Is it that in the wake of PTI electoral victory there is that much ‘change’ ballyhoo in Pakistan? No it is not. Yes, a few high-profile bureaucratic postings and transfers have taken place and there are a few monetary savings, including auction of ex-PM House’s seven buffaloes. But given the curse of dynastic politics that obtains, not much is in store to usher in that ‘change’. On the ground, the statistics suggest that this curse has taken hold and is likely to dictate its writ. As ever before, the electoral politics in Pakistan remains a family enterprise, and so was it as the outcome of the July 25 general election. Nearly 50 percent of seats in the elected houses, both provincial and federal, have been clinched by about 100 political families. These families have the feudal hold or the clannish appeal which has worked the way they wanted. Once again, there are the Bhuttos, the Sharifs, the Chaudhries, the Gilanis, the Mengals, the Khattaks, the Sherazis and the ilk who have returned to the elected houses. Think of the ruling family of Sindh, five of them including Asif Ali Zardari, Bilawal, Munawar Ali Talpur and Zardari’s sisters Azra and Faryal have won from their secure constituencies. Then there is Shahbaz and Hamza from the Sharifs; and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, his brother and two siblings have been elected. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s son and two nephews have also won. From Rahimyar Khan, the late parliamentarian Rukunuddin’s two sons have not only won but have become ministers. But the biggest winner of the thespian melodrama is Pervez Khattak who has succeeded not only winning a seat for himself in parliament but also succeeded in sending four of his blood relations to the assemblies. The spokespersons for the parties argue that it is up to the electorate who to vote for and, of course, every party would like to field ‘electables’. Still there is no plausible explanation to nominations of wives, sisters and daughters for reserved seats. Interestingly, the advocates of this oligarchic trend draw substance from electoral scenes in the neighbouring countries like India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. There too certain families dominate the representative democracy and take turns to rule their countries.

The PTI came to the political stage raising the flag of change and a ‘Naya’ Pakistan. But its dilemma was that to be in a position to usher in a ‘change’ and ‘Naya’ Pakistan it had to be in power and that was feasible only by fielding the ‘electables’, who exist nowhere but in the political dynasties. That was not something new; even before Partition of the subcontinent, the politics was the preserve of the Mamdots, the Tiwanas, the Hayats, the Talpurs, the Soomros, the Syeds, the Khans, the Rajas and others in areas that later constituted Pakistan. What we have today at our hands is in some way the persistence of that very ground reality. If ever there was an upshot of ideological governance it was short-lived, often subverted by military dictatorships to which the same very political elite would lose no time in pledging its loyalty. That Imran Khan would succeed in turning the tables on these family enterprises appears almost impossible – his inability showcased by his own party men as they took law into their hands when confronted by law-enforcing personnel in odd situations. With a telling exception of PTI, Jamaat-e-Islami and MQM-Pakistan almost all the political parties, who have made to the elected houses, are run as family enterprises. On any issue or situation, national or international, the party chief calls the shots and his loyal and committed workers get into instant stride in support of their leaders’ perspectives. In return, these leaders turn a blind eye to the acts of omission and commission that their loyalists commit in their individual constituencies. This is the bargain they make in order to protect and promote their family interests, converting ideological politics into dynastic politics.