Democracy or Monarchy? An Interesting Discussion

Including the states of Palestine and Israel, there are about 195 sovereign nations around the world. Every sovereign nation or state is governed through a system of government. It could be democracy, monarchy, military or non-military dictatorship, socialist dictatorship or socialist democracy.
 

Practically, in all these forms of governments, a political party or a powerful group of people seizes powers with the help of its partners, friends, associates, followers, army or guards, and rule the country. Power is generally grabbed through collaborating with elite class in politics, in civil and military bureaucracy, in businesses, or in media, in judiciary or in legal community. Sometimes huge sums of monies or promise for favours are involved in the power grabbing process.

In developed democracies, powerful members of political parties with the help of their rich, resourceful and influential friends from the business world and from all other important parts of society battle to grab the powers. Finally one group succeeds to clutch the powers; this powers grabbing process though looks very civilized, peaceful, sophisticated and democratic, however powers always remain in the hand of rich and influential people and those indirectly control the government.

Irrespective the way rulers of a country are chosen, some of them are very patriotic and they use the best of their abilities and they work hard to formulate and implement policies which are in the best interest of the nation. Some are greedy and selfish and only help their friends, family, members of their group and the important interest groups to continue keeping a strong hold over the power.

Therefore, some rulers are good while others are not; some are bright and competent but few are obtuse and inept. Some are energetic leaders, highly educated, visionary and seasoned statesmen, while some are insipid and lackadaisical. Some leaders are very strong, shrewd and good decision makers while many are weak, immature and vacillating.

Let’s now examine different forms of governments and their good and bad effects. In monarchy, a political entity called monarch (or King) is the head of state and holds all the political powers, generally until his death or until he formally relinquishes responsibilities or powers. The monarch is wholly set apart from all other members of the state called ‘subjects’.

If we examine Middle-East economies closely and visit states like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar, we will be amazed with the kind of progress they have made, and they are making. Dubai has the best shopping malls in the world, as good as Europe and America have, and it is equipped with the latest infrastructure, roads, bridges, ports, airports, and thousands of astonishing high rise buildings and good hotels. Dubai has just built state of the art subway transit system. People in Middle-East drive the best cars in the world – everything is spectacular. Recently Abu Dhabi has built one of the best mosques in the world, called “Sultan Al-Nahyan Mosque”. It is a wonderful piece of architectural structure like Taj Mahal.

People may argue that they have oil, but Dubai does not have a lot of oil. Their progress is from trade and tourism. Nigeria has a lot of oil too but it’s still backward.

Saudi Arabia is making amazing progress as a result of the form of government they have, monarchy. The government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is providing excellent governance. They are now building a great city called “King Abdullah Industrial City”, and an excellent railway system, and one mile high the tallest tower building in the world. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is providing best possible facilities to people visiting the holy cities of Mecca and Madinah to perform Haj and Umrah. If we compare the buildings of Khana Kaaba (Masjid-e-Haram) and Masjid-e-Nabvi thirty years ago with their present structures, we will find incredible differences. King Abdullah has spent billions of dollars to provide good facilities to Muslims performing pilgrimage and he is further spending $10 billion to expand the Khana Kaaba. All this is possible due to the form of government they have, monarchy.

The great Monarchs of the Middle-East are very intelligently protecting their countries, their governments, their people and their natural resources from greedy super powers and European nations, Americans, and from all kinds of enemies, while they have no or very little military power. They are in fact successfully using the military powers, and political and economic powers of different nations of the world to their benefit. They, very intelligently, are controlling the foreign workers and foreign entrepreneurs in their states, who account for 85% of their population, and are controlling the foreign corporations and businesses in their countries very well to their advantage. The law and order in Middle-East states is superb, safety and security of people is great and the legal system is working efficiently to safe guard the assets and lives of foreigners and of local population. They are attracting enormous amount of foreign capital because of their investors’ friendly economic and political policies.

