Who wants to be the President of Pakistan

A few thoughtful comments from facebook are added at the end of the paper for your review.

If the Television stations in Pakistan can create a show, “Who wants to be the President of Pakistan” and let it begin with 100 members from all over Pakistan to participate in the competition. The candidates will be narrowed down by their ability to answer questions, and the public and Judges will determine the winners. It is almost like the Presidential debates in America.

The process will create capable individuals all across the nation and each issue will be discussed thoroughly in the public and everyone will know where each contestant stands.

The best thing that will ever happen to Pakistan is the involvement from capable persons from the general public. The sons and daughters of the rich and the politicians will most certainly be there and may learn to swallow a dose of humility debating with the common man, standing shoulder to shoulder in the debate without any one having an upper hand. 

 Let Pakistani people set an example to the world, if America can elect an ordinary man to be her President, Pakistan can do it too. It will give hope to every Pakistani regardless of his or her financial, political, religious, societal or linguistic standing. Every Pakistani should be able to compete in it.

 I have tagged this note with Asif Ali Zardari, Nawaz Shariff, Bilawal Bhutto, Christians, Hindus, Sikh and Minorities within Muslims in Pakistan.

 If the TV’s cannot do it, let the Public in each city start the process via debates in town hall meetings. Twelve months of debates should produce capable, inclusive Pakistanis to take charge of the nation. Let the opportunity be open to every Paksitani.

 The judges must be grilled by non-partisan non-Pakistani judges to ensure they are not biased towards any candidate, ethnicity, religious or public affiliation, the interest of Pakistan should be in their hearts.

 The Pakistanis have been deprived of their own sensible common sense government for decades. While nations that are contemporary to Pakistan have prospered. A democratic stable Pakistan is good for her people, good for the neighbors and good for the world.

Can the people of Pakistan do the same as the Tunisians?

Can the leadership voluntarily step down and live a dignified life?

This is a seminal document; the Pakistani people can expand from here and make it happen. The Pakistanis living in America, Canada and UK can start the mock debates to set a model. They need to set an example of shedding their bias towards fellow Pakistanis, if people can start thinking that they do not have an upper hand, but same hand as others, that will be progress.  

Mike Ghouse offers pluralistic sustainable solutions to media and the public. His work is all listed in 3 sites and 22 Blogs at www.MikeGhouse.net  

# # #

ABOUT 50 COMMENTS AT THIS MOMENT ON FACEBOOK

1/16/2011 12:20:06 PM

 Raik Sabeel Something must happen, and I am sure, something will happen. Imran Khan and his party might be a good chance. But will they be able to to convert all those radicalized people out there?

Nazir Sindhu Hi Ghouse can u provide me some sponsor who sponsormy show I will try to develop such show on some channal otherwise peoples of Pakistan cannot do any thing because they are crushed by aristocracy .mr. bhutto cheats awam on slogan of social justice ,zia ul haq cheats then on name of Islam . lords cheats them on name of democracy jenrals cheats them on name of hounesty. what u expect from awam .

Arif S Khairuddin Very good call. Basically there should be such a show for N Korea, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, West Bank, Gaza, Nepal, Syria, Yemen, Myanmar and all other countries that have puppet governments.

Mohsin Maqbool Elahi Good idea, Ghouse. But who will sponsor such a show? And will it be allowed to be aired by the powers that be?

Haroon-Pascal Mian That's funny question Arif, more than you can know. When I was a kid, my French Mum asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up?I replied, 'The President.' 'Of which country?', She asked (my late Dad was a Pakistani.) I answered, 'I have not ...decided yet.'

Haroon-Pascal Mian Mike, let me put one together, and I will present it to you, .
It will have to do with, 1.) Education, 2) Corruption, 3.) A change in Pakistanis' mindset, 4.) Human Rights - for the Poor, Women, Minorities, as well as Animals, 5.) Sanitation..., 6.) Land Reforms, 7.) End of Indentured Servitude, 8.) Kashmir, and India policies, 8.) Seperation of Mosque and State, 9.) Repeal of Hadood and Blasphamy Laws, 10.) Judicial Reform. Just to name a few points.

Syed Fayyaz Hassan Mike, please leave Pakistan alone, you worry about Indias corrupt culture. Dont insult Pakistan's polity by calling the Democratically elected people as most corrupt. Pakistan is created by ballot and will be protected by ballot only.

