Evolution of Democracy in Pakistan

Introduction

The term democracy is originated from two Greek words - Demos and Kratos-. Demos means People and Kratos means Rule. Therefore democracy is the “Rule of People”. It is a primitive concept of consensus, when people would gather in a group and select one of the representatives of the clan to voice whole group or society.

Aryan-Panchiat system also manifested this mechanism. Democracy was also exercised through citizen’s assemblies in Greek City States. Interestingly Greek Philosopher disdained democracy as Aristotle said, "this is a Mobocracy -rule of the crowd- instead of democracy".

Abraham Lincoln anticipated democracy as the government of the People, by the People and for the People. In other words democracy is the people centered government that is responsive and could be held accountable.

Legacy of Polarized Democracy in Pakistan

British introduced Colonialism in India via direct and indirect rule. It was made possible with the help of Political Parties, Trade Unions and Legal Courts under the garb of Western democratic institutions. The Colonial legacy lingered on even after the inception of Pakistan.

 Two school of thoughts were witnessed. One was extreme right wing -the religious conservatives and other was left wing of Secularism. The religious wing was spearheaded by clergy migrated from UP, East Punjab and Bihar. There was tug of war between the two groups to implement their model in the nascent state.

Pakistan saw the oscillation between Civil and Military rule after it's independence. The elite was citing threats from India and the existence of Pakistan was on stake. Therefore the resources were diverted to Military for defense. The very threat also led Pakistan to join the US-led bloc during the cold war (1947-1991).There were high hopes that America would protect the territorial integrity. She did support financially ,aiding millions to Military which helped military to be dominant over civilians. The civilians on other hand had to depend on army to address their problems.

1947-1958:Weak Democratic Start

Jinnah stepped in as a Governor General of the first constituent assembly in August 1947 and Liaqat Ali Khan as first Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense. On March 12,1949 the assembly passed a resolution called "The Objective Resolution" which is considered to be the "Magna Carta" of constitutional history of Pakistan.

Quaid e Azam's demise  in 1948 and murder of Liaqat Ali Khan in 1951 created vacuum in leadership as there was no second row leadership in the country after the two legends. He had false coins in his pocket-father of nation asserted ,the saying is testimony to lack of leadership then.

For the first time Military was called in to protect civil strife in 1953 amid sectarian riots against Ahmadies. This was the first sectarian rift in the country. Martial Law was imposed in Lahore to control the situation. Later Governor General Ghulam Ahmed declared a state of emergency in 1954 and dismissed the government of Khwaja Nizam ud din, provincial and constituent  assemblies were dissolved.

After nine years of efforts Pakistan remained successful to frame it's first constitution in 1956.The constitution was given by Chaudary Mohammad Ali that was later abrogated in 1958 by General Sikandar Mirza when PML President ,Qayyum Khan threatened direct action and Khan of Kalat declared his succession from Pakistan.

To control the situation General sikandar Mirza imposed Martial Law ,dismissed Central and Provincial Assemblies ,banned all political parties ,postponed general elections and appointed General Ayub Khan as Chief Marshal Administrator. General Ayub Khan removed Iskander Mirza on October 1958 and became president. Thus began the era of military-dominated governance.

1958-1971:Era of Praetorianism

Pakistan's first trail of democracy ended on 7th October 1958,with the abrogation of constitution and declaration of Martial Law by the then President Iskandar Mirza. His rule did not last long because army chief Ayub Khan exiled him and took throne as Pakistan's President. General Ayub Khan ruled for more than 10 years.

Pakistan saw surge in economic growth in his era. He installed Presidential form of democracy akin to US Presidential system. His 1962 constitution proposed an electoral college of 80,000 people who would elect the President.

His economic policies brought about growth and industrial development. However he controlled media through Marshallah ordinance. The famous "Massi Mahra" program on Lahore radio would be broadcasted to ridicule women's participation in election. He controlled society through civil servants.

Bengalis were frustrated under his rule because they were suppressed and left isolated after war of 1965. Moreover they were underrepresented in National Conference 1966-where they were only 21 out of 700.Hence regional and social inequalities created social unrest in the country that forced Ayub to resign in 1969.Instead of holding elections, Ayub passed on the power to then Army Chief,Yahya Khan.

Yahya Khan was the first leader to hold elections in 1970 on the basis of 'one person, one vote'. He introduced pragmatic reforms in education by nationalizing all the private institutions. He was contemptuous towards Bengalies and reluctant to share power with East Pakistan which results in separation of East Pakistan in 1971.Undeinably India also played a role ,but the reasons of division were mainly the result of West Pakistan's ignorance of East Pakistanis in Political and military setup.

1971-1977: Era of Populism

After the separation of East Pakistan ,military found itself humiliated and devoid of pride and public support. This created a vacuum to be filled by civilian politician i.e Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and his political party Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP). Bhutto came up with socialistic Approach in the country through democratic way with manifesto of Roti, Kapra, Makan. Hence, Civilian Authoritative rule and Civilian Marshal Law surfaced in politics.

During his era third constitution of 1973 was introduced. Anti-Ahmedi campaigns reached to apex. Bhutto nationalized most of the industries in the country ,his failure to implement land reforms and his action against prominent trade unions contradicted his beliefs. Economic crisis erupted in Pakistan due to 1973-74 floods and OPEC oil crisis, that triggered a global recession contributed to his declining popularity. As opposition to Bhutto mounted ,General Zia ul Haq led Operation Fair play on 5th of July ,1977,and ended Bhutto's rule.

