Governance for Pakistan

[Chogy]

Thankfully, the horrible video thread was deleted. In reply, I had written this - it has nothing to do with the video; it is more along the lines of what people think might work best for Pakistan...

after seeing all these parties , i can now say that democracy can't work in pakistan . Pakistan needs a benevolent dictator .But if it gets a dictator of the wrong kind like Zia -ul haq then it will go further down the drain . Very risky option .

I find this comment interesting. In my early political science courses, the instructor asked us "What form of governance is best?" and we all guessed, "Representative Democracy" etc. He said, "Nope. It is a thing called a benign dictatorship. You have an extremely wise individual with nearly unlimited power make all the decisions. There's no gridlock. Very efficient. Of course, it all boils down to who the dictator is, and how wise and benign he is." There have been a handful of benign dictators throughout history. Another name might simply be "king" in the old-fashioned sense, where the king has all power of life and death in his hands.

The huge problem is that for every genuine benign dictator, you get 99 brutal or stupid dictators.

Is a "Benign Dictatorship" a possibility for Pakistan? Is it a possibility for ANY country any more, given the popularity of Parliaments, Senates, Religious committees, etc? The problem with these is that you get competing political parties that sabotage each other. The U.S. is heading down this path, but our Constitution is set in stone.

 

[Patriot]

Thankfully, the horrible video thread was deleted. In reply, I had written this - it has nothing to do with the video; it is more along the lines of what people think might work best for Pakistan...



I find this comment interesting. In my early political science courses, the instructor asked us "What form of governance is best?" and we all guessed, "Representative Democracy" etc. He said, "Nope. It is a thing called a benign dictatorship. You have an extremely wise individual with nearly unlimited power make all the decisions. There's no gridlock. Very efficient. Of course, it all boils down to who the dictator is, and how wise and benign he is." There have been a handful of benign dictators throughout history. Another name might simply be "king" in the old-fashioned sense, where the king has all power of life and death in his hands.

The huge problem is that for every genuine benign dictator, you get 99 brutal or stupid dictators.

Is a "Benign Dictatorship" a possibility for Pakistan? Is it a possibility for ANY country any more, given the popularity of Parliaments, Senates, Religious committees, etc? The problem with these is that you get competing political parties that sabotage each other. The U.S. is heading down this path, but our Constitution is set in stone.

I don't believe in democracy for Pakistan.Pakistan is far too f@ucked up to run fine in democratic system.I'd much rather see stable Pakistan in dictatorship then democratic Pakistan where people are dying daily.In Pakistan Politics..you cannot name a single politician who is from middle class.100% of these politicians come from elite section of society (very rich - family background ..in other words democratic dynasties..).Now - We cannot have Arab Style Dictatorship in Pakistan simply because Pakistan is quite diverse ethnically.Having said that - in a pure dictatorship Pakistan would flourish in my opinion.President Musharraf ran the country excellently as long as he was pure dictator 1999~2002 however as soon as he appoint democratic leaders to improve his image his regime went downhill so i support full dictatorship in Pakistan which is secular and the dictator is very cold in his calculations and ensures that what ever needs to be done for betterment of Pakistan should be done with no questions asked.

 

[Sinnerman108]

Thankfully, the horrible video thread was deleted. In reply, I had written this - it has nothing to do with the video; it is more along the lines of what people think might work best for Pakistan...



I find this comment interesting. In my early political science courses, the instructor asked us "What form of governance is best?" and we all guessed, "Representative Democracy" etc. He said, "Nope. It is a thing called a benign dictatorship. You have an extremely wise individual with nearly unlimited power make all the decisions. There's no gridlock. Very efficient. Of course, it all boils down to who the dictator is, and how wise and benign he is." There have been a handful of benign dictators throughout history. Another name might simply be "king" in the old-fashioned sense, where the king has all power of life and death in his hands.

The huge problem is that for every genuine benign dictator, you get 99 brutal or stupid dictators.

Is a "Benign Dictatorship" a possibility for Pakistan? Is it a possibility for ANY country any more, given the popularity of Parliaments, Senates, Religious committees, etc? The problem with these is that you get competing political parties that sabotage each other. The U.S. is heading down this path, but our Constitution is set in stone.

Chogy:
Its an age old debate, Is a benevolent dictatorship better than futile democracy ?
After years of pondering over this, I have to admit there is no clear answer to this question.
Every example of either specimen is unique as are the circumstances and results. The butterfly effect comes into play.
Thus concluding that any generalization is impossible.

What can be however learned from history is that Mankind has made most progress when the line of command was singular and simple a.k.a dictatorship.
Whereas the case of democracy is more conveniently paralleled to the story of babble. So many languages ... and we all know the result.

The case of Pakistan is further aggravated due to one and only reason and i.e Feudal system.
Individuals who control the wealth and produce in the most barbaric and prehistoric way are the single biggest hurdle in the way to progress.

While we are on it; I would like to suggest the idea of a professional government.
I spent some time as a process engineering and management consultant; and this idea keeps coming back again and again.
It's like one of the most successful examples of nature "The honey comb" and how the honey bees can cooperate to keep the government going.

 

[Leader]

no way..... dictator times are over... its people's time to dictate the affairs of the state !

 

[xTra]

I think Musharraf did some fine things for Pakistan.

