The Prime Pen

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The issues & challenges of democracy in Pakistan

When political forces are standing on their extremes and are not willing to cooperate with each other by giving up their personal and vested interest for the greater national interest of the country, resulting in polarized politics or political polarization. It's obvious from the last two years, since the previous government was displaced and an interim-government came into existence. There existed numerous factors that accounted for political polarization which gave birth to further problems. Political changes are nothing new throughout the history of Pakistan since 1947. From the dawn of independence till today, civil military relations had played a crucial role in establishing the political arena in the country. Civil Governments are often overthrown by Military Dictators creating an environment that suppresses the democratic process. Cunningly misusing gaps in legislation, Dictators like Field Marshal Ayub Khan, General Yahya Khan, General Zia ul Haq and General Pervaiz Musharaf  ruled the country for a combined period of thirty four years approximately; persecuting and abducting prominent political opponents including Fatimah Jinnah, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto. As these Dictators are not socially trained politicians, they do not have any political or diplomatic solution for a political deadlock, imposing an imminent threat to democracy and further complicating the issue . Due to these military government policies Pakistan lost its eastern wing in 1971 after a fierce civil war that continued for nine months . This was a dark chapter in the political history of Pakistan. Considering these historical facts it can't be denied that the influence of the military in state affairs poses a serious threat towards progressive and stable politics in the country. Recently in the past fifteen years Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Muslim League N and Pakistan Tehreek Insaf have emerged as the top dominating parties in the country.  Interestingly all of these political parties had close ties with military leadership at the beginning of their respective governments and with the passage of time contradictions with the military-leadership (often termed as establishment) resulted in either martial-law, dismissal or an influenced vote of no confidence against the elected Prime Minister and his cabinet. Similarly there are also many instances where national interests are sacrificed under the shadow of provincialism such as the issue of Kalabagh Dam. It started when former Prime Minister ZA Bhutto was assassinated. Despite many political roadblocks, attempts were made by various governments at various times to resume the project but due lack of communication and professional politics between Federal and Provincial Governments, the project was canceled. The greater benefit of Kalabagh Dam was that it could solve electricity shortage while simultaneously solving the water shortage and disastrous flooding. Furthermore there is also a great political gap between the religious and secular political wing. For example, political bodies like Jumat-e-Islami (JI) and Jamiat-e-Ulemma-e-Islam (JUI-F) seek to implement Islamic Shariah governance in the country. This divide results in lack of effective legislation and adds fuel to the fire to the deteriorating economy and there is no option other than to run the country by taking loans from international financial institutions and imposing heavy taxes on the common man. There also exist regional political forces in Pakistan that seek further autonomy or even independence. If we closely observe these forces, they are economically exploited, which forces them to unite for their independence. These movements often turn violent and the state recognizes them as terrorist  groups posing threat to national integrity. Independence movements like Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) are living examples of extreme political polarity. Furthermore there are also contradictions between the judiciary and the legislative as the legislative accuses the judiciary of judicial activism in high profile cases like “ZA Bhutto vs State” often termed as “Judicial Murder” of ZA Bhutto to the most recent case of the Deputy Speakers ruling of 9th April 2023 in which Supreme Court intervened in parliamentary conflict between the government and the opposition. Political parties often seem at odds with each other over foreign policy where the PPP and PMLN seem to be Pro-American and on the other hand PTI seeks to play an independent stance on the subject. However this polarization between political spectrums further extends towards media outlets as different media outlets project the same news with a different stance and thus  the public sentiment varies depending upon the source of the relevant information. All of the above highlighted issues and challenges serve as an obstacle in the democratic process. Contentions between Civil and Military leadership, religious and secular wings, federal and provincial governments, regional and ethnic divisions, Judiciary and executive bodies, polarized media and political forces, all these factors result in economic downfall where loot and plunder, murder, killing, robberies, rape and day by day deterioting law and order situation becomes normal. The solution to these problems lies in supremacy of law where every individual is protected by law regardless of any cultural, racial or regional distinction. This can be only achieved when the institutions function under their respective domains, furthermore accountability of these institutions will enhance the political direction of the country. Ensuring a political dialogue to overcome the distance between the political leaders representing various political parties can ensure a cooperative environment that is suitable for a progressive legislation for economic and social growth of the country. Similarly, reforms in civil and military institutions can further enhance the political spectrum focusing that decision making power lies on the civilian institutions and on the other hand military institutions are more focused on defense and security subject matters. Strengthening the democratic process by stabilization and transparency of the institutions like Election commission of Pakistan can further increase people's confidence in the democracy. Furthermore the structure of representation must be updated ensuring a proportionate representation from all over Pakistan in law making bodies like the National Assembly and Senate. Adapting economic friendly policies like reducing the expenses of the government as majority of the tax collected is spent on the unnecessary protocols and furthermore ensuring the equal distribution of resources among the provinces. Dialogues between religious and secular parties to find out and cooperate on common interests decreasing the misconceptions and deadlocks within them. Provincial autonomy and development of undeveloped regions can play a significant role in improving the law and order situation of those regions so that international forces do not take advantage of local movements in order to dismember Pakistan once again. Regulating media in order to promote authentic and responsible journalism to counter politically polarized narratives can also play a vital role in developing public sentiment and encouraging authorities to focus on solving the spreading social issues. Similarly educating people by spreading awareness of the political consensus and tolerance of all the political parties to solve the majority of social and political problems by collectively cooperating with each other in order to support the greater interest of the country. The more educated the people, the more politically aware society will be actively involved in shaping the future of the country. If all of the above mentioned objectives are achieved there will be a politically active parliament which will focus on solving the social, financial and legislative issues of the country by actively engaging in the lawmaking process instead of walking out from the session in protest. Pakistan can have a stable political environment with a unified approach towards foreign policy, economy and civil governance by implementing the above mentioned solutions for a vast political landscape.

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