Despite estrangement in civil-military relations on various controversial issues such as the memogate, the civilian government succeeded to strengthen its control over the armed forces by 20 percent, while the democratic role of political parties improved only slightly (two percent) over the last year in comparison to 2010, a report said.
“Credit goes to the military establishment for extending cooperation towards the civilian government, as the military diminished its involvement in the political system by 35 percent during the previous year,” the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) said in its report annual report titled “Assessment of the Quality of Democracy in Pakistan”.
The report said that public accountability over the activities of the security forces raised by 13 percent, while the operations of paramilitary units, private armies, warlords and criminal mafias was reduced by about 10 percent. The media’s role fell below zero on the index to negative four percent, but journalists enjoyed six percent more freedom from the restrictive laws, harassment and intimidation. The media’s intrusion in the lives of private citizens increased by 5.77 percent in 2011, the report said.
The report further said the percentage of civil society and popular participation remained intact in 2011, as their role did not pick any momentum. However, the support of public and political parties for democracy despite poor governance by the executive, increased mainly due to the desire to continue the democratic process.
The report said that the judicial courts of the country enjoyed 12 percent more freedom in 2011 as compared to 2010. People’s confidence in judiciary increased by 18 percent because their access to justice improved by five percent. Negative public perception about the federal government increased because of its tactics to delay implementation of several court orders.
The report said the members of the parliament had enhanced their professional competence to legislate despite the general perception about their limited abilities in statecraft. However the parliament remained an ineffective forum for the resolution of major crises, the report said, adding that the parliamentarians’ ability to express their opinion fell by 1.75 percent in 2011 as compared to 2010. The elected representatives made themselves just only one percent more accessible to their constituents during the whole previous year, it said. According to the report, 2011 improved the prospects of a free and fair election through a non-partisan, transparent and competent body. The report also praised the Election Commission’s efforts to make comprehensive electoral rolls and its attempts to ensure a single vote against each computerised national identity card to overcome duplicity. The fair and free election’s procedure got positive improvement of 16 percent within one year.