Whatever results the elections may bring, it is unlikely that a sustainable democracy will emerge. They will only reinforce Pakistan’s hollowed democracy, which has the form of democratic governance, but is drained of substance and purpose.
The significance of focussing on Pakistan lies in it being an illustrative example of how a democratic form is made to serve as a front for rule by an authoritarian establishment, be it the military in Pakistan’s case or a ruling party in others. The country has a long history of direct military rules of the coup variety, 33 years in four spells, which all were brought down by popular protests.
The lesson learnt from those falling military rules has been to set up controlled elected governments subservient to the military’s interests and directions. Thus, elections become a means to lend a façade of democracy to covert military rule. This makes Pakistan a special case, but the tactics used to achieve this outcome are similar in many countries.
To begin with, Pakistan’s political parties are structured around single individuals and their families. They have nominal internal elections, which tend to be more of crowning the leader than an open choice given to party members. The “great leader’ designates relatives as possible successors, turning parties into dynastic corporations.
Pakistan’s oldest political party, Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) is now a family enterprise of Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shehbaz Sharif. Now Nawaz’s daughter Mariam Nawaz and nephew Hamza Shehbaz have emerged as the national or provincial chief executives in waiting.
The once popular Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), founded by Zulfiqar Bhutto (1928-79), was inherited by his daughter Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007). On her death, it has passed on to her husband, Asif Zardari, and now her son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who as the co-chair is contesting elections aspiring to be the prospective prime minister.
The one large non-dynastic party is the relatively new Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), whose founder Imran Khan, of charismatic but autocratic inclinations, has broken the hold of the foregoing two parties by appealing to the urban youth. Other political parties have some regional and local sway. Among them are the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in urban Sindh, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), both promising Islamic social order but limited in their appeal. Only these parties really matter, even though 167 parties are registered for elections with the National Election Commission (NEC).
The converse process of picking a favored leader and party is also visible. Nawaz Sharif was ‘voted out’ in the parliament and convicted on corruption charges in 2018, and was subsequently debarred from elections for life. He saved his skin by going into long exile, ostensibly for medical treatment. His comeback is striking, as all convictions have been quickly reversed by superior courts. He is gearing up for a fourth stint as the prime minister through the forthcoming elections.
Whatever results the elections may bring, it is unlikely that a sustainable democracy will emerge. They will only reinforce Pakistan’s hollowed democracy, which has the form of democratic governance, but is drained of substance and purpose.
