paris meetings, Pakistan had submitted a terror risk assessment matrix to the Asia Pacific Group, the regional grouping of FATF to which Pakistan belongs. In that, it had designated the eight named groups as ‘low risk’, and this created problems in the Paris meeting. India seized the opportunity and tried to rally countries to put Pakistan on the blacklist with immediate effect; it took strenuous diplomatic pushback from the government to pre-empt that move.

Having narrowly averted being blacklisted in February, the government must not allow history to repeat itself. The same steps have been taken by previous governments as well, only to be allegedly stymied by the powerful handlers that these groups have.

The presence of these groups drove Pakistan towards a difficult position internationally and imposed a steep economic cost as the country’s financial system was flagged as being open to risk of terror financing. The grey listing, as it is known in FATF parlance, was lifted with great difficulty and much wrangling back in 2015 against Pakistan’s commitments of further action against these groups. However, whatever action was taken was clearly not enough, and the country slipped back onto the grey list.

Today, we face the prospect of being put on the blacklist if concrete steps are not evident to what will undoubtedly be a sceptical FATF audience in June. These groups and their existence on Pakistani soil have become much more than a nuisance and an embarrassment.

It is quite clear that none of them should have any presence here. The finance secretary’s remarks need to be absorbed fully and earnest action against proscribed groups must be taken immediately to eliminate the scourge once and for all.

Bilawal appalled at government's 'callous, inhumane' treatment of Nawaz

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Thursday said that he was appalled at hearing of the "callous and inhumane" treatment of imprisoned former prime minister Nawaz Sharif by the government.

"His illness should be treated seriously, be provided with proper medical care and treated with respect," Bilawal said in his tweet.

BilawalBhuttoZardari

✔@BBhuttoZardari

Appalled to hear of the callous and inhumane treatment of imprisoned former PM Nawaz Sharif by the government. His illness should be treated seriously, be provided with proper medical care and treated with respect.

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The statement by the PPP chairman comes a day after Nawaz told family members visiting him at the Kot Lakhpat jail that he had not begged for treatment, nor would he ask for it.

The former prime minister has been imprisoned at Kot Lakhpat jail since December 2018 following his conviction in a corruption reference in line with the Supreme Court’s July 2017 verdict.

Nawaz's mother, his brother Shehbaz Sharif and daughter Maryam Nawaz met the former premier on Wednesday to convince him to be shifted to hospital.

"The insulting behaviour of the government is not acceptable," he said, adding he was being taken to one hospital from another. The former premier lamented that his treatment was not initiated despite reports from five medical boards.

"The government has not yet provided any treatment facility, [I am] only being troubled," he said.

"I will prefer to die honourably, but humiliation is unacceptable."

https://www.geo.tv/latest/230369-bilawal-appalled-at-governments-callous-inhumane-treatment-of-nawaz

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USA: Award-Winning Film on Pakistani Physicist Abdus Salam to Screen March 7

Anand Kamalakar, a Brooklyn-based documentary editor, will present his film Salam at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 7, in the Graduate Education Auditorium at the University of Arkansas.

Kamalakar directed and edited the feature-length documentary about the Nobel Prize-winning Pakistani physicist, Abdus Salam.

The film screening is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a talk with Kamalakar and associate professor Daniel Kennefick, a distinguished historian of science in the Department of Physics of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

“It’s a dramatic and visually stunning film,” said Padma Viswanathan, associate professor in the Program in Creative Writing and Translation, who is organizing the screening. “The evening as a whole will be of great interest to anyone interested in storytelling, science, politics or religious history.”

The film combines original footage and interviews with archival material to tell the story of a complex figure.

When Salam won the Nobel Prize in 1979, he became the first Pakistani and the fourth South Asian to achieve this distinction. While Salam’s legacy looms large in the world of physics, he is largely overlooked in his home country because of his faith. Salam was neither Sunni nor Shiite, but Ahmadiyya, a sect deemed heretical by mainstream Islam.

“He’s a tragic figure,” said one commentator in the film. “But then, that is his greatness.”

