“The Queen has died. Long live the King!” In essence, these were the chants coming from the back of the room where their Lordships held court to their minions. The boy King sat in the middle, flanked by father and patron. He read from a text to the crowd, a monotonous, jilted speech that suddenly gained fire, like a 10-year-old playing a war-game with his friend – “Democracy is the best revenge!”
To what, sonny? And what would you know about Democracy? Your party certainly doesn’t, and your fancy Oxford education obviously hasn’t taught you anything either. After all the rhetoric, all the speeches, all the support from around the world, this is our savior, our only path to a democratic nation? An autocratic egomaniac reaching beyond the grave to dictate to her subjects, and leaving her ‘inheritance’ (the PPP was her own personal property, after all, to do with as she wished) in the hands of Mr. 10% and a boy not yet out of short pants.
Are we to believe there was not a single member of the PPP more qualified, more able, more deserving than a 19-year-old to take over the party? Are we to believe that every member of the PPP is incompetent and moronic? Is this merely a small breakdown in the process of Democracy, or does the PPP actually believe they do not need a democratic process within their own ranks? I’d like to see the US Democratic Party accept Chelsea Clinton as an ‘appointed’ leader of their party based on a will. Until that day arrives, they need to step back and re-evaluate their support of a personality-based party that espouses none of the principles it claims to defend.
When will we learn? The Bhutto clan is not royalty. They are not Gods, nor prophets, and the people of Pakistan have to be reminded of that. Like most of our rulers, they are Feudals, and their indentured servants are the party workers, and their reign extends over the entire PPP. They are not bringing us Democracy, nor can they bring us justice. After all, BB only returned to the country after the NRO was constituted, and the cases against her were dropped. She diligently avoided facing charges in Switzerland, England and Pakistan, and failed to account for the Surrey mansion and the allegations of corruption against her government during her two terms in power. Nor has Zardari been able to shake the 10% label. The International Court of Justice has a case pending against her and several of her cronies for Operation Clean-up in which some 15,000 Pakistanis were murdered by Naseerullah Babar on her orders.
How is it that not one newspaper, not one channel, not one analyst, and not one Human Rights organization in the country has stepped forward and asked the PPP, when will you lay these charges to rest? If you are innocent, what have you fear? And if not, then step down from the pedestal you have placed yourselves on, and stop pretending to be our only hope.
In the Kingdom of Bhutto, though, there is no accountability for the rich, for leaders. In the Kingdom of Bhutto, there is no shame in nepotism. In the Kingdom of Bhutto, as the saying goes, “do as I say, not as I do.”