 

[Imran Khan]

I think Musharraf did some fine things for Pakistan.

but his few mistakes drag us in hell too

 

[Doctor09]

i think a single honest leader is more than enough................. but we foolish people elect politicians on BARADRI base etc its our own fault that we elect such corrupt leaders and then we cry.
you may not agree with me but its true that as a nation we are corrupt. Our govt servents ( they are our own brothers ) take bribes every department of country is full of black sheeps......even a shopkeeper is not honest....when there is such a mind set of any nation then how we expect that we will elect a honest leadership..........
chor hamesha chor ku he leader banata hai imandar ku nai
we should correct ourselves when we as a nation become honest then we will choose honest leadership

 

[Chogy]

While we are on it; I would like to suggest the idea of a professional government.
I spent some time as a process engineering and management consultant; and this idea keeps coming back again and again.
It's like one of the most successful examples of nature "The honey comb" and how the honey bees can cooperate to keep the government going.

I tend to agree. If we could weed out politicians who are in it for POWER or WEALTH rather than service, we'd be in better shape.

In the U.S., I think the presidency should be occupied by a random selection of the Senators. Put 100 names in a hat, and the "winner" is president for 4 years.

And a portion of the Congress should consist of a portion of people, regular professional people, good citizens, "drafted" to the position.

When a politician wants a position very, very badly, THAT is when it is time to look out.

 

[Sinnerman108]

I tend to agree. If we could weed out politicians who are in it for POWER or WEALTH rather than service, we'd be in better shape.

In the U.S., I think the presidency should be occupied by a random selection of the Senators. Put 100 names in a hat, and the "winner" is president for 4 years.

And a portion of the Congress should consist of a portion of people, regular professional people, good citizens, "drafted" to the position.

When a politician wants a position very, very badly, THAT is when it is time to look out.

This is 100% correct, and what is better is it will satisfy the requirements of an Islamic government too.
I would suggest one modification though, instead of putting names and pulling one out for 4 years,
lets have the top 20 or 30 professionals form a committee or some thing, where decisions are taken by show of hand.

Here is what i feel ironic and that is ; mankind had spend the last epoch of history since WW2 concentrating on production
and efficiency. The Japanese led the way with quality focus production and efficient production at large scale.
People at the Carnegie melon, and at all businesses around the world have written tons of papers regarding organizational efficiency YET we do not see any direct implementation of it at the government level it self.

I do feel that business of government today is JUST a power play for future higher motives.

 

[BATMAN]

I think Musharraf did some fine things for Pakistan.

This is where every one is wrong or perhaps deliberately act as ignorant to Pakistan's system of governance... which never changed at any time of known history to me and neither during Musharraf's era.

No Sir, You can't bring Musharraf in the line of dictators...

Pakistan always had parliament elected by people of Pakistan and general elections were declared mostly fair when conducted by a head of state from Military background.

When Musharraf resigned from Presidency he was not a serving army personal.

During Musharraf's regime all civil servants from Sharif era continue to serve, which is not the case with either democratic monarchs who have always kept their personal armed militia.

Musharraf never charged in any corruption case or abuse of power.

Musharraf build democracy to its true spirit by empowering people at union council level in shape of local govts.

Musharraf declared institutions independent and free from any sort of dictation.

So please, take your discussion of dictatorship to some where else... because by virtue of chain of governance Pakistan have various governance systems in place, just with a difference of prevailing corruption which increased and reached the highest level, since Musharraf left.

If Musharraf's rule was dictatorship than this rule is worst form of dictatorship supported by bunch of states.

Once same states use to call Mr. Zardari as Mr. 10%

 

[Sinnerman108]

^^^ Batman

lets stay on topic, we can discuss Musharraf later ?

Lets talk about governance, and models to implement it in a nice efficient way.

 

[BATMAN]

Why not... and BTW, my post was not that off topic. It was an intro. to the ignorants.

Actually, i stated don't bring Musharraf in this discussion.

It seems you expect posts on solutions... in today's scenario of mismanagement any alternate will work better, where as best solution for Pakistan is to dissolve provinces and transfer most of power from center to union councils.

Close all loss producing state institutions immediately and even those related to management.

Districts shall act as independent govt. and do the management business at local level and co-operation with neighboring and far away district.

Our politicians who wish to whole state machinery as their slave would never agree to the devolution of power at grass roots.

 

[forcetrip]

Too many cooks spoil the broth. In this case the cooks are not cooks but crooks.

 

[muse]

a "Benign Dictatorship"

Do you mean a "Liberal" (in the original English sense of the word) Dictatorship?

 

[FaujHistorian]

Too much emphasis on top leadership and not enough attention to the people of the country.

Remember, If people of the country are humble, tolerant, honest, and trustworthy, the country shines regardless of the system at the top. Dictatorship, dhoom-cracy, or democracy or a combination thereof will work.

If on the other hand people refuse to practice the habits listed above, no amount of dictatorship or dhoom-crazy will work. You could bring even Jesus to rule and people would crucify him. Such is the force in the hands of the people of a country if they decide to go the wrong way.

For Pakistan in particular, we must realize that we are 200 million strong country. Thus we must think big, and do things to bring peace not only to our country but to the world.

For this to be true, we all must be humble, tolerant, honest, and trustworthy. If we lack any of this habit, then we must strive every day every moment to develop this.

It is time to focus on us the educated elite, instead of hoping for Allah Taala to come and rule from Islamabad presidency.

Peace.