Democratic Predicament of Pakistan: by Hammad Raza

Democratic Predicament of Pakistan
By
Hammad Raza
The democratic project in Pakistan has always remained under assault.

Popular expression about democratic governments is largely negative. The
people of Pakistan forget that the relevance of democracy is directly linked to
the socio-economic conditions of a given state. Urbanized middle classes
wonder that how a poor and illiterate population can make sensible decisions
in the electoral process. They ask: where is theirs representation. They did not
understand that their representation lies in the institutional mechanisms of
the state functioning. The political class, on the other side, is a transitional
class suffering from myopia. It is mainly concerned with power and revolves
around this agenda neglecting people’s sufferings.
The history of political development in a society, the nature of its elites and
the political consensus amongst them determine the level of democratic
maturity in a state. Pakistan has fractured political history. Its elite class is self
aggrandizing. The political capital is confined to large landholdings, black
money and big business. Few from the lower classes have the opportunity to
obtain this capital. Consensus on major policy issues is conspicuous for its
absence. Coalition building has become an instrument to optimize position,
power and wealth.
In Pakistan questions about democracy are glossed over by the quality of

public life. The popular expectations inducted by elected governments to
deliver services, maintain law and order, promote economic progress and
social stability are widespread. The fulfillment of such expectations creates
legitimacy for government. The other forms of governments do not require
popular legitimacy. They want acceptance based on better performance.
Failure to live up to popular impulses has created legitimacy crisis. Ayub’s
developmental schemes, Bhutto’s socialism, Zia’s Islamization programme and
Musharraf’s liberal agenda point to ambiguity for gaining legitimacy.
It is still debatable whether military dictatorships have out-performed
civilian governments or vice versa. It should be kept in mind that except
Bhutto’s government no one was able to complete its tenure. In that era the
distributive effects of economic growth and investment in social projects were
effective. It gave people a sense of empowerment. However, during
dictatorships bunch of people economically gained more than other classes in
Pakistan. In the post military regimes, the structural anomalies embedded by
dictators help military to have hold on the politics. These may be ethnic
polarization, fragmentation of political parties, corporatization of army and
formation of puppetry parties.
Any debate between democracy and dictatorship must entail civil-military

relations in a polity and legacy of dictatorships in a society. The development
of democracy has been hampered by the troublesome legacies of the military
regimes. It includes ethnic fragmentation, alienation of the smaller provinces,
militarization of society and polity, security state system and concentration of
wealth and privilege among the class co-opted by the dictators. Even during
democratic periods the masses put the government in power, but the classes
constrain its functioning within a framework determined by interest groups.
Democracy is an evolutionary system. It does not come in a perfect template.

Pakistan has some universal principles like popular sovereignty and
representative government. These have to be rooted in the socio-cultural
climate of a country. The class character of society and the layers of influence
and power are reflected in who usually wields real power.
During the first phases of democratic development, it is always the

aristocratic classes that dominate the electoral process. The urban landscape
may have a different set of representatives, for example from Karachi or some
urban centers of Punjab. Greater representation of the middle and
professional classes increases over election cycle. Within political parties such
trends take root. The stability of elected governments also increases with such
developments.
The quality of democracy and its stability has thus depended generally on
the growth of the middle class universally, which in our view has expanded
and continues to rise. But the middle class in Pakistan sees every phenomenon
in negation. It is anti-democracy, anti-Indian, anti-secularism and anti-
Socialism. Its economic character makes it achieve more profits and savings.
This tendency pushes it closer to the idea of economic freedom and makes it a
stakeholder in political stability.
The Pakistani middle class may not be seen as yet in the elected assemblies
but it occupies alternative spaces of influence. It is found in the robust civil
society, bureaucracy, army and judiciary. It also consists of recently emerged
entrepreneurial class. This professional middle class still favour stability over
representative forms of governments. This macro-stability is provided by the
military regimes. Such cross sectional interests make professional class a
natural constituency of military governments. This mobilized social and
economic class is much apprehensive of political class. It considers politicians
having an old, rotten feudal mindset. Their dichotomous worldview about
Islam versus the West further pushes this class towards the right.
The configuration of the middle class revolves around socially formed

classes derived through economic gains. The military regimes’ economic and
developmental schemes begotten this class through industrialization and
services sector development in 1960s, 1980s and in the first decade of 21 st
century. Partition shaped its cultural, national and religious outlook in Toto. It
views the current security predicament through the prism of grand Judeo-
Hinduistic conspiracy theories.
To meet popular expectations, and to out-perform rivals and predecessors,

elected leaders need to ally with the middle and professional classes. In many
countries, this has become a political necessity rather than a choice.
Politicians of Pakistan do not succumb to this necessity. They think that power
comes by the backing of powerful Establishment. They replace legitimacy by
power.
Pakistan may remain a transitional democracy. It can experience change by
peaceful transfers of power through elections. The elected representatives
have to disprove the sceptics inside and outside the country by forming
coalitions. It can be done by building national consensus on difficult issues.
Every party in government has to make its organizational presence in society
visible and delivering to overcome legitimacy crisis.
Democracy is a natural system for an ethnically diverse and culturally

pluralistic society like Pakistan. And this is why after every failed and
discredited dictatorship, it has returned to democracy. The notion of
democracy must be made synonymous with betterment of people. It is a
collective social enterprise that no one can leave to the dominant elites.
Popular stakes and popular civic engagement will keep everyone on the
democratic track and will speed up the process to make up for lost time.

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Democratic Predicament of Pakistan

The democratic project in Pakistan has always remained under assault.

In Pakistan questions about democracy are glossed over by the quality of

Any debate between democracy and dictatorship must entail civil-military

Democracy is an evolutionary system. It does not come in a perfect template.

During the first phases of democratic development, it is always the

The configuration of the middle class revolves around socially formed

To meet popular expectations, and to out-perform rivals and predecessors,

Democracy is a natural system for an ethnically diverse and culturally

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