'Meritocracy'; A better alternate to democracy
Wg Cdr (rtd) Fardad Ali Shah

'Democracy' as originally conceived, was a noble idea of establishing a government 'of the people', 'by the people' and 'for the people'. Over the years this concept has been badly mutilated and as it stands today, democracy miserably fails in qualifying as the system delivering its primary objective. Even the most (relatively) progressive countries practicing democracy like the US, Britain etc could do much better with Meritocracy instead of democracy as their system.

In Pakistan the slogan of democracy has proved a total farce. This sham system as it exists today has paved the way for degeneration of institutions, rampancy of corruption, exploitation of the poor people, invitation to unholy military interventions, and promotion of disillusionment and despondency.

The fault lies in the system, because, in it, only the resourceful and the well connected are able to clinch public offices regardless of possession of requisite capabilities. Can the brightest individual having full flair for public representation but lacking financial 'resources ever think of becoming the president of the country or an MNA or for that matter even a local councilor? It is beyond the imagination of middle class people no matter how capable they may be, to even dream of contesting elections against juggernauts supported by huge coffers and mafias which are a product of the present democratic system. For the professional politicians of today's democracy, love for the people starts a month before elections and ends with the polling day.

So what is the answer ? The answer is simple.. It is the adoption of a new system called 'Meritocracy'.

In this system there are no elections. Public representatives from the President down to the local councilor are selected through competitive exams specially formulated for each position. In this way equal opportunity is provided to all, regardless of his/her financial position or association with a political party.

'Meritocracy' is simple, practicable and fair. In the proposed system of meritocracy elaborate examinations are held for each position which should encompass all requirements for the job ,to the extent of including personality tests, psychological tests scrutinising the traits of loyalty, honesty etc to select the best person amongst the applicants.

Advantages of Meritocracy;

1. It would revolutionize how we view things. The rule of merit would trickle down to the lowest level and bring about revolutionary development in all institutions.

2. As education and capability would be the sole criteria to clinch the highest office in the country, all including the poorest would pay full attention to the education and grooming of their children as the incentive is so high. Naturally, the general standard of Education in the country would improve by default.

3. A person thus selected on Merit would also want others working under him to be selected on merit too, thus the improvement can be well imagined.

4. Because the person has been selected on merit and does not owe his position to any political dispensation, he will not succumb to pressures to breach merit or do unsuitable things.

5. The person so selected as public representative can work diligently and whole heartedly for the collective development of his area without being influenced or pressurized by 'party workers' or supporters who had voted for him to victory, as is a very big nuisance in today's democratic system.

6. After expiry of the term of office, the incumbent can again appear for the competitive exam along with new contenders, and try again which means the person will have to be on his toes where merit is concerned and will have to face ever present challenge from emerging competition, or else be replaced by an even more capable person.

7. A person selected through Meritocracy, whether for the office of President of Pakistan or a local councilor in a village, would enjoy the confidence of the people purely because he has earned that position on merit and not because of any unfair advantage like belonging to a political family, having lots of money or having sponsorship of mafias, groups etc.

Pakistan has been experimenting 'Democracy' and 'Militarocracy' alternately for the last six decades. Have we reached any where? Do we hope to reach any where with this system? The answer is obviously "No". Same pawns -only sometimes black and some times white are in play all the time. We need to change the game now.

A Paradigm shift required
Editorial, 12 June 09.

A paradigm shift in the methodology of choosing our rulers and administrators is required to meet the challenge of an ever deteriorating standard of governance and administration in our country. Democracy and Militarocracy have both been alternately tested in Pakistan since its creation, but none has borne satisfactory results. A completely new and revolutionary concept of adopting the system of 'Meritocracy' i.e selecting people for all public office posts eg president, Governors, Ministers, MNAs MPAs etc on the basis of merit, -posts which are presently filled through elections, is the need of the hour.

According to the proposed system, politics should be put aside and appointments of President, (no PM, CMs required), Governors, Ministers, MNAs MPAs etc should be carried out on merit. Efficient and foolproof tests can be conducted for this purpose, easily, with the help of computers, to select most competent people for the respective jobs.

According to this revolutionary proposal, advertisements should be floated for the posts of president, governors, ministers, MNAs MPAs etc at their scheduled time and any Pakistani who meets the basic laid down criteria in the constitution should be eligible to apply.

Tests, formulated by world experts and supervised by the UN, should be conducted on computers with foolproof provisions. The tests should be exhaustive and include every aspect of requirement for the job. It should also include psychological tests to check the elements of human values ie honesty, integrity, dedication etc of the individual, besides his knowledge and other requisite personality profile, capabilities etc.alt

The results of these tests will bring out the cream of the nation and give us the most suitable persons for the job. Why has bureaucracy in our country always had an upper hand over politicians, is because the former is a product of a process of selection on merit. Why should public office holders (politicians) not be selected according to similar criteria of merit?

Politicians making the government in the present system do not have to be capable. What we have experienced thus far is that they are either incapable or/and are too much entangled in the trivial (mostly personal) demands of their 'supporters' and henchmen, thus being unable to take collective, bold, independent and healthy decisions in the interest of the country or even their respective constituency. This is the root cause of our problems and has never been paid attention to.

Capable people selected on merit after thorough grilling through elaborate tests, would in turn themselves promote meritocracy at all levels and the result would be a revolution in the way we think and manage our affairs, ushering in stability and progress at an unimaginable pace.