Analysing the ongoing clash of the country’s institutions, speakers at a seminar on Monday said the way the contradictions between the formal constitutional structure and the actual practice of democracy in Pakistan are resolved would shape the future of democracy in Pakistan. Third World Solidarity Chairman Mushtaq Lashari, minority rights activist Julius Salik, ANP Islamabad Wing President Malik Riaz Bangash and ANP activist Tahira Begum expressed their views at a seminar ‘The Future of Democracy in Pakistan’ organised by the Third World Solidarity at the National Press Club.
Lashari said: “The three features of Pakistan’s governance underlie the current institutional instability and political chaos. First the civil-military rivalry in the process of governance, second the government-judiciary stand-off in defining the constitutional limits of judicial authority and executive power and third the imperative of political parties to stand united against any imminent military intervention.”
He added that within the constitution’s formal structure the military is subordinate to the elected civilian authority.
However, the real power structure is one in which the military has historically dominated governance during most periods of civilian rule. Elected governments were removed from power by the military, either through a military coup or indirectly through manipulation politics and media. “Pakistan is a democracy of two hundred million people. But the common Pakistani has no say in the country’s governance. The true spirit of democracy cannot be observed in Pakistan and democratic norms have not been allowed to thrive in the country,” he stated.
Salik urged Lashari to contest the forthcoming elections to materialise his vision about a democratic Pakistan. He said that the military had massacred democracy and called upon the three pillars of the state to not exceed their respective limits, adding that an uninterrupted democratic process was a prerequisite to bringing the country out of the crises faced by it.
Bangash said: “We believe in the supremacy of law. The repeated military intervention did not allow democracy and political culture to flourish in Pakistan.” He condemned the military’s extra constitutional steps, saying they eroded institutional stability. He said the Awami National Party was democracy’s biggest supporter.
Tahir Begum said the aspiration for freedom, human dignity, fraternity and equality is deeply rooted in Pakistani people and that the country’s depended on providing its people health care, education, justice and freedom. She added that the ongoing political chaos could be resolved in a democratic way and the military should remain in its defined constitutional limits.
