Democracy is the right of people to elect representatives to govern them. The term democracy is beautifully elaborated by Pitkin in his saying “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Pakistan also follows a democratic system and is a constitutionally democratic parliamentary republic headed by a president elected indirectly through the senate, national assembly, and provincial assemblies. Pakistan is a federal republic with a bicameral parliament consisting of two houses; the senate and the national assembly. Senate considered the upper house has 104 members which are indirectly elected by the provincial assembly. Senate is made up as follows: 14 open seats, four women’s seats, four seats for non-Muslims and four technocrat seats indirectly elected by each of the provincial assemblies (i.e., 88 seats in total); eight seats directly elected from the federally administered tribal areas; and four seats directly elected from the federal capital, to include one woman and one technocrat. Whereas national assembly is a compromise of 342 seats, 272 of these seats are filled by direct election from single-member constituencies by universal adult suffrage, 60 are reserved for women and 10 for religious minorities. The prime minister is usually the leader of the largest party in the national assembly. Pakistan also has four provincial assemblies which are directly elected with 371 members in Punjab, 164 in Sindh, 124 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 51 in Baluchistan. In each assembly, 20% of seats are reserved for women and 2-5% for religious minorities. The federally administrated tribal areas are divided into seven agencies adjacent to Afghanistan with unique governance systems.
A democratic system is a complex system that is dependent on various public institutes and has some key characteristics that play important role in defining its democratic nature, for instance, free fair elections, the role of media, education, the judicial system, freedom of expression and religious freedom and tolerance. Pakistan despite being a constitutionally democratic country doesn’t depict the absolute picture of democracy. The crumbling democratic system isn’t a new story but has deep historical roots and its future also doesn’t seem promising. The free and fair election has always been an issue in Pakistan's electoral system as every election has been termed either rigged by the losing party or accused of military involvement and at some occasion, the democratic system has been overruled by introducing Martial law.
The military of Pakistan has always played an active role in Pakistan’s politics and is termed as the establishment for this very reason. Pakistan has spent decades under military rule. The tradition of imposing martial law was set by Mirza when he overthrew a government by abrogation of the constitution. After mirza martial laws were also imposed by other military officers. These officers were Zia ul Haq, Ayub Khan, and Pervaiz Musharraf. However, martial law was always imposed considering the deuterating condition and increasing public unrest in the country but it is against the constitution and vision of Pakistan to overthrow a government by undemocratic means. These coups de military have not only weakened the democratic system of Pakistan and have slowed our democratic institutions from evolving. Moreover, the involvement of the military in civil affairs has adverse effects on the country’s relations, trade, and image among other nations. In the future, Pakistan has to establish boundaries at the constitution level that define powers of both military and civil institute. The civil institutes shall be strengthened and military powers to over through a government or involvement in civil matters shall be limited. However, a legal framework governed by the judicial system shall be introduced that legalize upsetting a government due to concerns involving national security or military involvement to resolve such issue under certain parameters.
In present times when media and mass communication instruments are so developed that every person has access to it, these devices play an important role in developing thoughts, ideas, awareness of general problems, educating people, and informing the point of view in the general populace. Most importantly mainstream media play an active role in the politics of a country by introducing politicians (public representatives), their point of view, and motives to the general populace. The agenda raised in media and information delivered by these institutes plays a pivotal role in creating public opinion. These opinions are of great importance specifically if the future of a nation depends upon them. However, these institutes are also used as a political instrument to gain political benefits such as the use of misinformation or rumors to devaluate political rivals in the public eye or supporting certain ethnical groups and other alike organization. This unethical use of media and the influence of a certain group on these institutes manipulate people's opinions, thus sways democracy from its true nature. Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority is responsible for regulating issuing channel licenses for the establishment of the mass media culture, print and electronic. However, this institute has little regulatory authority over international social media applications such as youtube, Facebook, and Twitter, etc. While the influence of these apps on people has grown exponentially over the past few years. Alike other media devices these apps are actively used by individuals and organized groups to form an opinion in the general population. However, restricting these apps to minimize misinformation is not a solution rather every individual is responsible for the content they publish and shall only form an opinion derived from information provided by a reliable resource.
Education is the utmost essence of a democratic nation. Education is not only essential for a country to attain technological advancements but is important to develop consciousness about a general problem concerning the normal population of a country. The democracy itself is a result of educational struggle starting from philosophies of Plato in the creation of an ideal form of government to present-day scholars still educating themselves and the people to improve democratic institutes. An educated person can derive a better opinion from the knowledge he has about the problems his country faces, thus making a better decision while casting his vote. However, the education system of Pakistan lacks components that are important in developing consciousness, while Pakistan’s whole educational system is based on cramming words rather than understanding and realizing their true meanings. An educational system that helps people realizing the true nature of their problems and helps in developing their consciousness is necessary for establishing a truly democratic country. The media is also responsible for educating their people by introducing programs that raise awareness and a sense of responsibility among the people.
The judiciary is the branch of government that administers justice according to law. Our judicial system is a key aspect of our democratic way of life. It upholds peace, order, and good government. Citizens look to the judiciary to uphold their rights and governments look to the courts to interpret laws. In a democratic society, a judicial system is an independent institute that keeps in check government institutes, prosecutes criminals, protects rule of law, and ensures the supremacy of law. It safeguards the rights of the individual, settles disputes per the law, and ensures that democracy does not give way to individual or group dictatorship. whereas if a judicial system of a country is influenced by any institute or individual, the country cannot be termed as a democratic country. The judicial system of Pakistan is also a separate institute; however, it is not completely pure from influence, while the slow process of courts in hearings and prosecution make it impossible for the normal populace in attaining justice. An example of the delayed dispensation of justice is the case between siblings Islamuddin and Noor Jahan in which Noor Jahan was given a rightful share in inheritance after 25 years while both parties have already passed away. Reformation in our judicial system is necessary that ensure timely justice without any influence to establish a truly democratic country.
The essence of true democracy is freedom of expression, religious tolerance, and adequate representation of minorities. Constitutionally Pakistan promotes freedom of expression and religious tolerance. However, no substantial efforts are made in the reformation of laws promoting religious tolerance while freedom of expression that is the constitutional right of a Pakistan is not always allowed to practice. freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed to all citizens of Pakistan albeit with certain restrictions that include ‘glory of Islam, law, and order, and national security’. These restrictions have often been exploited against different groups of people such as minorities, journalists, human rights activists, etc. It has been observed that exploitation is resulting in piling up of cases, like blasphemy missing persons, and targeted killings. A thorough assessment showed that there is a dire need to address ambiguity about certain clauses in the Constitution to avoid any exploitation.
Pakistan being a constitutionally democratic country has not been able to develop and evolve its democratic institutions to their true essence due to military involvement and influence of a certain group of people on civilian government and its institutes. However, if we want to establish ourselves among the democratically developed countries, we need to reform our governmental and public institutes such as the judicial system and educational system while ensuring the rights of every individual are well reserved. Moreover, it's essentially the duty of every individual to educate himself and others as it is the only way to raise awareness among the people to fight for the survival and implementation of democracy in our country.
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