Causes of Failed Democracy in Pakistan
OUTLINES:
INTRODUCTION
CAUSES OF FAILED DEMOCRACY
MILITARY INTERVENTION
FEUDALISM
FALTERING JUDICIARY
CORRUPTION
POLITICAL DISHARMONY
RECEMMENDATIONS FOR STRENTHENING DEMOCRACY
GOOD GOVERNANCE
INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY
GOOD LEADERSHIP
ABOLISHMENT OF FEUDALISM
FREE MEDIA
CONCLUSION
ESSAY
Democracy is believed to be the best form of the government in the contemporary politics. unfortunately democracy has remained as mantra in Pakistan since its very creation as an independent state. Sordid past of political culture in Pakistan suggests quick reforms in our political system, that should be in favor of true Democracy . Such Political reforms can be initiated through, Absolute rule of law , Good governance, strong institutions coupled with competent leadership, that can bring the real essence of Democracy . However unjustified military participation in political affairs , feudal lords cum politicians and political disharmony among the parties can pose serious threat to the establishment of genuine Democracy.
Democracy encountered inevitable resistance of military , that undermined the Democratic masses and breached the rule of law, not once but repeated it periodically. Newly born state faced numerous problems related to management , Government infrastructure, refugees , lack of resources , making of constitution, inexperienced civil servants and hostile attitude of India. These problems paved the path for military involvement in national affairs. First evident attempt of military intervention was witnessed in 1958 marshal law imposed by Field marshal Ayub khan. Newly made constitution was abolished by military master with no justification. All the stalwarts of democracy and its true supporters were suppressed , jailed and persecuted under military command. This perennial regime of Ayub khan lasted after 11 years of his despotic rule in 1969.But the end of Ayub khan’s regime did not allow democratic masses to hold the reigns of Government , end of first military rule was immediately followed by another dictatorship imposed by General Yayha khan in 1969 , that ended with dismemberment of Pakistan in 1971. Dismemberment of Pakistan carved out a new independent state of Bangladesh , and shattered the very foundation of the country. After this tragic incident of history of Pakistan, no lesson was learnt by the military leaders and another marshal law was gifted to poor nation of Pakistan in 1977. This time same game of military rules was resumed by new chief of army staff General Zia-ul- Haq after few years of civil leadership of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Unflinching personality of Zulifiqar Bhutto stood against military take over ,but this bold leader could not fight any longer and was sentenced to death under fake and fabricated allegations . General Zia continued his tyrannical executions till 1988 and died in tragic military aircraft crash. After the persistent control of Army , a new era of hope and optimism reemerged , and abettors of Democracy were accorded with power saddle. But , because of differences in the manifestos of political parties , none of the civil Government could last longer . Consistent dismissal of one Government after other fettered the emergence of true and liberal Democracy. Once again malfunctioning of politicians merely because of their vested interests , opened the gates of political arena for Army to maim the Democracy with their undemocratic agendas. Recent military coup by General Pervaiz Musharaf in 1999 opened a new chapter in political history of Pakistan, that ousted the chairmen of PML-N and former Premier Nawaz Sharif. General Musharaf accorded himself the unprecedented honor of holiding two authorities at a time , one of Chief of Army staff and other the Chief Executive of Pakistan .One of most illegitimate steps taken by General Musharaf was the deposing of Chief Justice of supreme court of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudary in November 2007, and declaring Emergency under PCO . well after having such hectic history of democratic process ,military interruption can be dubbed as major hurdle that has erected invisible barriers for the most proven form of government.
Very next cause of failure of democracy in Pakistan is the feudalism, the old legacy of British rule inherited by Pakistan. Unfortunately in Pakistan ,politics and feudal lords have very old relations , we would find that almost dozens of politicians in all parties of Pakistan belong to this class .If we peep into the pages of past we will come to know about the treacherous role played by feudal lords in harming the Democracy, till 1946 Muslim League could not get mandate in the provinces of Sindh , Punjab, and Baloachistan( ruled by influential land lords) at that time, but when the independence of Pakistan was heralded and its creation came closer in 1947 these feudal lords joined hands with Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and merged themselves in Muslim League .For the security of their command and culture feudal lords like Mumtaz Dualtana and Nawab Mamdot from Punjab supported Muslim League led by Founder of Nation. Since its inception almost 60 percent of