In Iran, ‘Raza Shah Pehlavi’ was a king, not long ago. At his time, the economic growth of Iran was phenomenal; almost everything sold in Iran was made in Iran. People had civil liberties as well, they were happy and prosperous. Country was progressing leaps and bounds. People had choice to observe their religions as well as they were free to go to the places of entertainment. The country built thousands of factories, buildings and infrastructure during the regime of that monarch. The monarchy form of government worked very well for Iran.

Not so long ago, in Afghanistan too, a king named “Zahir Shah” used to rule. At his time, the law and order was good and safety and security of people and their property was great. There were civil liberties too. The City of Kabul was like a mini Dubai. People were happy. The country although was poor but it was on the track for prosperity.

Immediately after the fall of monarchy, everything was destroyed and the Afghani people are suffering since then. Both super powers, one after the other, attacked and bombed the country and destroyed the infrastructure, private buildings, homes, schools, and government buildings. Everything has been destroyed. Their trade has suffered, and their agriculture and manufacturing sectors have been affected very badly. About 5 million Afghanis took refuge in other countries. Rich people left the country with their capital, and artisans left with their talented skills. Russia (USSR) left Afghanistan after installing 2 million land mines; people are still dying from those land mines. The country’s institutions were destroyed, their military and police forces were disbanded, and they were left in a state of anarchy by super powers. The social fabric of Afghanistan greatly suffered. USA is still killing people over there in the name of so called “War on Terrorism”. Shame on the coward USA and the West; they are killing the poor and weak but they have no courage to fight with strong nations like China and Russia.

In the tenth century, about 1100 years ago, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznawi was the ruler of modern-day Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, southwest Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, and most part of Iran. He was a great Muslim monarch who turned a small kingdom of Ghazni into a great wealthy big Empire. He turned city of Ghazni to a modern, most beautiful and important city of the Muslim world and a great place to visit and live. The standard of living of people of Ghaznavid Empire was very high and they live in a just, secure and peaceful environment. Overall every body was happy and prosperous.

Mahmud was a great patron of art and literature. His court was full of scholars. He spends huge amounts on scholars and invites scholars from all over the world. A huge glory of Ghaznavid court was al-Biruni, a Muslim historian, an excellent scientist, geographer and mapmaker. He wrote an invaluable book titled “Tarikh al-Hind” which means history of India. The other scholars include Ferdousi and Abolfazl Beyhaghi. Ferdousi was a very famous poet. He wrote the famous “Shahnameh” for Mahmud. Beyhaghi was a historian and he wrote the famous work of Persian literature Tarikh-e Beyhaghi”. Mahmud turned the city of Ghazni into the most beautiful and important city of the Muslim world. It was a city of libraries, minarets, madrasas and mosques. The most beautiful is the mausoleum of Sultan Mahmud and the others are Tomb of Al Biruni, a museum and two towers, 140 ft high and 1200 ft apart. The city of Lahore became a great center of learning and culture during his rule. The city of Lahore at that time was called ‘Small Ghazni’.

In the sixteenth century, five hundred years ago, a Muslim ruler of India, Sher Shah Suri, built Sher Shah Suri Road (presently called Grand Trunk Road or GT Road), which joined Peshawar in the west to the capital city Delhi on one side and Bengal in the east to the Delhi from the other side. He grew trees, built rest houses, water wells, postal posts and grazing fields for horses along the Sher Shah Suri road. Other than the road, he governed the country with great justice and with excellent leadership and management skills. People were extremely happy and prosperous during his regime. What a visionary king was he? What kind of money and resources did he have, and how hardworking was he? Though he only ruled for five years, still people of India remember him as a great ruler and a good person.

