Lust for power by Andleeb Abbas

Pakistani politics has regularly seen power-obsessed leaders who do not know the meaning of ‘graceful exit’ from office. History proves that all leaders had to leave office in a disgraceful manner. From Ayub Khan to Bhutto to Ziaul Haq, the story of blind faith in power has always caused the undoing of our leaders. Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif had short tenures that ended with the same result. Despite all that, it seems that our current president has not learned his lesson and is still hell-bent on using his position to prove history wrong.

The difference between a developed and underdeveloped country’s dealing with such violation of ethics is that in the former there is an accountability system in place. But in countries like Pakistan the lack of a proper accountability system leads to the deterioration of values, and damages the very foundation of society. The damage of this kind can only be fixed by a revolution. This value deficit has already created fragility in our socio-economic base. Sustainability and solidarity of a culture and country are based on strong principles and values which remain unshaken in times of crises. This of course means that punishing those who commit unethical crimes and rewarding those who behave ethically is a simple solution to the rather complex problem. Read Complete Article