territory of Pakistan was under massive control of such influential land lords . Securing permanent role in establishment bureaucrats prefer to compromise with feudal cum politicians of the country, and offered hands of friendship to them for their mutual interests. This is the reason that top positions in Administration of Pakistan are occupied by the members of these families .Such secret cooperation among feudal lords and Bureaucrats ,did not pay much attention to evolve Democracy in smooth way . On one hand they claim to be the harbingers of Democracy , on other hand they hoodwink the Nation in the garb of power . Today we will hardly see people from middle class and lower class in politics , because of sheer force and influence of these politicians, such class could not get free hand to participate in politics that is absolutely against the Democracy. Noam Chomsky has rightly said about derailing of Democracy that “ if you want to restrict Democracy transfer power of decision making from public arena to unaccountable institutions ,kings and princes, priestly castes ,military juntas , and feudal Lords”.
Another matter remains to be one of the major cause of failed democracy is the weak Judicial system of Pakistan . How most easily judges in Pakistan can be disposed, replaced or fired in our country. Through out the history of Pakistan there are numerous instances when the sanctuary of Judiciary system in Pakistan have been demolished. Some of the most famous in Pakistan history are Justice Ikhlaq Ahmed was dismissed from his post because of his left wing views during General Ayub Khan tenure, Famous feud between Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Mian Nawaz Sharif which was one of the worst thing that could have happened for our judicial system. Among other things in this feud, famous Article 58(2)(b) , Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan was restored and suspended within minutes by two separate benches of the apex court assembled against each other. It ended in the resignation of Justice Sajjad Ali Shah. In May 12, 2000, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered Pervez Musharraf to hold general elections by October 12, 2002, which was in essence approving what the government wanted i.e legitimize Musharraf presidency .Musharraf also removed many of the Supreme Court Justices who had voted against his usurpation of power. On Friday March 9th, 2007 President General Pervez Musharraf virtually suspended the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, and appointed the available senior-most judge, Justice Javed Iqbal, as the acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Justice Iftikhar Chaudary was an active judge. Peers and adversaries both agreed that he did a lot to reestablish the independence of Judiciary in Pakistan which on the one hand had made him popular in the eyes of ordinary people seeking justice but on the other hand also irked a few in the establishment. Some of his decisions had started to appear like an open challenge to the government, like His decision against the privatization of Pakistan Steel Mill, Abduction of civil people in Pakistan by Secret Services, He gave decisions against Army occupation of private lands and in some cases reprimanded the Army for doing these kind of acts. Such menacing measures towards judiciary had deep impact on Democracy because it is only organ of Government that can relieve the downtrodden and distressed people of Pakistan who have been waiting for justice .Contrary to our Judicial system in the Democratic countries like England, and U.S.A have very strong judiciary. Unlike Pakistan In U.S.A Judges are not deposed and fired easily, they can work as long as they wish as judges of Apex and minor courts .There is absolute Rule of Law in these countries with independent Judiciary.
Another cause of failed Democracy is the massive corruption that has remained as monopolizing tool in Political realm of Pakistan. Corruption remains a substantial obstacle for Pakistan ,where it is still perceived to be widespread and systematic .Petty corruption in the form of bribery is prevalent in law enforcement, procurement and provision of public services. Various efforts over past years have tried to develop institutional mechanism to address these problems .A National anti corruption strategy, which was developed in 2002, offers a comprehensive plan for tackling corruption. The executive agency , the National Accountability Bureau(NAB) is endowed with powers to investigate and prosecute cases. However ,a lack of political will, coupled with corrupt elements gave free hand to corruption. First government of PPP IN 1988 was sacked because of charges of corruption , similarly elections held in 1997 were accused of such charges , and the recent compromise on corruption in the form of NRO, has raised many questions in the minds of nation against the credibility of political elite. About eight thousands of people were exempted in the garb of NRO. However cases of all beneficiaries of NRO have been reopened in the Apex court ,this is the time when our judiciary has to prove its adjudication powers and its independence through prosecution of all those who hindered the very role of judiciary.

