KARACHI: Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor here Friday that democracy in Pakistan is pro-elite and it would never serve the poor people of the country.
Talking on the occasion of the international day of democracy, he said in Pakistan, democracy practically means the rule of the rich. He said rich electable belonging to feudal, trade and industrial classes rule this country in the name of democracy to serve their own vested interests. He said the Pakistani politicians irrespective of they sit on treasury or opposition benches belong to the same ruling club. As owners of sugar, wheat, cotton, cooking oil and cement factories, big farmland and real estate’s their vested interests are common and they take care of the vested interests of each other.
Altaf Shakoor said that introducing proportionate electoral would help breaking the hold of the present ‘political club’ in Pakistan. He said for this purpose drastic electoral reforms are needed, but the present ‘political mafia’ would never accept the political reforms or proportionate electoral system. He said a political system that encourages political leadership representing the true masses in badly needed in Pakistan. He said the present form of democracy would never work for resolving the problems of people but to safeguard the vested interests of sugar, wheat flour and cooking oil mafias, smugglers and hoarders and money black marketers.
He said in fact people are losing interest in this shame democracy and a proof of this is dismal participation of voters in all recent elections. He said even in the most developed city of the country, Karachi, hardly twenty percent voters bothered to go to polling stations in the recent local bodies elections which itself is a question mark on the future of the prevailing brand of democracy in Pakistan.
He demanded of the workers of different political parties not to behave like the slaves of the leadership of their political parties but act bravely and oppose family rules in their political parties. He asked why the leadership of political parties always remains confined within one family generation after generation. He asked is this the democracy, for which people are being fooled to sustain kingdoms of a certain families in Pakistan.
Altaf Shakoor said a true democracy would not develop in Pakistan unless the process of taking part in elections is made easy and cost effective. He said the composition of assemblies should be changed ensuring more constituencies in all assemblies which could be elected on the principle of proportionate vote.
