Pakistan has an independent judiciary which has already said ‘no’ to another dictatorship.
LAHORE: The divisions prevailing in our society can be addressed only through democracy. While this may come as a surprise to some, I am very optimistic about the future of democracy in our country. The reasons why I am optimistic are: We have a population which is made up of 60 per cent of people who are young. They will not let a dictator rule over them, especially given that such things do not happen in today’s world. We have a vibrant media which will support democracy since it knows that a democracy is far more tolerant of the media than a dictatorship. We have an independent judiciary which has already said ‘no’ to another dictatorship. We are geo-politically placed in such a manner that our neighbours and other world powers will not find it in their interest to let another dictatorship take root in Pakistan.
Besides, both the major political parties of the country — the PPP and the PML-N — have had their fair share of mistreatment at the hands of military dictatorships so they are likely to resist another such dispensation in future.
Of course, this doesn’t take away from the fact that civilian governments have often not done all that well in terms of delivering good governance. However, for that the change shouldn’t be a military dictatorship — rather, pressure should be brought to bear on the major political parties to internally democratise and eschew dynastic rule. Apart from that, there is always the option of a general election in a democracy, where voters can register their approval, or lack thereof, of an incumbent government through the ballot box.
Muhammad Nadeem
Published in The Express Tribune, January 26th, 2012.