Mike Ghouse Fayyaz, the world is one small planet, we are all in it together, it is in our interests to create a cohesive world. If there is a conference of planets, and you came from Earth, you and I will say we are from the Planet Earth and perhaps t...he Continent Asia... we are unlikley to say I am from India, Paksitan or Sri Lanka. Let's look at the larger picture.

Please do not shy away from responding to the issues, the world is an open society. India, America, Pakistan, Canada or China... are all sujbect to discussions. A healthy democracy in Pakistan is good for every one in the world including India.

Carol Mason I am commenting solely to place this on my wall for friends in and from PK to read. I have a good friend who is a producer with Middle East TV in Washington, DC, Mike. Will message you about how to contact him.

Sabena Siddiqui All we need is a few good men....and kick all these scum out..
I have never voted in any of the elections because all the parties stink

Muhammad Abd Al-Hameed Under the Constitution, especially after the 18th amendment, President is just a figurehead. A better idea would be to ask, "What do you want to do for the country, and how?" The best practical plans should get public and government support.... For example, I would like to eradicate poverty completely and permanently. To do it, I have written a comprehensive and very practical plan in my book, "Ghurbat kaise mit sakti hai," published recently by Classic Publishers, Regal Chowk, The Mall, Lahore. The English version, "The plan for eradication of poverty in Pakistan," is available at Kindle Store of Amazon.com.

Mtt Pakistan Sorry, I didn't read the full text. but first para.

This is very good suggestion, I shall be with you if we could jointly work on this purposal. Even my website http://www.markthetruth.com/ is available for this purpose.

Mtt Pakistan ?@Haroon, presenting yourself for the post is good initiative you taken, but you have got to respond to the public in a friendly manner. Name calling, using darogatory words against religious personalities like "Mulla" will decrease your nu...mber and you will be failed by majority of the people.

You must have logic in your head, instead of long tongue in your mouth. Sincere suggestion, do not take seriously.Secondly, I now read the whole text. Though, I have reservations on the text of Mr. Mike, but let's start it. The true spirit of democracy will automatically remove objections of each of us.

Let's allow people to decide what would be the future of the country by accepting or rejecting the theologies presented by each and ever person.

Mike Ghouse ?- Muhammad Abdul Hameed
It is the ideas like this on poverty, Zindagi trust, citizens and other institutuion on education, Imran Khan on health care... gather up " a few good men" as Sabena puts it. You can gather three to four aspects of ...the society and hold a 2 hours gathering among friends or in the library or a restaurant... talk about your solutions in preciese bullet format... so people should be able to list back when they leave... gather momentum.. all great things in life have begun with an individual.... set some uncompromising ground rules - pull experts ( no need for phd) on inclusion, social cohesion and conflict mitigation and goal orientation... there are people around you who can do it.

Arif S Khairuddin ?@Haroon: Islam is the way of life,therefore, the Holy Quran and Hadiths of the Prophet should be the source of polity and jurisprudence. Basically, you should not be against religious preachers (Mullahs) who have the apt interpretation of Quran. Every sensible person should be against these half baked Mullahs that preach venom. To run a country, you have to pull along all types of people.

Sabena Siddiqui Correct...the future President has to be moderate,balanced and able to carry all these forces and four provinces....

Haroon-Pascal Mian So Arif, you don't believe in the Quaid's Pakistan? Listen to the speech he gave on religion not being the business of the State?

Mike Ghouse Great debates will be challenge the best in people, and ultimately a few good men and women will emerge who can become the core leaders.

Syed Rizvi as wonderful as democracy is, it is not a system that is meant for every nation. Pakistan, in its current form, cannot and should not be a democracy. Pakistanis do not deserve the right to vote, hold elections, or even free speech. a democr...acy requires that people to a minimal extent respect the value of human life, tolerance at all levels, and the ability for majority of the population to make their own decisions based on decent moral values, rationality, and civility. these are all traits that do no exist in pakistani society. from the rich spoiled corrupt class down to the religiously extremist poor class, you cannot find any of those things in 90% of the people there. I'm not here to endorse any candidate, but remember exactly what musharaff said when he was being forced out of office by all sides "you guys will regret getting rid of me". not to say things were great during his time, but at least he had hold on the country and could still keep the wahabis/salafis at arms length and the economy there was some what stable at the time. Now, pakistan is going to be the next somalia. Pakistan needs to be be under a dictatorship/military law for at least the next 10 years. There needs to massive arrests and target killings of mullahs, landlords, politicians, and business owners who all have had a hand in the downfall of pakistan. There needs to be a complete cutoff with relations from the arab world (accept for religious pilgrimages) because that is where this ideaology has come from. pakistanis have always had some weird infatuation with bowing down to the arabs, and the arabs have doen their best to infect Pakistan with their own wahabi/salafi ideaology that has turned pakistan into a jihadi hotspot. a good model for pakistan to follow would be one of Turkey, where the military controlled the country for decades and as things got more in control, more and more democratic reforms were made. Until then, Pakistan should be kept in a choke hold and on a tight leash from the entire world. my suggestions might seem harsh, but if anyone has traveled to pakistan in the last couple of months or have been closely following events, there is no other solutions. it is going to be ugly and it is going to be violent, but there is no other way. Pakistan needs to be gutted from the inside out.