Mahershala Ali, an Ahmadi Muslim, actor in the recent True Detective series and winner of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Green Book, said the film is “a vital piece of our history.”

And Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai said, “The story of his brilliance needs to be told.”

The film Salam has been an official selection at many prestigious film festivals and won prizes at the Raw Science Film Festival, the Chicago South Asian Film Festival, and others.

http://timesofahmad.blogspot.com/2019/03/usa-award-winning-film-on-controversial.html

PAKISTAN MAY FACE INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS OVER FATF NON-COMPLIANCE: FS

The federal secretary of the finance division Arif Ahmed Khan warned that Pakistan might face economic sanctions over non-implementation of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations.

“Pakistan has to proceed against the banned outfits in the light of FATF recommendations,” he said, talking to reporters after attending a meeting of a sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
The Finance Secretary expressed apprehensions that Pakistan might face economic sanctions if the FATF recommendations were ignored and not implemented. He stressed Pakistan had to take strict measures to implement the FATF recommendations.
The International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) of the FATF that reviewed Pakistan’s action plan in recent meetings was not satisfied with the progress on milestones set for January 2019. This was despite improvements in the anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime and integrated database for currency declaration arrangements.
It expressed concern over Pakistani authorities’ inability to demonstrate why they considered eight proscribed entities to be low risk as opposed to the high-risk view of the Asia Pacific Group (APG) and ICRG.
Therefore, the FATF urged “Pakistan to swiftly complete its action plan, particularly those with timelines of May 2019” to address strategic deficiencies. The FATF will undertake the next review of Pakistan’s progress in June 2019, which will be preceded by a face-to-face meeting with the Joint Group in May.
In June 2018, Pakistan made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and APG to strengthen its AML/CFT regime and to address its strategic counterterrorism financing-related deficiencies by implementing an action plan to accomplish these objectives. The successful implementation of the action plan and its physical verification by the APG will lead the FATF to clear Pakistan out of its ‘grey list’ or move it into the ‘blacklist’ by September.
During the meeting of the PAC sub-committee, audit officials said the finance division did not present the supplementary grant of Rs105 million in parliament. The committee was examining the audit paras of the finance ministry.

http://www.shiitenews.org/index.php/pakistan/item/36825-pakistan-may-face-international-sanctions-over-fatf-non-compliance-fs

US Cuts Visa Durations for #Pakistani Nationals Amid Indo-Pak Hostilities

In addition to the shortening of visa durations, extra fees have also been introduced for some categories of approved visas, including for journalists and religious workers, according to a Pakistan Today report.

The US has substantially trimmed visa durations for Pakistani visitors, while also increasing visa fees for certain categories of applicants. 

"The US has cut visa durations for some category of Pakistani visitors by four years from five to just one and will not let journalists stay for more than three months without a renewed permit," the Pakistan Today newspaper reported, quoting the US embassy in Islamabad.

he US said it was legally bound to cut down visa validity and hike fees because "Pakistan was unable to liberalise its visa regime for certain visa categories," the report said, quoting the US embassy in Islamabad.

The decision comes amid increased international pressure on Pakistan to clamp down on terror following the 14 February suicide car bombing, claimed by Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), in Pulwama, which left more than 40 Indian paramilitary personnel dead.

Tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad escalated following the attack, with both launching air operations against one another on 26 and 27 February 2019. While New Delhi claims its airstrikes were aimed against JeM hideouts in Pakistan, Islamabad insists that there were no terror camps in the area bombed by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Pakistan Air Force was simply retaliating in response to the violation of its airspace.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump claimed that his country is involved in mediating between India and Pakistan for the release of the Indian pilot that was in Pakistan's custody following the aerial clash in which an Indian MiG-21 was downed by Pakistani warplanes.

https://sputniknews.com/asia/201903061073001157-us-visa-restrictions-for-pakistanis/

Opinion: The #India-#Pakistan Conflict Was a Parade of Lies

By Farhad Manjoo

The internet contributed to the culture of mendacity in a fight between nuclear neighbors.

