***Gimmicks do not pay any ultimate dividend, however gainful they seem at the moment. Our parliamentarians, seasoned as they are, are more aware of the drab reality of life than many of us electorate. They will therefore, dissuade themselves from further resort to gimmicks.***

THE round-table on" Strengthening the Parliament’ hosted by The Daily Star may be marked to have been an occasion of great import to the nation viewed from more than one point. One cannot but appreciate the service of inestimable value it has rendered to the nation. The round-table could bring to light many things that lay hidden in the deep recess of the heart of the parliamentarians belonging to both government and opposition parties — things that they have not been frank enough to admit of or give expression to earlier. The candidness the leading parliamentarians demonstrated in defining the causes preventing the parliament from playing the role that has been constitutionally assigned to this supreme body — the centre of national policy — deserves wide acclaim and ample adoration. The catalyst — this time a human one and media men. The Daily Star management — is no less deserving since it is they that have engineered to bring afore and make public the confident ponderlngs of our leaders both Inside and outside the government Including the opinion builders and Intelligentsia.

Good things in life do not drop from heaven, they are to be achieved nay. to be hard earned with travails. More so has been the case with our form of government — the parliamentary democracy that we have chosen for ourselves to be best suited to the genius of our people and their hopes and aspirations. The struggle that culminated in its achievement is. in its genesis. almost synchronistic of our movement for freedom from the

shackles of Pakistani domination. Our Parliament has indeed had a chequered career with so many conundrums besetting its way that many worthy sons of the soil have had to buy it at the cost of their sacred blood. Their sacrifice has engendered an inalienable belief in the nation's psyche that Parliament is the forum to find solution to all the problems the country is confronted with, and that nothing short of the fulfilment of the Parliament's due role can earn its entire satisfaction. The whole nation is keenly desirous of seeing the Parliament resolve all political conflicts on its floor and not on the streets. Streets are full wellcontent to be streets, the traffic populations have outstripped their capacity of accommodation perhaps desperately requiring Malthusian positive check.

Streets do not hanker after upgradation into venues for demonstrations and meetings wltn political parties desperately trying to gain what they have supposedly lost in the parliament nouse. They (streets) entreat that they be allowed to ply the traffic unhindered and unhurdled to maintain the normal flow of economic life. The streets no longer tend to lease themselves to stage dramas causing political instability which has been the root cause of our backwardness in agriculture, industry, education and in all other sectors of the national economy and life, the last casualty being foreign investment which could have rushed forth had the opposite conditions prevailed. The popular mind is ever expectant that parliamentary democracy in its full measure is established i.e. the Parliament assumes and performs the role of the central institution, in letter and spirit, of our political life.

The round-table seems to have removed the rusts that gathered to corrode the alertness of our leaders. They seem to have been brought to their real self — they were all valiant fighters for the restoration of parliamentary democracy in the country. One is inspired to learn that the leaders are not oblivious or unaware of the responsibility devolved on them. Self-confession bred by self-criticism and self-exposure goes a long way to embolden a man

to face reality squarely and galvanise him into action bringing his latent energy into full play — a process resulting in the flowering of his personality to the betterment of his own as well as of the society he lives in. With the release of the forces so long dormant in him he rises to the pinnacle of his glory by contributing to the larger interest of the nation.

One loves to believe that our leaders have been able to selfdiagnose — through what may better be termed as self-criticism and self-realisation as evidenced in the roundtable — the diseases that are eating into the very vitals of our Parliament. Now that the realisation has downed, one likes to look forward that the parliamentarians play no more to the gallery but to the furtherance of people's Interest they have made commitment, both oral and written, in manifestoes and broadcasts, meetings and gatherings during pre-election days, to safeguard and uphold. Would they repeat the game the capricious cow-boy played to the frogs, deriving the sportful pleasure at the cost of death to the people? The gallery representing the people cannot lend Itself to be played upon, though instant action cannot be taken as the members are unassailable. immune from the jurisdiction of the court of law as to what they say on the floors. But the people's court will not fail to pronounce its verdict in the next election if the play to the gallery continues unceasing to the neglect of popular interest. Then the people cannot afford the luxury of maintaining such

