11 November 2016•Update: 12 November 2016
By Mehmet Ozturk and Ahmet Sait Akcay
ANKARA
A Pakistani Islamic studies scholar praised this week’s U.S. election result, saying it shows people’s will through democracy and laid bare the “failure of the system”.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency in the Turkish capital Ankara, Anis Ahmad, vice chancellor of Riphah International University, said, “First and foremost, people’s opinions do matter. This vote was not against Hillary Clinton, it was against the system itself. Because of local problems, and lack of confidence in the system, the votes were against the system, not against any party. That’s understood very clearly”.
Ahmad attributed Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election over Clinton to a lack of confidence in the system, adding, “So Trump’s success is not an essential success of one person or the other”.
He added, “If he is able to change the system, he will become a hero [even] with all his background of foolishness”.
He continued, “Americans by nature are very introverted persons, they are more concerned about their own issues. Not about what’s happening in Palestine, Kashmir, and Turkey, so their local economic issues, local problems always get priority. ”
The US and Pakistan
On Pakistan-U.S. relations, Ahmad said, “Pakistan is a need for the U.S., there is no other way. Pakistan is placed in a strategic position where other neighboring countries can be easily looked into, and their [U.S.] problems can be solved through this."
However, he stressed, “Pakistan’s importance cannot be reduced by any administration. They [U.S.] always fear China, as they fear former Soviet [republics]”.
“Unless the U.S. has good relations with Pakistan, they cannot successfully implement their policy in their region. Pakistani relations with the U.S. have to remain good if Americans want to protect their interests,” he argued.
Decrying lobbyists’ role in U.S. policy, he added, "Unfortunately Pakistan has not been a very active lobbyist in the U.S., as in the U.S. policy lobbies play a crucial role,” referring to the Indian lobby.
Pakistani issues
On Pakistan’s domestic problems, Ahmad said, “As a Pakistani, I believe that Pakistan should always think of self-reliance, that’s the best policy instead of depending on any kind of help from outside. The country must develop their own resources. Human and natural
resources together can provide very strong foreign, economic, and education policies of self-reliance. We should not think towards others, but towards ourselves as rising power in the region”.