The internet truly is super-duper fake, and thanks to the malleability of digital media and the jet fuel of network virality, a digital lie can spread more quickly, and cause more damage, than an analog one.

We all know that. Still, the blame-the-internet formulation has grown useless lately, because “the internet” has become inseparable from everything else. Social networks are now so deeply embedded into global culture that it feels irresponsible to think of them as some exogenous force. Instead, when it comes to misinformation, the internet is a mere cog in the larger machinery of deceit. There are other important gears in that machine: politicians and celebrities; parts of the news media (especially television, where most people still get their news); and motivated actors of all sorts, from governments to scammers to multinational brands.

As these players adapt to a digital politics, they infect and become infected by novel possibilities for misinformation. It is in the confluence of all these forces that you come upon the true nightmare: a society in which small and big lies pervade every discussion, across every medium; where deceit is assumed, trust is naïve, and a consensus view of reality begins to feel frighteningly anachronistic.

You don’t need to travel far to find such a nightmare. But distance can help clarify the picture: It’s easier to appreciate the simmering pot when you’re looking at it from the outside, rather than boiling in it.

And so I spent much of the last week watching a pot boil over on the other side of the world.

In retaliation for a terrorist attack against Indian troops last month, India conducted airstrikes against Pakistan. After I learned about them, I tried to follow the currents of misinformation in the unfolding conflict between two nuclear-armed nations on the brink of hot war.

What I found was alarming; it should terrify the world, not just Indians and Pakistanis. Whether you got your news from outlets based in India or Pakistan during the conflict, you would have struggled to find your way through a miasma of lies. The lies flitted across all media: there was lying on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp; there was lying on TV; there were lies from politicians; there were lies from citizens.

Besides outright lies, just about everyone, including many journalists, played fast and loose with facts. Many discussions were tinged with rumor and supposition. Pictures were doctored, doctored pictures were shared and aired, and real pictures were dismissed as doctored. Many of the lies were directed and weren’t innocent slip-ups in the fog of war but efforts to discredit the enemy, to boost nationalistic pride, to shame anyone who failed to toe a jingoistic line. The lies fit a pattern, clamoring for war, and on both sides they suggested a society that had slipped the bonds of rationality and fallen completely to the post-fact order.

The lies began immediately after Indian forces attacked what they described as a terrorist training camp in a Pakistani town called Balakot. The Indian government offered no visual proof of the effectiveness of its strikes, and there is still debate among Indian politicians about what was hit. Pakistan’s military quickly put out pictures from Balakot showing not much damage.

Indian media, however, appeared eager to fill in a government-friendly narrative. As the Indian fact-checking site Alt News documented, several outlets, including some of the country’s largest TV news networks, aired what they described as exclusive footage of Indian fighter jets attacking Balakot.

Here’s India Today’s breathless coverage of the clip:

Except it wasn’t. The fighter-jet footage was actually first posted online in 2017, Alt News found. It appeared to have been resurrected on social networks last week and then lifted by Indian TV networks as proof of the attack.

Not that Pakistani media were above fakery. After Pakistan’s Air Force shot down an Indian jet and captured a pilot who was later released, Pakistani media began airing images of downed aircraft. Except, as fact checkers documented, the pictures were old, showing wreckage from a previous crash.

You would think fact-checking this stuff would limit its spread. Instead, what happened was that each side weaponized fact-checking, taunting the other for wallowing in lies without acknowledging its own part in all the fakery.

Here are Indian anchors — from a network that pushed its own fake images — sliming Pakistani media with the hashtag #PakFakeClaim:

TIMES NOW

✔@TimesNow

#PakFakeClaim | TIMES NOW EXPOSES PAKISTAN

Pakistan media is using an old Jodhpur crash footage to show it shot down a MiG. | @RShivshankar and @hk_356 with the proof.

