News & Comment
Democracy Encourages Unprincipled Politics as it is a System based on Self-Interest

News

On 16th November 2018, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said the real leader of a nation always makes U-turns and changes his or her strategy according to the situation and the need of the hour. He was talking to journalists who met him in the Prime Minister Office (PMO). “The leader who does not do timely U-turns is not a real leader,” the Prime Minister was quoted as saying by a participant. “Leaders should always be ready to take U-turns according to the requirement of their duties and best interests of the nation,” the Prime Minister added.

Comment

Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan claimed to enter politics to change the political culture of Pakistan which had been plagued with corruption and nepotism. He founded the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 1996 and promised the people of Pakistan that he will deliver justice in every field of life. He claimed that the ruling political elite is corrupt and can’t be changed and therefore he will bring new faces.

He portrayed himself as an “idealist” fighting against the so called “status-quo”, and he raised the slogan of “Naya Pakistan” (New Pakistan). But even before coming to power he went back on all of his tall claims, one of them being the acceptance of status quo politicians in his party to win elections which he had previously committed he won’t do. On 4th July 2018, just before general elections which were held on 25th July 2018, Imran Khan explained why around 70 per cent of the electable candidates that PTI has recently inducted come from either PML-N or Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and said “You contest elections to win. You don’t contest elections to be a good boy. The political class here doesn’t change that much. You can introduce new actors but you can’t change the political class wholesale.” So for quite some time Imran Khan has been labeled by his opponents as Mr. U-Turn because he consistently back tracked from his tall claims after making them.

In order to dispel this strong impression about him being an unprincipled man, Imran Khan is now foolishly attempting to justify his U-turns. But the reality is that no democratic leader is immune from this unprincipled politics. In democracy there is no place for principle. The only principle in democracy is that there is no principle except self-interest. So whenever a democratic politician views that his opinions, assertions, and principles are hindering his way to secure his interests, he simply abandons his principles and ideals a phenomenon so widespread that politics in democracy is considered synonymous to lying and deceit.

People will only see honest and sincere Politicians who do not back track from their opinions and actions when Khilafah (Caliphate) on the method of the Prophethood is reestablished. This is because Politicians in Islam have to follow the commands of Allah (swt) which are fixed and can never be changed. So every Politician has to say and act according to the Quran and Sunnah.

(فَإِمَّا يَأْتِيَنَّكُمْ مِنِّي هُدًى فَمَنِ اتَّبَعَ هُدَايَ فَلَا يَضِلُّ وَلَا يَشْقَىٰ)

“Then whoever follows My guidance will neither go astray [in the world] nor suffer [in the Hereafter].” [Taha: 123]

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Shahzad Shaikh
Deputy to the official Spokesman of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Pakistan