Mike Ghouse ?- Haroon,Arif's point was wise.
Nothing will change unwillingly, when people are entrenched in attitudes, you cannot push them out, they will dig in their heels. The more conflicts you mitigate, greater your success will be. Fighting extree...mism with extremism will result in challenges to each other and nothing will move forward.

Haroon-Pascal Mian No power can hold another nation, and specially a nation of 400 million souls in subjection; nobody could have conquered you, and even if it had happened, nobody could have continued its hold on you for any length of time, but for this. The...refore, we must learn a lesson from this.

You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State. - Jinnah

Mike Ghouse ?- Haroon, the role of the new leader is to bring all Pakistanis together and build a just and cohesive socieity. People fully support the idea where every one has to sacrifice for the ultimate good.

Haroon-Pascal Mian When Germany was re-built were Nazi included?

Mike Ghouse Germans were uwillingly reprsented by the Nazis, and Nazism was all about annihilation of Jews, GLBT and other fellow nationals. Pakistan is not infected with that kind of hatred towards fellow Paksitanis.

Kamran Haider Bukhari Mike, frankly it sounds absurd to me and to many who would read it. Sorry, but this is quite idealistic for a Nation where democracy means power and corruption. The idea above is definitely wonderful, but the application of it is impossible.... Imran Khan, one of the most popular celebrity in Pakistan couldn't win more than couple of seats for his party whenever his party ran in the general elections. Do you really believe that Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, Altaf Hussain and Mullas are going to support this notion? Never... Kindly come up with something applicable... We have a lot other serious issues like hunger, poverty, disease, flood, earthquakes, addiction, terrorism and fight against terrorism... Yes, I agree bringing a new regimen from the middle class would definitely be beneficial for Pakistan... But it cannot come through a TV show... it can only come through revolution and that would come after hell of blood... Like French revolution... but that is also not an answer... currently we must address minor issues and bring awareness in the masses... when the masses would be educated and free to chose then the change would come... it would be a slow process but that would happen... first of all America must leave this country and after that masses should be educated and their basic needs should be fulfilled... then they would be able to differentiate between right and wrong...

A TV show choosing the President of Pakistan a great dream but cannot be fulfilled...

Haroon-Pascal Mian I beg to differ. Ask Ahmedies, Christians, Hindus, and secular Muslims if they agree with you. I have friends amongst the above groups. I visit Pakistan every year. And, Every year the situation gets worse. Ask the late Governor Tahseer, or B.B., if they agree.

Mike Ghouse ?- Kamran, thanks for the comment;
1. You spoke the truth, there has not been a history of things that were accepted by people without questioning.
2. The note above mentions that it is a seminal document to evovle and grow, by ciritiquing a...nd fine tuning it.
3. I urge you to share your ideas of bringing a change, without an effort nothing will change. You can contribute significantly as you see the impossibilities and from there you will create possibilities.

Pllease put together plan, however small or draft format it would be. I know you can do it, you took the time to see different windows and write.

Mike Ghouse ?-Kamran,
the idea of a TV show works, as it becomes enterrainment while being productive, it will keep the public engaged in it, it will generate ideas in every mind that watches the show. TV show makes will add value and bring national au...diences. I bet the show will score the highest ratings making it profitable to the businessess. Through this a new paradigm of political awarnes and involvement will be created.

Don't you want that to happen?

Kamran Haider Bukhari Mike sure I will do it... I love my motherland and would do anything for it to make things better... Give me some time and please leave your email address in my inbox here on facebook... You will receive a draft from me soon...

Keep up the good work...

 You are welcome to add your comments;

http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/01/who-wants-to-be-president-of-pakistan.html#comments

 Face book:  http://www.facebook.com/notes/mike-ghouse/tv-show-who-wants-to-be-pakistan-president/10150132290602774#!/notes/mike-ghouse/tv-show-who-wants-to-be-pakistan-president/10150132290602774