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2:08 AM - Feb 27, 2019

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What I’ve shared here is just a taste. If you dive into the tireless fact-checking sites policing the region, you’ll find scores more lies from last week, some that flow across both sides of the conflict and many so intricate they defy easy explanation.
And you will be filled with a sense of despair.The Indian government recently introduced a set of draconian digital restrictions meant, it says, to reduce misinformation. But when mendacity crosses all media and all social institutions, when it becomes embedded in the culture, focusing on digital platforms misses the point.
In India, Pakistan and everywhere else, addressing digital mendacity will require a complete social overhaul. “The battle is going to be long and difficult,” Govindraj Ethiraj, a journalist who runs the Indian fact-checking site Boom, told me. The information war is a forever war. We’re just getting started.

#Pakistan - #PPP - ‘#Pulwama attack reaction of locals against Indian atrocities’: Bilawal

Terming Pulwama attack reaction of local Kashmiris against Indian atrocities, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday held New Delhi’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi responsible for the attack, ARY News reported.          

Addressing today’s National Assembly session, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called for the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions that provide for the exercise of right to self-determination by the Kashmiri people to usher peace in South Asia.

He said that Narendra Modi’s government had broken all the previous records of barbarism and human rights violation in occupied Kashmir.

Paying rich tribute to the pilots who shot down the Indian jets, the PPP leader said that Pakistan Air Force (PAF) once again proved itself as the best air force of the world. He also paid tribute to the soldiers martyred at the line of control (LoC).

Bilawal Bhutto said that on this occasion, they should not forget the services of  former prime ministers Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto who had equipped Pakistan with nuclear and missile technology and had made the country’s defense impregnable.

https://arynews.tv/en/pulwama-attack-reaction-locals-bilawal/

#Pakistan - #PPP - Bilawal Bhutto lashes out at govt's policies in NA address

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday strongly criticized the policies of the government during his address in National Assembly.

“The policy to bring banned organization in national sphere is entirely wrong. It is neither the policy of parliament nor it can be of the country. How is it possible that an elected PM is hanged but can’t file case against terrorist organizations?” he remarked.

“I pay tribute to Pakistan Air Force especially Squadron Leader Hassan Siddiqui who downed the Indian jet violating our airspace,” said Bilawal.

He also bashed the government over the decision to award Noble Peace Prize to Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“Does the House agree that Khan deserves the Noble Peace Prize at a time when fears of a nuclear war are mounting, jets are being downed and our soldiers being martyred on the border? In such a situation this discussion is not more than a joke at international level. I am happy that the government took U-turn from this position,” he criticized.

He also lashed out at Indian PM Narendra Modi saying that he has maximized the atrocities in Occupied Kashmir as the children are being turned blind by pellet guns and rape being used as tool for oppression.

“The world knows him as the butcher of Gujrat. He was banned from entry in US due to terrorism accusations. He is also spreading war hysteria at present for his politics,” maintained Bilawal.

He stressed that peace will prevail in Kashmir if the people are provided their due rights.

"Pulwama attack was not carried out by any non-state actor from another country, but it was done by a Kashmiri youth, which showed their annoyance.International community should take notice of the situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir," said PPP chairman.

“Indian aggression cannot be ignored. We are delighted that Pakistan played its role to ease the situation. We also praise the Army Chief who took the parliament into confidence. We also salute the two army soldiers who embraced who were martyred while defending the country. We should also remember Shaheed Bhutto who laid the foundation of nuclear programme,” asserted Bilawal.

He also called for implementation of National Action Plan to curb the scourge of terrorism in the country.

https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/481325-Bilawal-Bhutto-lashes-out-government-policies-NA-address

#Pakistan - #PPP - BILAWAL BHUTTO PAYS TRIBUTE TO SOLDIERS MARTYRED AT LOC

Bilawal Bhutto called for the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions that provide for the exercise of right to self-determination by the Kashmiri people to usher peace in South Asia.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday held New Delhi’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi responsible for the attack.

Addressing a Nation Assembly session, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that Narendra Modi’s government had broken all the previous records of barbarism and human rights violation in occupied Kashmir.

