Pakistan: Feature

Family Rules in Pakistani Politics




In line with most of the countries in South Asia, Pakistan has a type of politics that revolves around a few powerful families. These families have been ruling the only nuclear Islamic state for the last 60 years.

Except for a few cosmopolitan cities, most of the constituencies are inherited by prominent families since August 14, 1947, the day this South Asian Islamic state obtained its independence from the British rule. In 1985, former Pakistani finance minister Dr. Mahbub-ul-Haq revealed in a detailed study that Pakistan was being ruled by merely 22 big families since 1947.



These families enjoy more influence in Punjab (the most populous province and the power base of the country's politics), Sindh (the second largest province), and Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.
However, the family-oriented politics has considerably eroded in the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), which touches the war-torn Afghanistan, with the incursion of politicians belonging to a middle-income bracket into politics, especially after 9/11. According to Dr. Mahbub-ul-Haq, these families consider their respective constituencies their states and never allow middle- or lower-middle-class politicians to emerge as a threat to their political domination.

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A detailed study revealed that Pakistan has been ruled by merely 22 big families since 1947. Most of the constituencies are inherited by them.

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Up to the 1980s, some of these families opposed opening schools and colleges in their respective constituencies, fearing the emergence of an educated class that might challenge their domination. This feudal influence is more evident in Pakistan's rural politics. These families control the hearts and minds of the local population through the huge lands they own.



Farmers and growers who work in their lands are not merely their employees but also their voters as well as their workers in the electoral campaigns. In return, the feudal families provide livelihood to these poor people in the form of wheat, rice, sugar, and other essential commodities on annual basis.
Although some of the famous feudal names were marginalized after the independence, the feudal dominance endured as these feudal individuals have been only replaced by other powerful families.

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Some of these families opposed opening schools and colleges in their constituencies fearing the emergence of an educated class that might challenge their domination.

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Ironically, all the major political and religious parties, with a couple of exceptions, are run on a family basis. After the death of the father or mother, there are no elections for the next party leader. This is true even in the religious parties. There is always a nomination. A son or a daughter is nominated as the party head after his or her father's or mother's death.
The glaring example of this trend is the nomination of Bilawal Zardari, the 19-year-old son of Pakistan's slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated on December 27, 2007, in the garrison city of Rawalpindi at a public meeting. The Bhuttos are just one of many other families that dominate the Pakistani political scene.



Bhutto Family, Sharif Family, Mian Family, Chaudhry family, Rashdi Family (Pir Sahib Pagara), Bhatti family, Syeds, Qureshi Family, Gillani Family, Awan or Malik Family, Khosa Family, Jatoi Family, Legharis.