The 2018 general elections occurred in a context rife with uncertainty and unpredictability. Despite a series of disturbing political developments, widespread self-censorship of media, the deteriorating security situation further exacerbated with the bombing in Quetta; all eventually fell short in disrupting the democratic exercise of voting in Pakistan.
While national and international spectators were talking about pre-poll rigging, unequal playing fields etc, the international election monitoring missions have now testified the general elections 2018 as credible.More fruitfully, the resilient nation of 207 million inhabitants responded to a democratic call for ballot quite fearlessly,flying against the atmosphere of doom and gloom in order to seize the opportunity for change.
In historical hindsight, the chronicle of Pakistan’s transition to democracy since its inception evidently proves to be quite a painful account in which many troubling pictures emerged. Soon after becoming a sovereign political entity, a country with no army faced its first war against a nation four times its size. The skepticism of survival kept looming over our heads, that the newly born country would collapse anytime and become a part of the Indian federation.
Moreover it was riddled with internal political strife through unfinished agendas of unconstitutional interferences that led to the dismissal of four Prime Ministers, in the brief period of two years from 1956 to 1958 that led to the beginning of the first martial law.
However, Self-styled field marshal Ayub Khan replaced the shaky democratic order with a military-guided democracy. The first phase of martial law ended with the fall of Dhaka in 1971 that had brought unforgettable agony of opprobrium within our homeland, which to this day haunts both Pakistan and Bangladesh.
After a decade long hiatus; a crestfallen and morally devastated country was taken over by the charismatic Zulfikar Ali Bhutto through the 1970’s general elections. Bhutto’s driving principal was to resurrect the confidence of the public in democratic institutions, a short-lived attempt to transform the country that was halted by yet another martial law by the military dictator General Zia in July 1977.
The 2018 general elections followed, for the first time in Pakistan’s history, two elected civilian governments completing their full terms. This underscored the growing realization among the masses of Pakistan that their freedom and future lies with the robust penetration of democratic traditions by electing their governments through popular will
Bhutto was later hanged through a rigged court trial which began Pakistan’s longest ever military rule under Zia, which proved to be the ‘decade of destruction’ for Pakistan. Zia’s military rule led to the proliferation of extremism, a widespread culture of drugs, arms and bribery, and a polarised society. Pakistan recorded its worst ever economic growth rate during his reign, and a biased foreign policy damaged key civilian institutions in order to implement Saudi and US backed agendas in Pakistan.
The decade of destruction came to an end with his tragic death in a plane crash. Pakistan had entered another imperfect era of democracy clouded by excessive unconstitutional intervention. During this process of slow democratic evolution, rose General Pervez Musharraf who for the ‘greater interests’ of the country imposed yet another martial law in 1999.
The dream for democracy, was once more deferred and Musharraf’s strategic miscalculations put the country on the brink of political crisis and wild disorder which led to his own downfall. Once more the democratic dream was revived due to the high price that Benazir Bhutto paid with her assassination,and the thousands of Pakistani soldiers paid who died fighting America’s War on Terror.
The first female African-American Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, wrote in her book titled ‘Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom’, that, “the paradox of democracy is that its stability is born of its openness to upheaval through elections, legislation and social action”. She further added, “Disruption is built into the fabric of democracy”
These words are remarkably relevant to the Pakistani struggle for democracy, which has been fraught with near-death experiences, political turmoil, frightening outbreaks of ethnic and communal violence, the splitting up of East and West Pakistan, enduring some of the worst natural disasters in the world’s history, increasing high-profile terrorist massacres and many other such instances.
Yet the unflinching fearless voices of support for democracy; from all sections of society has only become louder. No matter what the nation has gone through it has never swayed from its right to freely choose their representative through the ballot and Pakistan has remained firm in its resolve to embrace democracy, no matter what the cost.
The 2018 general elections followed, for the first time in Pakistan’s history, two elected civilian governments completing their full terms. This underscored the growing realisation among the masses of Pakistan that their freedom and future lies with the robust penetration of democratic traditions by electing their governments through the popular will.
The country has come a long way and it is hard to convey how frustrating these moments can be to endure, so much chaos and causalities, for the sake of preserving the spirit of democracy. The only way forward now is to continue this trend, to restore the public’s faith and confidence in a democracy that will live up to their expectations.
The writer is a freelance writer tweets at @ranasarfraz3417
Published in Daily Times, July 31st 2018.