a degenerated parliament at an enormous expense, something simply inexpicable. impoverished as we are. An essentially good thing put to constant bad use of long takes on an appearance that detracts its value and poisons the people’s mind as to its usefulness and efficacy, may even be fraught with popular revulsion. The original intention that went to its contrivance may then be misunderstood and its purpose of existence frustrated. And il is in such a situation that the anti-people element and vested interest spring up to seize the opportunity and put the good things in total disarray and disrepute to achieve their selfish motives. Thus we have in the past been witness to the . system itself being held responsible for its failure to de-. liver the desired good as a pretext to usurp power though at । fault were the persons who were 1 entrusted to run it. And the na-:

tion had to pay very dearly. God forbid such history does not repeat itself.

The confession by way of diagnosing the shortcomings of our parliamentarians is doubtless an achievement on their part. They have come to call a spade a spade. Further more an attempt at reformation calls for a stock-taking and an assessment of the existing state of affairs. Since they have done 'these exercises and found out the causes of ailment one can reasonably hope that the parliamentarians will shake off their infatuation with playing to the gallery and extricate themselves from the apprehension of high price like the one paid by Antony for his overenamouring passion for Cleopatra with loss of both life and kingdom. a "colossus' though he was.

Gimmicks do not pay any ultimate dividend, however gainful they seem at the moment. Our parliamentarians, seasoned as they are, are more awart of the drab reality of life than many of us electorate. They will therefore, dissuade themselves from further resort to gimmicks. Will they not stop playing the doubly deadly game to themselves and the people like the one indulged in by Antony and the other by the cowboy? In other words they will abide by the self-prescription arrived at after self-diagnosis to devote their time and

energy to resolve the pressing national issues — the avowed object that called them to their high office of the membership of the Parliament.

One likes to mark it as a positive turn, as another very vital, though unpleasant, fact of our life has fired the imagination of the parliamentary leaders of both government and opposition parties alike — the baneful role that muscle power and black money play in the elections. The writer has earlier pointed out that terrorism and black money have started exerting so malignant and menacing influences that the honest and less propertied find the race of election a competition of inequality. They are either found withdrawing from the race giving a walkover or even if they made a good start initially, finally end up in being vanquished. the victor doubly strengthened by the booty that comes his way during his tenure to make greater investment in future.

There is a happy correla-tlonship between the black money and the muscle power, the one usually reinforcing and revamping the other. A continuance of this evil process that has started with their collusion is. without fall, fraught with the ominous consequences of the nation being totally deprived of the services of the true representatives at all levels, thus paving the way for maladministration and mismanagement in all spheres of national life to its ultimate ruination and extinction — the bleakest prospect everyone will shudder to think of. Have we not sometime earlier heard students caught while copying defend themselves with

the argument that if the high of-, fice of the country is chosen ’ through voterless election why will they be held responsible for their simple offence? Now that the parliamentarians belonging to two major opposite camps share the same views as to the disastrous consequences of black money and muscle power, it is high time they enacted electoral laws that will enchain the monsters of muscle power and black money and put them to nullity so that their influences come to naught.

That our leaders are really concerned with the people's welfare and that they can rise above petty partisan consideration and see eye to eye in matters of national importance is demonstrated in the round-table. Leaders both in power and opposition have not only equally volunteered to self-crtt-icism but expressed the same corit^rn over precious time lost in the parliament for gimmicks. thus manifesting their sincere desire to be "no more in gallery show than in concentrating on issues of real importance." All of them were unanimous in their opinion that committee system in the House should be strengthened and made more effective. The two opposing camps shed away their diflerences when they underscored the necessity of making the elections free from the menace of black money and muscle power. They were equally vehemently critical of the invectives of mutual acrimony and denigration, harassment and embarrassment on the floor of the House in stead of applying the tool of constructive criticism for the betterment of public life.

Since the ‘leaders demonstrated that no fundamental differences stood in their way of forging a united stand in facing some issues of national importance they dealt with, we nave reasons to be optimistic that they will keep the flame of consensus lit in the days to come. The patriot in them will hopefully keep ever awakeful to sink the petty differences in order to flourish the democratic culture of toleration and moderation — an honest spirit of give and take which is one of the most important prerequisites for the successful functioning of democratic institutions.