Paying rich tribute to the pilots who shot down the Indian jets, the PPP leader said that Pakistan Air Force (PAF) once again proved itself the best air force of the world. He also paid tribute to the soldiers martyred at the line of control (LoC).

Bilawal Bhutto said that on this occasion, they should not forget the services of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto who had equipped Pakistan with atom bomb and missile technology and made the country’s defense impregnable.

https://www.suchtv.pk/pakistan/general/item/83195-bilawal-bhutto-pays-tribute-to-soldiers-martyred-at-loc.html

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Video Report - #PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto addresses in National Assembly Session | 06 March 2019

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Sacked Pakistani minister Fayyaz Chohan has a history of being anti-Hindu, racist & sexist

NANDITA SINGH 

Fayyaz-ul Hassan Chohan has been videotaped making misogynistic remarks about women actors in Pakistan and hurling abuses at a TV host.

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party Tuesday fired its Punjab province Information Minister, Fayyaz-ul Hassan Chohan, for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Hindus in a video that subsequently went viral on social media.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) tweeted that it has “removed Fayyaz Chohan from the post of Punjab Information Minister following derogatory remarks about the Hindu community”.

“Bashing someone’s faith should not be a part of any narrative,” the party tweeted. “Tolerance is the first and foremost pillar on which Pakistan was built.”

Chohan came under fire from his party members after he referred to Hindus as “cow urine-drinking people” at a press conference last month.

“We are Muslims and we have a flag, the flag of Maula Alia’s bravery, and flag of Hazrat Umara’s valour,” IANS and Samaa news agency quoted the minister as having said. “You don’t have that flag; it isn’t in your hands.

“Don’t operate under the delusion that you are seven times better than us,” Chohan added. “What we have, you can’t have, you idol-worshippers.”

These remarks come amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the 14 February attack in Pulwama by the Jaish-e-Mohammed, which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel.

Repeat offender

This, however, is not the first time that Chohan has been at the centre of such a controversy.

Soon after assuming charge as a minister in August 2018, Chohan was videotaped making misogynistic remarks about women actors in Lollywood (Pakistan’s Bollywood equivalent).

Referring to the “sad state of affairs” in the Pakistani film industry, Chohan criticised advertisements that he said displayed “half-naked woman”.

“I would have transformed Nargis to Haji Nargis,” he said, adding through insinuation that “actor Megha would have fasted for 300, instead of 30 days in a year, under his supervision”, Daily Pakistan reported in 2018.

The same day, a video of Chohan hurling abuses at a TV host after the channel aired old clips of him, also went viral.

In the past, Chohan has also allegedly used the word ‘Kashmiri’ to imply an insult and was also asked to resign from his post in February 2018, after making similarly anti-Hindu remarks during a speech in Lahore.

Final Straw

Following the most recent ‘cow urine’ remarks, Pakistan PM Imran Khan took exception to Chohan’s anti-Hindu comments and said his party will not tolerate remarks against any minority community”.

Chohan then attempted to explain himself, saying on Samaa TV Tuesday that he was “referring to Narendra Modi, RAW and the Indian media”.

“The remarks weren’t meant for any person in Pakistan. My message was for Indians,” he added. “I didn’t demean any religion. The things I said are a part of Hindutva. I said things that are a part of their religion.”

It did little to assuage the anger within the party. Multiple ministers from PTI made public statements condemning his speech before Chohan was sacked from the party Tuesday.

#Pakistan: How the Traditional Power Structure Undermines Democracy in Developing World?

By Nauman Sadiq

The principal fault in democracy, as it is practiced all over the world, is the election campaign funding part, because individuals and corporations that finance election campaigns always have ulterior motives: that is, they treat political funding as investments from which they expect to make profits by influencing executive policy and legislation.

In Pakistan’s political system, there are three major structural faults. A representative and democratic political system weeds out corrupt and inept rulers in the long run. But Pakistan’s democracy was derailed by three decade-long martial laws and every time we got back to square one and had to start anew.

Democracy works like the trial-and-error method: the politicians who fail to perform are cast aside and those who deliver are retained through election process. A martial law, especially if it is decade-long, gives a new lease of life to the already tried, tested and failed politicians.

