As the world marks the International Day of Democracy, Pakistan will once again hear political leaders speak about the importance of democratic values, representative institutions and the need to strengthen democracy. Yet the country’s political reality presents a far less encouraging picture. Nearly eight decades after independence, democratic norms and institutions remain fragile, repeatedly weakened by military interventions, political engineering and the failure of elected governments to establish a truly representative system. Pakistan has experienced several periods of direct dictatorship, while even under civilian governments, unelected centres of power have continued to influence political affairs, sometimes discreetly and at other times quite openly.
There was a degree of optimism following the 2008 general elections and the end of the Pervez Musharraf era. The Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had signed the Charter of Democracy, pledging to protect democratic rights and resolve political differences within the constitutional framework. The passage of the 18th Amendment was an important milestone in this process, restoring parliamentary powers and strengthening provincial autonomy. However, the political developments of 2017-18 ushered in a new phase that further damaged Pakistan’s already fragile democratic system. The fact that two elected prime ministers were removed between 2008 and 2018 demonstrated just how vulnerable civilian governments remained.
In reality, Pakistan has arguably operated under some form of hybrid political arrangement for much of its history. After 2018, the country’s two major opposition parties faced considerable political pressure, yet they continued to call for cooperation among political forces in the larger interest of democracy. Such cooperation never materialised in a meaningful way. Instead, political confrontation intensified, institutions became increasingly politicised and the space for democratic consensus narrowed. Today, the judiciary has been significantly weakened, while political parties often appear more interested in securing access to power than in strengthening the democratic institutions through which that power is supposed to be exercised.
Political parties, however, cannot place all the blame on unelected forces. They themselves bear substantial responsibility for the deterioration of democratic governance. One of their most significant failures has been their inability — or unwillingness — to fulfil the promise of empowered local governments. The 18th Amendment was not simply intended to transfer authority from the federal government to the provinces; the broader democratic principle was to take power closer to the people. Yet 16 years later, no province has established a genuinely empowered and financially autonomous local government system capable of exercising meaningful authority at the grassroots level.
The contradiction is particularly striking because Pakistan’s major political parties frequently celebrate successful local leaders abroad. They praise figures such as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, but appear reluctant to allow similar grassroots leaders to emerge within their own political structures. The reason is obvious: strong local governments would create new centres of political influence and potentially challenge the authority of chief ministers, provincial ministers and established party elites. As a result, power remains concentrated at the provincial level instead of being shared with elected representatives in towns, cities and villages.
This reluctance to share power is one of the deepest democratic failures of Pakistan’s political class. Democracy cannot simply mean holding elections and transferring power from one group of elites to another. It must also mean empowering citizens and giving elected representatives at every level the authority and resources needed to address local problems. When decisions about schools, hospitals, sanitation, roads, water supply and other basic services remain concentrated in distant provincial capitals, ordinary citizens are denied meaningful participation in governance.
Political parties also undermine democracy when they cooperate with powerful unelected actors against their political opponents. Such arrangements may provide short-term political gains, but they weaken institutions and create precedents that can eventually be used against everyone. Political rivalry is a normal feature of democracy, but using undemocratic means to defeat opponents ultimately damages the system itself. The political class must therefore recognise that democratic principles cannot be defended selectively — they must apply regardless of who is in government and who is in opposition.
The debate over creating additional provinces or administrative units also needs to be approached with greater seriousness and less emotion. Pakistan’s administrative challenges are real, and there may be a case for restructuring governance to make it more responsive and accessible. But simply creating new provinces will not automatically solve the problem if power continues to be concentrated in the hands of a small political elite. The fundamental question is not merely how many provinces Pakistan should have, but how effectively authority can be transferred to the people at the grassroots.
Ultimately, Pakistan’s democratic future depends on genuine power-sharing, institutional independence and accountable governance. Political leaders cannot continue to celebrate democracy in speeches while resisting decentralisation in practice. Unless elected local governments are given real authority, financial resources and constitutional protection, democracy will remain incomplete. The ruling elite should understand that retaining excessive power may protect their immediate political interests, but it will further alienate citizens and erode their own relevance. If democracy is to regain public trust, power must finally move beyond Islamabad and provincial capitals and reach the people who are supposed to be its ultimate source.
Shafaqna Pakistan
pakistan.shafaqna.com
Note: Shafaqna do not endorse the views expressed in the article
