Pakistan’s rocky road to democracy has been beset with setbacks in downpour. We take turns blaming it on external actors,state and non state actors. Oscillating between dictatorial rule and the ‘parliamentary form of democracy’,the masses cheer every one of them conferring garlands of praise for Pakistan’s next knight in shining armor. The subsequent disappointment and mass hysteria then prepares the populace to celebrate the next usurper of executive control till it all becomes one gloomy vicious cycle.
The last two decades have witnessed the mantra of democracy enveloping the world,punishing everyone who did not conform and evoking the blessing of US dollars on those who shed off other forms of ‘deviant’ governments and embraced another corrupted aberration of governance:democracy. Democracy as a revelation of being an adulterated form of government might be a bitter pill to swallow. All the hue and cry over this appendage of Cold War shenanigans simmers down to rancid fumes rising from the democracy third world countries have been forced to implement. Before engaging in a political discourse on Pakistan’s form of government and the anomaly it presents,a short recap of the political spectrum is in order:
While a wide variety of political spectrums exist with differing parameters,the spectrum being employed for the purpose of understanding Pakistan’s democratic conundrum entails the extent of power the Government possesses. At one end with hundred percent Govt power lie the Monarchs,Communists,Socialists,Nazis,Fascists and Dictators. These forms of government stem from within different political systems in particular monarchy and oligarchy;monarchy which confers sovereignty on the executive;and oligarchy being the system where sovereignty lies with a select group of individuals. As we move towards the right,we see lesser intersection between the public and private spheres. In the middle lie the constitutional moderates who practice democracy. Democracy comes from two Greek words demos which means people and kratein which means to rule,thereby granting the people sovereignty. However the flaw in democracy lies in the fact that sovereignty that lies with the electoral register ultimately rests with the majority. It becomes the majority’s prerogative to rule over the country by whatever means it pleases and does not recognize sovereignty of the minorities in a country. Further along the spectrum democracy melds into the political system calledRepublic which has a very key difference with democracy. While democracy recognizes the will of the majority,the republic understands that the majority can use this as a mandate for oppression and declares that the constitution drafted with the wishes of the majority and minority,after a hefty process of parliamentary debate and discussion,will be granted sovereignty. Thus in a Republic,the constitution retains the final sovereignty and no one is above it. This grants protection to all people regardless of numerical representation and because it lies towards the right end of the political spectrum also means the distinction between public and private spheres are marked and that the government doesn’t interfere in public life to a great degree.
Considering the context laid,the Islamic Republic of Pakistan stands out like a stark anomaly with not only a constitution and title that contradicts itself but also the fact that we have never really had republic rule. In the depths of political malaise,Pakistan has at best tried to aspire towards democracy. Polybius’sequence of anacyclosis maintains the inevitability of the degeneration of democracy into ochlocracy or mob rule. While Pakistan’s ‘democracy’ can at best be likened to an oligarchy (rule by the few) considering the same politicians come to power every time;it will also not be wrong to compare it to mob rule or ochlocracy.
The 1956 constitution declared Pakistan an Islamic Republic. While the very nature of the constitution would contradict the essence of a republic,by relegating the status of minorities and barring them from holding executive offices,the republic form of government was never to be implemented anyway. Constant suspensions of the constitutions,the abolishment of 1956 constituent and drafting of a new one in 1973,the number of amendments,additions and remolding of the constitution has tattered the concept of sovereignty of the constitution beyond repair.
So why does Pakistan want to become a democracy when it is not even one? It could be an appeasement policy for the irksome majority of the country that bears the brunt of its corrupt ochlocratic ruling class. It could be that our ruling class doesn’t know why Pakistan is a republic and is therefore ignorant of its duty to the constitution. Or maybe because our loyalties lay suspect. It is imperative in any case to understand the difference. Using democracy as a free pass and touting it as the ticket to prosperity is erroneous and reflective of nationwide ignorance. Let us therefore shed the shackles of democracy and talk about why we have allowed our own rulers to make a mockery of our nation’s sovereignty by treating the constitution as a concubine.
By Omar Farooque
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