By: Sarmad Lashary with inputs by Waleed Tariq

Four years ago in February 2008 – Pakistan began its transformation to democracy with a general election that brought Benazir Bhutto’s PPP (Pakistan People’s Party) into power. The party decided to continue its policy of reconciliation with all political players. It formed a coalition government with its rival and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz) in Punjab, ANP (Awami National Party) in Khyber-Pakhtunkhua, and MQM (Muttahida Quami Movement) in Sindh. All these parties were sharing power with the PPP in the center as well to create a powerful democratic government alliance to oust Musharraf of his presidency and to address all the challenges faced by the country after a decade long dictatorship.

This ‘theory of reconciliation’, which has been presented by the imperialists and their shadows in Pakistan as a new policy of political and social harmony, is in reality an old strategy. Its aim is to distract and undermine the masses to pursue their own selfish interests.

Democracy has to be catalyst of continuous change and progress for the betterment of the people. A country where people cast their vote on the basis of caste and ethnicity, can we expect a ‘change’?

In Pakistan, we have a democracy, where the decisions of independent Judiciary are not respected, where our sovereignty has been spoiled by drone attacks and where parties in power join and leave the government because of their own interests. In these circumstances, the concept of reconciliation becomes beneficial for those who are in power. This has been merely the tool of power-sharing.

In the past four years, reconciliation has been unable to offer us with independent foreign policy on war, we haven’t improved our economy and the government has not provided us with the basic needs of the people.

What has the policy of reconciliation given the people of Pakistan; bloodshed in Karachi in which thousands of innocent Pakistani has been killed by target killing and slaughtering of innocent citizens who have nothing to do with the politics of PPP, MQM and ANP?

What political stability and economic prosperity has been achieved by his reconciliation politics? What is the use of such reconciliation which is unable to change the status quo in the country?

Politics of reconciliation in Pakistan has in fact become a curse and a deception for the masses. It is their self-interest to remain in the government while the problems of the masses such as high inflation, load shedding, unemployment, illiteracy has nothing to do with this political phenomenon.

Isn’t it highly doubtful that the ‘so-called’ democracy won’t pave way for un-constitutional interventions in the near future to come?