Pakistan’s budding democracy is on the verge of collapse. It has two options – change tack or implode | Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar
As a former senator, I’ve seen how major parties conspired with the military to manipulate elections and crush opponents. This can’t go on
For most of its history, Pakistan has been ruled by military dictators. Brief democratic intervals were only possible because the military became so hugely unpopular that it was left with no other option than to temporarily cede space to democracy. The last military dictator was forced to quit in 2008, and Pakistan has since seen the longest spell of civilian control in its history. Instead of moving forward, it has slid backwards, and was downgraded last year from a “hybrid” to an “authoritarian” regime. Its electoral process and its democracy have lost all credibility – not only in the eyes of ordinary Pakistanis, but in the eyes of the world.
We didn’t get here overnight. In Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, one character asks another “How did you go bankrupt?”, and gets the famed reply: “Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.” In the past decade or so, all major political parties in Pakistan have participated in the gradual decline of its democracy. In their lust for power, they have conspired with the military, using its influence to manipulate elections and crush political opponents. In doing so, they have helped to undermine the rule of law, democratic norms and the country’s constitution.
Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar is a former senator in Pakistan. From 2009 to 2013, he served as the adviser to the prime minister of Pakistan on human rights
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Continue reading...Date: |
-
World - Yahoo News
Pakistan Lawmakers Change Constitution to Strengthen Influence
5 days ago - Pakistan -
Politics - The Hill
The entanglement myth: The US has options to stay out of an Israel-Iran conflict
October 17 - Israel -
Tech - GameSpot
Black Ops 6 Has An Option To Pay For Better Audio
3 days ago -
World - The Guardian
Pakistan v England: second men’s cricket Test, day two – live
October 16 - Pakistan -
World - The Guardian
Pakistan v England: third men’s cricket Test, day two – as it happened
23 hours ago - Pakistan -
Politics - The Hill
The United Nations is on the verge of irrelevance
October 14 -
World - The Guardian
The electoral college has become a gun held to the head of US democracy | Lawrence Douglas
October 18 -
Politics - NBC News
Chuck Todd: Harris has ‘decided to close on’ democracy message as ex-Trump official sounds warning
2 days ago - Donald Trump
More from The Guardian
-
World - The Guardian
Iranian soldiers killed in Israeli attack as Middle East edges closer to regional war – live
6 minutes ago - Israel -
World - The Guardian
Israel strikes military targets in Iran in reprisal that raises risk of regional war
1 hour ago - Iran -
World - The Guardian
IDF strikes military sites in Iran: what we know so far
20 minutes ago -
World - The Guardian
Iran should not respond to Israeli strikes, Keir Starmer says
2 hours ago - Iran -
World - The Guardian
Democrats panicking for no reason, pollsters say – US race nail-bitingly close
2 hours ago
Latest in World
-
World - The Guardian
Iranian soldiers killed in Israeli attack as Middle East edges closer to regional war – live
6 minutes ago - Israel -
World - The New York Times
Hundreds Killed in Days in Sudan as War Surges
8 minutes ago -
World - The Guardian
Georgians head to the polls in pivotal parliamentary election
14 minutes ago -
World - The Guardian
London’s endangered language communities to be mapped in new project
15 minutes ago -
World - ABC News
The Menendez brothers built a green space in prison. It’s modeled on this Norwegian idea
18 minutes ago