There were two performances in the Pakistan parliament today. The presentation of the 2011-2012 budget by Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh and the protest tamasha by the parliamentary opposition. Personally, I was disappointed in both performances. But much more in the later than the first. But maybe I am being a ‘harsh grader.’ So I do want to find out how our readers feel, so here is an ATP Poll. What was your reaction? (Please note there are two seperate questions, requiring two answers.)
Budget details, they were in the orioginal speech are here, in the original budget speech. For those who missed the performances, here is a small glimpse (highlights included PML(N) leader Ahsan Iqbal bringing a roti to the Finance Minister and others throwing bangles at the Prime Minister, in addition to constant shouting throughout the speech):
Poor performance by the government all around:
Dont we know this present lot will never and can never solve our problems, let me tell you, our problems have only one solution whose name is imran khan, we must support him and he is the one who can solve the problems of this nation:
http://ihaveadream-pakistan.blogspot.com/2011/07/i mran-khan-only-choice.html
Poor performance by the opposition. I was expecting a lively session. It appeared they did not have plans for a full blown circus. Or they did not want to because they are “friendly” opposition? It would have been fun had they stopped the minister from continuing his speech and caused a major ruckus.
And those so-called west lovers should know that opposition protests cross many boundaries in our neighboring country. Heck, I have even seen Japanese and Korean sessions with full fights and shoe throwing. It was pretty lame yesterday. PML-N, you have disappointed us. Totally killed the fun.
Take any democracy and please dont go to the Western capital becuz the roots over there goes hundred of years….or go to their earlier year…In pakistan democracy is in its infancy…Let it go through the learning curve.
@Nihari
I am sorry, Nihari, but India is really not the ‘model’ for democracy, even for Pakistan. Sure India has had a rickety democracy that I would have loved in Pakistan, but most straight minded Indians will themselves point out that India’s Lallo Prasad ‘democracy’ is not the ideal for anyone to follow….
Again, this is not standard India bashing stuff, this is about understanding what democracy is. India will I am sure get there, and probably before Pakistan, but it ain’t the model. So, if you want to understand democracy maybe we should start someplace better. Democracy without civility and tolerance may be better than autocracy, but only slightly. And it is incomplete democracy.