India was the largest economy of the world during the seventeenth century. It was ruled by Muslim Moghuls monarchs at that time. The Moghuls, and Muslim rulers before them built great pieces of art, buildings like Taj Mahal, Shalamar Garden of Lahore, Red Fort of Dehli, Lahore Fort, Badshahi Masjid Lahore, Agra Fort, Qutab Minar Delhi, Charminar Hyderabad, Mysore Palace and many other buildings. It reflects the wisdom, intelligence, vision, great economic policies, honesty, hard work, commitment, dedication and strength of those monarchs. The chief executives of a country can make or ruin the country. It shows how intelligently they ruled and provided the best governance that brought prosperity to the country. The wealth of India created by the monarchs attracted the greedy European nations and the plunder of India by Britishers started, which ruined the economy developed by Moghul Monarchs.

With the demise of the Moghul Dynasty, the richest nation in the world turned into a nation of beggars. The people of India for 150 years were made slaves and were treated by the Englishmen like third class citizens in their own country.

It shows that monarchy is an excellent form of government even at the present times. For a new monarch of a state, the best person would be a visionary good leader with great decision power and intelligence, strong enough to counter enemies and insurgencies, and hard working and honest.

Let’s talk now a little bit about democracy. When a business person is making a new product, he looks at the needs of his customers, the people who will buy his products.

Similarly rulers and politicians should also look at the needs of the people living in their states, who are actually their customers. They should find out what are the expectations of people from their governments and they should skillfully craft their policies to meet the needs and expectations of their customers, the people.

Sir Winston Churchill stated: “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”

Democracy is a term that originated in Greece to designate a government where the people share in directing the activities of the state as well as participate in its rewards. It is distinct from the governments installed by a class, a select group, or a single dictator. Since Grecian times the concept has been interpreted, applied, and abused in a great variety of ways.

These days democracy is seen as a philosophy which insists on the rights and, in the long run the capacity of a people, acting either directly or through their representatives to control their institutions for their own best ends. Such a philosophy exalts the individual and would free him or her as far as possible from restraints which are not self-imposed.

It recognizes, however, that complete individual freedom, which in the political sphere would be termed as anarchy, is not practical, but insists that restraints be imposed only by a majority and those should be put forth on the principle of equal opportunity for all.

Most westerners’ philosophers think of democracy as a political system in which authority is based on the consent of the governed. What people want, or the will of the people, is expressed indirectly through elected representatives. Basic civil rights are taken for granted by all citizens in a democracy. Education has a vital role to play in making sure that democracy survives, and one of the hallmarks of democracy is the opportunity for fiery public debates.

Presently, democracy is considered the best form of government; however, let’s think out of the box for a moment and clear our minds with the notion that democracy is the best form of government, in order to make the right judgment.

Democracy is in fact failing around the world and the time is not far when people will start realizing and thinking about some new forms of governments. It is likely that some nations may revert back to monarchy in the next few decades. Economies of the developed nations including America, Europe and Japan have been destroyed because wrong leaders were elected through the democratic systems. The democratic economies are going down the drain while monarchies and other economies are prospering.

Presently, it is not important in Pakistan who is ruling and what type of government they have. Is it monarchy or democracy? It’s the Balance Sheet of Pakistan which will matter at the end of the day, its economic growth and prosperity which is important.

The important thing is if our economy is growing or not, if people have good jobs, if businesses are flourishing, if the citizens are getting richer and their net worth is increasing, and if money, food, electricity, water, education and health facilities are available to the masses, if the standard of living of common people is going up or not, and if the bomb blasts have stopped and law and order, safety and security conditions are improving, and most importantly if the corruption by politicians and government officials has curtailed. Pakistan must have financial discipline. If our country is poor and if it’s under high debt then we will be considered a slave nation, and no matter how much we say we are sovereign, nobody will believe us, and yes, we will not, because the nations who will lend us money will intervene in all our affairs, including our foreign policies and defense policies.

Let the people of Pakistan, their intellectuals, philosophers and leaders decide what form of government they want and which form of government will suit this Nation-State in this crucial phase of its life.

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