EDITORIAL
Organizational crises of political parties in Pakistan
What is a political party? A political party is a group of persons organized to acquire and exercise political power. Whether they are conservative or revolutionary, whether they are a union of notables or an organization of the masses, whether they function in a pluralistic democracy or a monolithic dictatorship, parties have one function in common: they all participate to some extent in the exercise of political power, whether by forming a government or by exercising the function of opposition. This function is often of crucial importance in the determination of national policy.
- A political party has members who agree on some political ideology, policies and programmes for society, intending to promote the common good of the masses.
- It seeks to implement the ideology and policies by winning popular support through elections.
- Political parties represent a leader, the party workers and supporters.
- It is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government.
- A democratic political party holds elections among the members and chooses their leadership with the majority as a democratic principle.
Hence, a political party comprises members assembled to organize and contest elections to seep political power to implement the ideology and policies. The organization is a critical part of a political party. The organization is directly proportionate to the success of a political party. Even the popularity of the leadership comes second to the organization’s Might.
Political parties in Pakistan are not organized. Therefore, they depend upon the charismatic personality of their leaders. As they are not organized, they find it challenging to launch political processions, contest elections and disseminate their narratives to the grassroots. Even without organizations, they cannot translate the popularity of their leadership into elections, parades and movements. Furthermore, a disorganized political party is always incompetent in running the affairs of a government because it does not understand the value and skills of an organization. https://republicpolicy.com/the-challenges-of-administrative-reforms-in-pakistan/
Pakistan is facing a capacity crisis, and political parties are no exception. It is a competitive political environment in Pakistan. Therefore, the margin is always thin as several political parties contest in the national political arena. Comparatively, constituency politics requires the organization of political parties; otherwise, the political parties shall remain dependent on electives. Then, political swings can produce better results in national and provincial elections; however, local government and constituency elections shall only be won with an organized set-up.
The politics of PTI is mainly dependent upon the national swing; rather, it depends upon the swing of their leader, Imran Khan. Without the campaign by Ik, the PTI do not win elections as the party does not have any organization. Therefore, they find it impossible to win Karachi’s local government Elections despite the soaring popularity of Ik. Furthermore, the dis-organizational culture in a political party does not train the political workers to succeed as good administrators in the government.
Hence, intra-party elections up to grass root levels are critical for the organization of a political party. The Election Commissions and political parties must ensure genuine intra-party polls. Organized political parties are crucial not only for democracy but also for the ideology of political parties. An organized political party can only produce leadership and curtail the kingships in the political party. https://republicpolicy.com/politics-of-narratives-or-good-governance/