Political disharmony and differences among the big political parties is not a good omen for Democracy in Pakistan. Parties like PPP ,PML-N.PML-Q AND MQM are always found at loggerheads to each other merely because of their specified objectives and agendas .Well healthy criticism against ruling party is of great importance ,but if it is meant to destabilize current government, the result be political turmoil .Perhaps our parties have not learnt from Political parties of U.S.A and England , the way they go Democratically and committed to strengthen Democracy . Parties have to burry their differences in the interest of Democracy.

Despite of these bitter realities of our past we can still hope for strengthened Democracy through Good governance . Our country have been ruled by many dictators and democrats but non of them realized the importance of Good governance , they kept on implementing their own agendas through nationalization or privatization at different times , but what happened result is still as bleak as it was in the past. Good governance is associated with transparency, meritocracy, and mutual cooperation among the public sectors and private firms , no matter whether we have privatized the institutions or nationalized them . Good governance in fact is key to strengthen our political system that can encourage Democracy . There is dire need of Good governance in Pakistan if we have to flourish Democracy , we must realize our mistakes and rethink our policies to pursue Good governance .
Secondly , our country needs an independent judiciary that can really protect the sanctity of institutions and foster Democracy in a genuine way. If someone wants to measure the level of freedom in any country then the first thing and foremost thing is to determine true independence of judges. Judicial independence demands that power of judging should not be amenable to any kind of pressure, from the executive branch of the state or from the executive heads of judiciary. In order to realize this goal Pakistan needs to review and amend not just the service terms of judges and procedures put in place to appoint judges , but also the substance of the constitutional provisions that regulate the courts.
Thirdly , our politics is deprived of good leadership . Today we have several parties with lots of enthusiastic slogans and mobilizing manifestos , but non of these parties have seasoned leadership. Every party leader try to hoodwink and deceive public just to get permit in political arena, this is because they have preferred their vested interests over national interests. We need the leaders like Quaide-e-Azam , Liquat Ali Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who integrated the masses of Pakistan and led them to right direction of political system . It was all because of untiring efforts of our leaders who carved out a separate homeland for us , without their sincere efforts we would not have achieved this country, though Muslims revolted against British empire in 1857 but they got freedom in 1947. It was all because of Good leadership of Quaid-e-Azam who guided whole nation . Democracy can be bolstered by competent leadership who realizes and understands the real cause of failed Democracy in Pakistan , otherwise it is very difficult to desire for liberal democracy.
Democracy has been the victim of feudal lords since very beginning of Pakistan . Though our past Governments took some good decision to curtail the power and influence of these feudal cum politicians by introducing Land reforms in 1960’s and 1970’s. But these land reforms could not harm the ever growing influence of feudalism , well we are not against the participation of these feudal lords in politics but we are against their personal interests that they try to achieve in the garb of Politics. Feudal lords have always exploited the Democracy through their economical powers covered by political mandate . In Pakistan feudal culture can be abolished by two ways , in the first place it is possible only through revolution (civil).This is presently having least probability in Pakistan. Second possibility can be that if some how miraculously or by sheer chance of luck some one emerge from the ruling feudal class of Pakistan who dare to strike the feudalism like the great Chou win Lie (himself the biggest feudal of china)or Indian Pundit Nehru , a landed aristocrat, did in their respective countries by abolishing feudalism with one stroke as soon as they took reigns of Government.
Lastly , free media can play vital role in strengthening the democracy . In the most developed countries of the world Media is considered as fourth realm of the Government. One the recent success of Media is of great worth to mention that is the restoration of Chief Justice of Pakistan . Media has played very positive role in making people familiar with the political norms , but there are few anti-government channels that try to highlight the pessimistic side of the country , such programs should not be broadcasted as they deteriorates the image of country .
Democracy may not be the perfect form of the government, however in existing systems it is considered to be best form of the Government. Democracy is not failed system in Pakistan, it is failed because we have not chosen it as the form of Government. Periodic participation of military, corruption , weak judiciary , feudalism and political instability never allowed Democracy to grant the people their due privileges and freedom . Democracy has been derailed because of our negligence and political unawareness, it can only be uplifted through public participation rather than by any dictator. Aristotle has rightly said about public participation “if liberty and equality as is thought by some are chiefly found in Democracy, they will be best attained when all the persons alike share in the government to the utmost”. Now it is the need of an hour to revamp our political system through Good governance ,and independent judiciary . Our leaders must replicate the character of Quaid-e-Azam and other great leaders of History, so that they may render their duties in national interests. No doubt Future of prosper and progressive Pakistan lies in the Democracy therefore it must be given a chance to flourish , because Democracy is the government of the people ,by the people , for the people.

Hi,
I ve gone through ur essay and i found it a very mature attempt.your essay is very composed,systematic and rhythemic.You covered almost all the aspects of the topic.However,i would add to it as there is always room for improvement.
One basic cause of failure of democracy in Pakistan is the lack of education and awareness among its masses.This aspect should be highlighted.

Secondly,u ve very rightly talked about feudalism and its adverse effects on the growth of democracy in Pakistan.Here,u may refer to India where their leadership came up with the much needed land reforms and it eventuallly led to the abolition of feudalism in the country.However,in Pak.land reforms always remained an unfulfilled dream and no leader could deliver in this regard.Land reforms announced by Ayub and Bhutto were not meant to abolish feudal culture and the mechanism of their land reforms only helped the continuation of the status quo.

One other main reason is the lack of pol. parties in Pak.yes,the lack of political parties.Infact,we never had got pol.parties in the country.Here,i find no issue in critisizing the Muslim League(original) that had never enjoyed a democratic culture in its very roots.Even today,one can hardly find a pol. party with true democratic values.Personalization and family politics characterize the nature of our pol.parties.
Any how,i found your essay brilliant and keep it up.best of luck
with regards
ASAD

respected senior bro dear asad , u r few words have uplifted my confidence in essay inshallah i shall be trying my best to improve my essyas. well no doubt ur additional remarks are really worth to mention . dear bro lots of thnx for ur precious time