Political culture and democracy are interconnected, and Pakistan is an example to understand both the ideas through its historical analysis.
The brief history of the South Asian country highlights how foreign import costs people more than an indigenous product. And though it’s essentially an economic term, it can equally be applied to political ideologies, customs, and traditions.
Democracy is also one of the imports in Pakistan that defined the country’s foundations when it sought independence in 1947. Of most reminiscences of the colonial legacies, democracy is one such example.
In its name, Pakistan had been ruled by both non-elected military establishment and the elected despots. But even more curious aspect of this whole saga is the people of Pakistan. They are both the beneficiaries of the system that so far yielded little or no result and its victims.
Since 1947 to date, no prime minister could be able to complete his or her tenure in office. Between 1947 and 1957, as many as seven prime ministers were changed, reducing the PM seat into a proverbial musical chair.
Between 1947 and 1956, the former British colony continued to be administered by the borrowed intellect of the 1935 constitution, a colonial product for the pre-partitioned India.
Of 74 years of its existence, around 32 years saw a direct military rule in Pakistan. However, the bigger problem is that there had been no single moment during the last 72 years that saw a complete sovereign parliament.
The critics always denounce Pakistan’s politicians as the puppets whose strings are always in the hands of those notoriously called the “Establishment” in the country.
Is Political Culture Changing in Pakistan now?
Unfortunately, the irony continues, and perhaps the biggest reason responsible for all the political ills is the lack of political culture here. The people are politically intolerant and expect too much from democracy without divorcing their addiction to personality worshipping.
In 2018, the national election brought to power a party that had never been in power before. It was Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) that was formed by the cricketer-turned-politician in 1996.
Before PTI, the political stage had been dominated for decades by the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party. Both these parties’ leadership, Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari are accused of corruption and misuse of authority during their respective tenures.
In fact, the three-time serving PM Sharif was ousted by the top court in 2017 as he was found convicted in a case.
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However, the year 2018 brought hope as it contained a general election and a chance to reiterate their kingmaking role in the procedure.
Eventually, they brought to power Imran Khan’s PTI that had lofty claims to catapult the country to the state of Medina (an allusion to the ideal Muslim state).
But this country’s political culture seems to remain unchanged as all those promises still await their fulfillment. The problem is the same, and it is the people’s lack of belief in institution-making at the expense of blind faith in personality politics.
The only optimistic aspect of Pakistan’s political journey that elections have been consistently taking place for the last two decades. An uninterrupted electoral process is expected to inculcate democratic behavior among the people and the leader in the future.