The second major fault in Pakistan’s political system is the refusal of mainstream political parties to hold genuine intra-party elections. How can one champion democracy on a national level when one refuses to ensure representation within political parties?

Nevertheless, democracy evolves over time. Instead of losing faith in political system, we must remain engaged in repetitive electoral process, which delivers in the long run through scientifically proven trial-and-error method.

The abovementioned two imperfections in democratic system, however, are only Pakistan-specific. When we take a look at stable democracies, like India for instance, even their politicians are not representative of the masses, because they work in the interest of moneyed elites rather than for the benefit of the underprivileged masses. This fact begs some further analysis of democracy as it is practiced in the developing world.

Politics is the exclusive prerogative of the ultra-rich in the developing world: the feudal landlords, industrialists and big businesses. The masses and members of the middle class cannot take part in elections, because election campaigns entail huge expenses, and if individual candidates spend money from their own pockets on their election campaigns, then how can one expect from such elected representatives that they will not use political office for personal gains in order to raise money for their expensive election campaigns for the next elections?

In the developing countries, politics works like business: individual candidates of political parties make an investment on their election campaigns and reap windfalls when they get elected as lawmakers in legislatures or as ministers in cabinets.

In the developed Western countries, on the other hand, individual candidates do not spend money from their own pockets on election campaigns; instead, political parties raise funds from electoral donations which are then spent on election campaigns of political parties and their candidates.

But this practice is also subject to abuse, because donors of electoral funds, especially corporations, when they donate money to a particular political party’s election campaign, in return they demand a say in the policymaking of governments of such political parties. Such governments are beholden to their financiers and hence cannot pursue independent policies in the interests of the masses.

A much better practice for generating election-related funds has been adopted in some developed countries like Canada and Germany, where state allocates funds from its national budget for political parties’ election campaigns if they manage to obtain a certain percentage of popular vote on a national level.

Although this practice may sound onerous for impoverished developing democracies, if we take a look at all other governance-related expenses, it would appear feasible. Take the cost of maintaining behemoth federal and provincial bureaucracies, for instance: paying the salaries of bureaucrats, maintaining federal and provincial public service commissions, and academies etc.

The bureaucracy only constitutes the mid-tier of governance structure; the top-tier is comprised of politicians who formulate state policy. Paying for election-related expenses of political parties would require expenditure from national exchequer only once in five years, but its benefits can be enormous, and it would also avoid all the pitfalls of taking contributions from shady individual and corporate donors.

More to the point, in the developed Western democracies, a distinction is generally drawn between power and money. If we take a cursory look at some of the well-known Western politicians, excluding a few billionaires like Donald Trump, others like Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Francois Hollande were successful lawyers from middle class backgrounds before they were elected as executives of their respective countries. Some Western executives even go back to their previous jobs and private practices once they retire from politics.

The Republican and Democratic parties in the US and the Conservative and Labour parties in the UK, all of them accept political contributions which are then spent on the election campaigns of their nominees, which generally are the members of the middle class.

Nowhere in the developed and politically mature West, it is permitted to individual candidates to spend money from their own pockets on election campaigns, because instead of a political contest, it would then become a contest between the bank accounts of candidates.

Therefore, Western politicians typically are genuine representatives of their electorates, whereas the politicians of the developing world generally belong to the insular and detached elite classes and hence they don’t have much in common with the electorates that they are supposed to represent.

Although money does influence politics even in the Western countries, that happens only through indirect means, such as the election campaign financing of political parties, congressional lobbying and advocacy groups etc.

In the developing democracies, like India and Pakistan, however, only the so-called ‘electable’ landowners, industrialists and billionaire businessmen can aspire for political offices due to election campaign-related expenses, and the masses are completely excluded from the whole electoral exercise.

This makes a sheer mockery of democratic process, because how can one expect from wealthy elites to protect the interests of the middle and lower classes? They would obviously enact laws and formulate public policy which would favor the financial interests of their own class without any regard for the interest of the masses.