Daily Times

A new report, “Freedom in the World Survey 2020” reflects that freedom is declining in established democracies including ours. Democracy no longer ends with a bang-in a revolution or military coup-but with a whimper due to the slow and steady weakening of critical institutions, like the judiciary and the media, and the gradual erosion of long-standing political and democratic norms and freedom. In the present time, elected autocrats maintain a coating of democracy while filtering its substance. Since the end of the Cold War, most democratic breakdowns have been caused not by generals and soldiers but by elected governments themselves.

The overwhelming majority of social and political analysts altercate that Donald Trump is a threat to American democracy; his supporters want us to believe otherwise. Nobody is exiled from the American soil for dissenting with the supreme leader. With the repressive policies in place, the Congress, media and courts continue functioning at their fullest. Yet it offers insufficient solace given the history of how countries throughout the world lost their democratic and constitutional freedom. More typical for aspiring autocrats is to wrangle on the basics of liberal democracy-judicial independence, freedom of media, minority rights, an apolitical civil service-while keeping up their veneer of democratic values.

Regrettably, with the rise of populism, democratic abrasion is promptly becoming a standard across the world. The Freedom in the World 2020 survey, released in the first week of March, quite aptly paints the dismal picture of this prevalent democratic conundrum. The report expounds that 2019 saw the 14th year in a row of political crumbling, with around 64 countries losing their liberties, whilst only 37 registering an improvement in democratic freedom for their common citizenry.

According to the report, with the Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing campaign of cultural annihilation in Xinjiang, China is experiencing terrible repression from those at the helm of affairs. This is not unusual as such tactics are pretty much on the cards in a communist regime; however, what is alarm is that during the previous year, “twenty-five of the world’s forty-one established democracies experienced net deficits of freedom.”

In our national context, despite the recent developments, the report ranks Pakistan at a relatively low score of 38 out of a scale of 100 with 16 points out of 50 in political freedom and 22 points out of 50 in civil liberties. This is a low score given the fact that much emphasis has been laid on the establishment of a democratic culture during the last decade. The same report awards Norway, Finland, and Sweden a maximum of 100 points as the citizens of these Nordic countries enjoy full liberties and rights in an established democracy. There exists a plethora of reasons for this abysmally low score in Pakistan

The fundamental right bestowed to citizens of Pakistan through the 1973 Constitution Article 19 “Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Press” is often curtailed by the democratic leaders of Pakistan. The “Right to Information” under Article 19-A is very often abrogated by the sitting governments in the name of national security. The foreign minister of Pakistan was criticised in the “Global Freedom of Media Conference 2019” in London by a Canadian social activist for censorship of his Twitter account. The recent arrest of the prominent media tycoon, Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman, is another attempt to silence the vibrant media and sabotage the freedom of press.

The report ranks Pakistan as “Partially Free”. The same report describes the warmongering India as “Free”, with a cumulative score of 71, despite the fascist acts of Narendra Modi and unprecedented atrocities inflicted on minorities in the recent times. There is much that still needs to be done at the grassroot level for ensuring democratic and political freedom and civil liberties of the common man in Pakistan.

In our national context, despite the recent developments, the report ranks Pakistan at a relatively low score of 38 out of a scale of 100 with 16 points out of 50 in political freedom

According to the commentary annexed with the report, the largest democracy in the world, India, is the most terrible wrongdoer when it comes to democratic rights and political liberties. The most recent anti-Muslim pogroms in New Delhi-in which 46 people were killed, and were conducted with the connivance of senior police officers-are gloomily emblematic of the country’s illiberal direction under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The recently enacted Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, which excludes Muslim asylum seekers from the neigh boring countries and demands a proof of citizenship requirement, is another nail in the coffin of the so-called secular state of India. As Freedom House noted, “While India continued earning a free rating and conducted successful elections last spring, the BJP has distanced itself from the country’s founding commitments to pluralism and individual rights, without which democracy cannot long survive.”

The most prominent proponent of democratic liberties, the United States, surprisingly, has been lowered eight points in Freedom House’s 100-point scale since 2009. With a cumulative score of 86, the country now ranks below countries like Greece, Slovakia, Italy and Mauritius. The report brings up some disturbing patterns generally, which incorporate an ongoing decline in fair and equal treatment of refugees and asylum seekers; Trump’s assertion of “a national emergency to redirect the Defence Department funds to the construction of a wall along the southern border with Mexico; his endeavour to “extract a personal political favour from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky”; and his orders to “current and former officials to defy all congressional subpoenas for the document and testimony about the matter.”

Fortunately, as there is nothing inescapable about democracy’s triumph, so too there is nothing unavoidable about its imminent destruction. As Freedom House takes note: “The mass protests that developed or persisted in 2019, in each area of the world serve as a stark reminder that the widespread longing for justice, equity, and freedom from oppression can never be doused.”

Through the lens of history, Pakistan is a democratic country that was founded after years of democratic struggle by a democratic party (Muslim League) under the leadership of a staunch democrat, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Although formed on democratic principles, the subject of democracy has, undoubtedly, remained an Achilles heels for the country. Certain recent developments, inclusive of the third successful transition of power, independent judiciary, free elections, and improvement in civil-military relations augur that the key factors that fortify a democratic culture are now discernible over the national horizon.

To improve its low score, Pakistan needs to ensure freedom of the press, which is considered the fourth pillar of state. It should ensure the provision of the basic rights of freedom as enshrined in the Constitution of 1973 to the common citizenry. Pakistan can do much just by meaningfully improving governance, political and social stability and ensuring meritocracy in all its affairs. If we fail to act now, the erosion of our democracy will only accelerate.

The writer is a chartered accountant working in the public sector of Pakistan. He can be reached at arsyed09@gmail.com