“The poor performance of elected leaders and assemblies in federal and provinces make the democracy more complex. Failure of democracy, the leadership crisis, after the death of Jinnah, and the failure of Pakistan Muslim League to become a national party”
In Pakistan mostly political leadership belongs to the background of feudal society. This is the typical South Asian politics where feudal leaders are most respected. The elected leaders have acted or performed as role of dictators. Military considered that political leaders are not able to rule over the country. The politics of Pakistan has been unable to develop a strong consensus on the political model. Whatever consensus is developed among the power sharing parties but they stay away from the political position soon after due to their own political gains and interests. Their competing interests openly defame constitution and the norms and values of democracy. The constitution became controversial because military took over and imposed the martial law. If this tradition continues then the participatory democracy cannot flourish. The civil leaders and parliamentarians also amended the constitution without any consensus over the system. Lack of open debates over the important national issues has slow down the growth of shared framework for political action. The political ruling elite develop a selective approach by excluding those who disagree with them. Not only political elites who suppress the opposition, several societal groups even create violence against the opposing groups who raise the questions about their views and ideas. The gradual growth of Islamic extremism and militancy and the sectarian movements within the societal structure in early 1980s has noiseless the free flow of views, ideas and information on the important national issues. It gave the rise of intolerance, increased the level of violence within the society. The extremist groups used hate speeches and accommodate violence within their structures. Thus the main effects of these activities were the cultural and social values, pluralism, diversification and religious harmony. The process of democratization badly suffered because these groups were gaining strength within the society and political system. Such conditions are not favorable to the growth of democratic norms and values, and rule of law.
The process of democratization and political participation is assisted by the civil leaders and political parties within the country. These are the most important vehicles of expression of interests and political mobilization in a democratic way. Unfortunately, in Pakistan the political parties and democratic forces are weak and unable to perform their integral role in an effective way. Their role has been suspended under the military rule due to which they have been badly suffered. The frequent electoral process has been suffered, weak organizational structures, absence of socio-economic opportunities and lack of economic and financial resources. The undemocratic behavior of political parties, personality based politics, regional tug of war, and ideological differences badly suffered the political parties to function in a meaningful manner. It also suffered with ideological confusion and visionless leadership.
The Muslim League laid the basis of Pakistan failed to transform itself as national and federal party. The Muslim League round around the persons and individuals. The other parties also could not give the alternative for the country. Therefore, the political parties could not function regarding to develop political model and stability. The political parties of Pakistan lack the leadership, visionary human power, and the scientific study of socio-political and economic problems. The public gathering and mobilization may useful but it cannot be an alternative for the socioeconomic and political problems. The members of General Assembly and Senate always absent which shows the political non seriousness towards national issues.
Democracy faced strong troubles in Pakistan, the poor democratic credentials and weak institutions can’t lead democracy to prevail in the country. The parliamentary system of government faced many ups and downs. The inheritance of undemocratic forces encountered the balance democratic system of the state. The external security threat and regional issues affected the prospects of democracy in Pakistan. Failure of democracy due to these problems faced by Pakistan and other factors were the leadership crisis, after the death of Jinnah, and the failure of Pakistan Muslim League to become a national party or the identification of federal towards provinces. The disintegration of national political parties leads the base for military to take its roots within the political framework of the country. Early military takeover where the dominant ruling elites were saying that the liberal democracy was inappropriate for Pakistan. The suspension of constitution by the consistent military coup makes it difficult to create strong political institutions and the diversified ideas.
The ruling elites apply selective manners of democracy, take the handful and selective political leaders and exclude all other democratic political leaders. This policy created the division among parties and institutions. Democratic institutions stabilize if the process is not disturbed by other forces. The advocators of democracy must function in true spirit, should offer equal rights for all citizens and respect the free speech and emphasis for the diversified ideas and encourage the free flow of information. This may support for the creation of strong democratic culture within the country. The civilian rule and authority has been suspended by the subsequent military takeovers. That’s why the quality of democracy and the performance of political parties remained poor. The democratic culture and the values of democracy face strong challenges in Pakistan. The poor performance of elected leaders and assemblies in federal and provinces make the democracy more complex. They failed to build consensus over the norms of political system and drift towards confrontation, religious intolerance and extremism
