Democracy in Pakistan

 

 For more than a decade, successive democratic governments have been ruling Pakistan. Three consecutive elections have been held in it and three different parties have made their governments at the center through these elections. Meanwhile, government of Pakistan Tareek Insaf (PTI) had to leave the office in March 2022 due to a no confidence move which was also a democratic action.

 Despite all these positive developments in the recent past, future of democracy is very bleak in the country. And, there are numerous factors which are responsible for fledgling democratic setup in Pakistan.

 Firstly, almost all major political parties of Pakistan are non-democratic in nature. There is no proper framework of fair democratic intra-party elections because top slots of these parties  are only for members of few influential families, feudal lords, tribal leaders and business tycoons. A common worker has no chance of social mobility in the setup. 

 Meanwhile,the situation is absymal from gender perspective. Women are almost 50% of the population but their role in politics is very limited . In some parties, few women are at the helm of affairs but they have to toe the line of male members in important policy decisions.

 Similarly, political culture of Pakistan is also non-democratic. For instance, no political party likes to accept defeat. If a party fails to get votes in elections, it starts questioning on credibility of the process. Dharna of PTI after 2013 general elections and allegations of rigging raised by leadership of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) in aftermath of 2018  elections are manifestations of the fact.

 In addition to this, democracy is all about dialogue, consensus and inclusivity. But, in Pakistan, different politicians and political parties are not ready to give space to others' opinions. They want to govern the country like dictators. The whim provides a way of intervention to non-political forces in running the affairs.Consequently, they come as arbitrators to end deadlock and start to exploit weaknesses. Moreover, no government has shown seriousness towards devolution of power at local level because it will squeeze monopoly of MNAs and MPAs. 

 Likewise, people of different parties have very bizarre way of judging actions of different governments. For example, metro projects in Punjab initiated and completed by government of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) were wastage of money from the perspective of supporters of PTI but the same project of  PTI government in Peshawar was a commendable act for them.

 At the same time, role of establishment in politics is only an issue for political parties when it supports their rivals. In 2018, PTI had no differences with military establishment because it was on their side. At that time, leadership of PML-N was very angry with the establishment. Today, the narratives of these two parties have been shifted at almost  180°.

 In simple words, democratic political system is still like a toddler in Pakistan and the  elite class is guiding the toddler to further its interests. Therefore, future of democracy is still very bleak.

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