1977-1988:Man on Horse-back Zia's Era

Zia abrogated the 1973 constitution and added 8th Amendment that weakened Pakistan's democracy for the next twenty years. His rule was augmentation of Islam and authoritarianism. He came into power to infuse Islamic doctrines into society. Pakistan for the first time had morphed into proxy state by joining Afghan war against Soviets in 1979 which led to extremism and radicalism throughout the country. He died in a plane crash on 17th August ,1988 and his death opened a window for democracy.

1988-1999:Rule of Troika

The last decade of 20th century witnessed ping pong between rule of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto.PPP rose to power after winning elections of 1988 and Benazir sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan. But unfortunately Zia's legacy continued to hamper democracy. Benazir came in direct confrontation with President and the army. The infamous eighth amendment led to President Ghulam Ishaq Khan's dismissal of Benazir's government in 1990.

The 1990 elections brought Nawaz Sharif's Islami Jamhori Ittehad (IJI) to power. His era also saw conflict with the military and the President. His tenure was short-lived. The military forced him and the Ghulam Ishaq Khan to resign in 1993.The elections were held in 1993 when Benazir saw victory and in 1996 Nawaz came to power.

Nawaz Sharif in 1996 passed 13th amendment that limited President's powers and finally gave much space to civilian rule. Nawaz ,however triggered inter-institutional rift when his supporters led to raid on Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1997 and later he tried to remove army Chief General Pervez Musharraf. The latter action compelled Military to react aggressively.

1999-2008:Bona-partism revisited

Bonapartism revisited when General Pervez Musharraf intruded into civil democratic structure to protect the country from internal and external threats posed to national security of Pakistan. He passed 17th amendment that reversed a lot of democratic gains Pakistan achieved in the 13th amendment.

 Though telecom and IT industry ,Security and Planning Division, Nuclear security program saw apex during his tenure but it was unfortunate for Pakistan to join War on Terror after  9/11 incident in exchange for Foreign debt rescheduling and aid.

2008-2013:The Governance of PPP

Pakistan Peoples' party emerged as the single largest party in the election of 2008 with Yousaf Raza Gillani as Prime Minister heading a coalition government. Pervez Musharraf stepped down as President in August,after a few uneasy months with Gilani's government.

Asif Ali Zardari won the election for President in September 2008.After coming into power Zardari couldnot manage the economy and GDP from 6%-8% declined  to 4% which resulted unemployment throughout his rule. The foreign debt ballooned from 45 billion USD to 65 billion USD in 2012.PPP failed to live up to the expectations of nation.

One major achievement of PPP regime is passage of 18th amendment curtailing the powers of President including his power to dissolve the National Assembly. The amendment also devolved powers from Center to the provinces, thus granting provincial autonomy.

2013-2018:General Elections and PMLN Government

PMLN won general election 2013 with heavy mandate and formed a government in the center.Pakistan Tehreek e insaf (PTI) emerged as the major political party in the political arena.PTI alleged PMLN of rigging the elections. It demanded judicial inquiry to probe the case.PMLN refused to accede to its demands.PTI staged a sit-in at D-chowk Islamabad which started on 14th August ,2014 to protest the rigging and demanded resignation of the prime minister. This piled up huge pressure on government, however it survived with support of PPP.

Civil-Military relations remained smooth because of the professionalism of the then General Raheel Sharif and now General Bajwa. Operation Zarb e Azb and Radd ul Fassad were successfully carried out against internal and external elements of the state during this span.

The biggest and unprecedented money laundering scandals unearthed, the panama leaks. Three of the children of Nawaz Sharif ,Hasan,Hussain,Maryam have been mentioned for having ownership of offshore companies which ended up ouster of Nawaz Sharif. It was done under the paramountancy of Supreme Court of Pakistan.

2018-Till Date:The New Pakistan of Imran Khan :The Demagogue

Imran Khan after winning election 2018 made government with allies and sworn in as Prime Minister. He gave details of his "hundred-day plan" and PTI's manifesto in which he highlighted the ways to reform the economy. He urged to seek support from overseas Pakistanis in the form of FDI and remittances. He pledged to uplift human development ,eradicate corruption ,strengthening the Federation and protecting the environment.

He voiced Kashmir issue and lambasted Indian aggression the way no one ever could after Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in UN general assembly's annual session. In Feb 27,2019 India intruded Pakistan's air space. Pakistan thwarted and hit two Indian planes and captured one of the Pilots Abhi Nandan but later Imran Khan freed him as a good will and a friendly gesture. Imran Khan from the day first strived to keep friendly relations with India and other neighboring countries.

During the pandemic corona, that started spreading from Wuhan, China in December 2020,the performance of PTI gradually deteriorated. The GDP plummet to -0.4% due to crippled planning of PTI's government. No progress has been made on FATF recommendations which is yet another peril for Pakistan to be pushed to blacklist. No satisfactory investment in Health sector as Doctors are dying and hospitals are jam packed. None of the promises of PM Imran Khan is fullfilled and Khan proved himself no less than a demagogue. A Global terrorist Osama Bin Ladin was called "martyr" by PM which is criticized worldwide. Petrol price hiked because Imran Khan surrendered before Mafia.

The democracy is still intact and the democratic institutions are functional besides strong opposition.