Rotten System: Pakistan Government On Verge Of Corruption Collapse | Russia Today Interview | Ahmed Quraishi

On the day the Dr. Tahir al Qadri's 'march' and massive sit-in in Islambad winded down, on Jan. 17, I told RTTV that this event may not have brought the government down, but it has set in motion the process of derailing a failed democratic system that needs reform.

Many Pakistanis were rightly suspicious about the motives of Dr. Qadri. Others were disappointed at his failure in his main mission.

But that is not the real story. The real story is that Dr. Qadri made public a long list of arguments against a failed political and democratic system that can't reform itself from within regardless of the number of elections we hold.

Talking against democracy is a taboo in Pakistan. Both the media and the political parties hide behind this taboo to resist reforming a corrupt, violent and inept democratic system that has failed completely in improving itself from within.

So, while Dr. Qadri might have failed in whatever agenda he pursued, the movement to derail a failed Pakistani democracy has received an unprecendeted boost.

In this interview with Russia Today, I avoid discussing the motivation of Dr. Qadri. [ This I will discuss soon and update this post accordingly].

If you are inside Pakistan and cannot access the YouTube link above, then click here.

Countdown Starts For Pakistan's Failed Democracy

Our failed politicians were lucky to have an army chief like Kayani.

I have bad news to report to all the 'democrats' in Pakistan: Your days are numbered.

Pakistan's political elite is united in filth, corruption, and violence.

For a great Pakistani nation, this elite is a liability and is not suited to occupy any office in a nuclear-armed country and one of the largest nations of the world.

Any cleanup in Pakistan has to start with this failed political class.

But for all of their shrewdness, the biggest crime of our failed politicians this time is stupidity.

I apologize for being harsh but I have to convey the message.

This time, these failed politicians have blown it big time.

They were lucky to have an army chief like General Kayani.

This is a general officer who did everything he could to allow democracy to work and give a chance to every failed politician. In fact, he even let these failed parties fight over who gets to pocket the riches of extortion money in Karachi, the country's richest city.

Five full years for this failed political elite to get its act together.

But what they do?

They break all previous records in corruption and treason.

Yes, treason.

Today, if a Pakistani political party or politician is not connected to some foreign embassy or government then they're nobody.

This is not what Pakistan deserves. Pakistanis, from Karachi to Khyber and from Makran to Srinagar, are compassionate, smart and good people. They have enough honest and capable people to put at the top to run the country.

This doesn't necessarily mean a military-led government. That's a possibility but only as a last option. Hopefully we're not there yet.

What is for sure is that any effort to force failed politicians out of the way and prevent them from using force and violence to blackmail Pakistanis can succeed without the help and intervention of the country's armed forces and the judiciary.

The blackmail has started. A failed politician from a party in the ruling coalition openly threatened Pakistan of breakup [a repeat of the Indian invasion of East Pakistan in 1971] if his party's mafia-style control of Karachi was challenged.

More politicians are expected to use blackmail to challenge the State.

PPPP is expected to use the Sindh Card. PMLN is expected to use the Punjab Card, and possibly even the India Card.

The existing Pakistani political elite has gone too far in robbing the nation, and in compromising our economy and our security.

This elite is now violent and beyond control.

Most of the faces in this elite entered politics about 28 years ago, in the nonparty elections of 1985. Three decades is a lot of time for these tested, tried and failed politicians to stay in power.

Time to change faces and change the rules of the political game in Pakistan.

This is the only way to position Pakistan for the 21st century.

And Pakistan will be repositioned because this is our destiny. Patriotic Pakistanis must not allow the homeland to fail because of failed politics.

The Death Of Zardari Sr. & The Jokes On The President

On Tuesday, 24 May 2011, former senator Hakim Ali Zardari, the father of President Asif Ali Zardari, passed away in Islamabad. Since this is one of those moments where politics should make way for humanity and compassion, I posted a condolence message on my Facebook page, sharing the grief of the President's family.

I wanted to send a message. As a harsh critic of President Zardari, I wanted to show our younger generation that your politics need not be devoid of compassion and humanity. This is important because Pakistani politics are run by families and tribes where differences are lethal. Political parties are normally controlled by a strongman or a group of strong men who pass on their seats to their children. New faces are not allowed to raise their heads and competition is brutally suppressed, sometimes violently. This is why Pakistan has no real democracy but only a large number of fake democrats who claim they are fighting for democracy.

So my message was: Let's temper and civilize our politics.

To my shock, someone posted something to the effect, 'We hope the son joins the father soon.'  In a short time, the space was filled with variations of this comment, written in the style of jokes. I know that normally Pakistanis do not politicize the sad occasion when a politician has lost a close family member. But this time, you could see how frustrated and demoralized Pakistanis have become, especially when you have a man of questionable abilities running the government, having attained power through indirect means [through a political marriage and a secret deal sponsored by two foreign governments and a runaway dictator].

There were some intelligent comments too. Imran Ali Shamsi asked, 'I am realy surprised to see a politician who goes to UK/Dubai for their minor medical problems ... but his father died in PIMS with nobody around him.I cant digest it AQ.'

Good point.

Here is another by a Pakistani mother who is an American married to a Pakistani: 'If there is going to be publication and space for public condolences, I would rather it be for a Mother who just lost her little baby in a drone attack. Imagine her loss. You always expect to lose your parents, but your baby?'

Aside from the jokes, all of these are legitimate comments. I also understand the jokes and sympathize with my countrymen and women who are worried about the mess our nation is in because of a decade of supporting the US occupation of Afghanistan and because of the self-serving policies [if you can call them policies] of our ruling elite.

At the same time, it is important that we rationalize and civilize our politics. Let's learn to say all of what my friends have said above, in the comments to my condolence message. Let's say all of that. But let's also condole in this case.

Having said this, I do have second thoughts when I read a third comment-maker say he is sure President Zardari isn't much bothered about his father and so why should we.

It's Pakistani politics. It drove John Negroponte and Richard Boucher mad. Just ask them.