The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has had military dictatorships dating back all the way to 1958, when General Ayub Khan assumed the role as the president through the countries first coup d’état. Ever since then, Pakistan has never had a democratically elected leader finish their term and this first coup had basically triggered Pakistan’s democratic erosion. Ever since then, the military establishment has switched their ways of rule. Instead of ruling in a straightforward fashion, they use the democratic government as a front to cover up their ruling power.

According to Freedom House, Pakistan ranks 38 out of 100, which means it is partially free. This is due to the heavy censorship and restrictive civil rights liberties. The military establishment in Pakistan has been known to intimidate the media and even have been linked to the abductions of several journalists. One of the most famous cases was Salman Haider, who was abducted from the Islamabad Highway on January 6 in 2017. Salman was a renowned poet, social activist, and academic. Other activists like Aasim Saeed, Ahmed Waqas Goraya, Ahmed Raza Naseer, and Samar Abbas went missing the following days. They were all known to be critics of the military’s policies in Pakistan. They were returned to their families after widespread protests. This shows that the military establishment an ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), which is the primary intelligence agency of Pakistan, is not a fan of freedom of press or human rights for that matter.

Apart from media censorship, the military is known for rigging elections. This has played a major role in the politics of Pakistan as political parties in Pakistan have opposed the military for decades because of their interference in the democratic processes. Two of the biggest political parties in Pakistan, PPP (Pakistan Peoples Party) and PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz), have formed a coalition against current Prime Minister Imran Khan who they think is the puppet of the army. This just goes as far to show how much the government is against the military and how the elections are rigged and unfair. The military has also been accused of closing election polls early and altering the votes of certain candidates.

The most recent incident with the military happened in Karachi, capital of the Sindh province, when Safdar Awan, the son-in-law of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was arrested from his hotel room. Before Safdar was arrested, the police chief of Sindh was kidnapped by the army and forced to sign the arrest orders of Safdar Awan. This is an example of human rights abuse. Where the police chief himself was forced to sign the arrest papers of a political figure who spoke against the army is very wrong.

Pakistan also has a history of competitive authoritarianism. According to Steven Levitsky and Lucan A. Way, competitive authoritarianism has multiple paths. The third path to competitive authoritarianism “was the decay of a democratic regime” (Levitsky and Way 61). This could refer to the current weak democratic institutions in Pakistan which led to the military having a strong foothold in the government. Pakistan is a country plagued with corruption and for these reasons, the democratic institutions are fragile. An example would be former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Nawaz Sharif is the longest serving prime minister in the history of Pakistan having served 9 years which essentially led to him being an authoritarian. He took advantage of the political and economic crises that Pakistan had been suffering from when he was first democratically elected in 1990. It was in the 2013 elections that he was re-elected to office with the help of the military until he was impeached in 2018 through the influence and power of the military establishment. So while the military overall has been a major cause to the democratic erosion of Pakistan, this was something good that they did for Pakistan.

Democratic backsliding, according to Nancy Bermeo, denotes the “elimination of any of the political institutions that sustain an existing democracy” (Bermeo 5). This can range from presidents to military men. Pakistan’s initial democratic backsliding began with their first military dictatorship under General Ayub Khan. After Ayub Khan, there were several military coups under Yahya Khan, Zia-ul-Haq, and Pervaiz Musharraf. From the time of Zia-ul-Haq’s death to Musharraf becoming the head of state, no one really knows if the military started controlling the government from then. Pakistan’s chance to fight against the constant democratic erosion can start from economic progress.

Current Prime Minister Imran Khan being elected to office as the prime minister in 2018 was a huge surprise for everyone. This was the first time Pakistan had hopes that an honest leader would take Pakistan out of poverty and pursue economic and human development. Little did they know that this was going to be a challenge. I think in Imran Khan’s tenure if vast improvements are made, the people can finally educate themselves and take a stand for themselves. This could reverse democratic backsliding and eventually bring Pakistan back to being a normal democracy.

But a reverse wave happening is highly unlikely due to heavy censorship and lack of political freedom. Good examples are China and Russia. China has an emerging middle class and is currently an economic superpower. There has been a struggle among the Chinese people for over a decade now due to censorship and lack of freedom of the press. China’s current president, Xi Jinping, has removed the term limits for his presidency. That has made it even more challenging for the Chinese people who want change in their government. Examples like these are why reverse waves are extremely difficult especially for countries like Pakistan.

Citations:

Khan, M. (2020, November 24). Pakistan opposition seeks end to Imran Khan’s ‘puppet’ rule. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55009241

Diplomat, T., 2020. Pakistan’s Censorship Takes A Dangerous Turn. [online] Thediplomat.com. Available at: <https://thediplomat.com/2017/02/pakistans-censorship-takes-a-dangerous-turn/> [Accessed 30 November 2020].

House, Freedom. “Pakistan.” Freedom House, freedomhouse.org/country/pakistan/freedom-world/2020#CL. Accessed 30 Nov. 2020.

Photo Citation:

Khan, M. (2020, November 24). Pakistan opposition seeks end to Imran Khan’s ‘puppet’ rule. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55009241

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