essay on political crisis in pakistan

PM Khan gone: Pakistan’s political crisis explained in 400 words

Khan became the first PM in Pakistan’s history to be sent packing through a vote of no confidence.

Imran Khan’s term as prime minister of Pakistan ended on Sunday following days of constitutional chaos that left him with no choice but to resign or be voted out of office.

The Pakistani parliament’s lower house will meet on Monday to vote for a new acting prime minister.

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What will be the fallout from pakistan’s political crisis, pakistan pm imran khan gone after losing no-confidence vote, no pakistani prime minister has completed a full term in office.

This is the first time a no-confidence motion against a prime minister of Pakistan has been successful.

How was Khan deposed by a no-confidence vote?

Khan was voted out in parliament days after he blocked a similar attempt.

The no-confidence motion , which required 172 votes in the 342-seat parliament to pass, was supported by 174 parliamentarians.

The passing of the motion came after the country’s Supreme Court ruled Khan, who came to power in 2018, acted unconstitutionally in previously blocking the process and dissolving parliament.

In a landmark verdict late on Thursday, the court restored the house that was dissolved by President Arif Alvi on Khan’s recommendation.

Khan has alleged the opposition colluded with the United States to unseat him and called on his supporters to stage nationwide rallies on Sunday.

Since independence in 1947, no Pakistani prime minister has completed a five-year term in office in the country.

What led to leader Khan’s downfall?

Khan’s political demise was rooted in twin new realities. Inside parliament, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had lost the support of coalition allies, denying him the majority he needed to defeat the vote of no confidence.

Outside parliament, Khan appeared to lose the support of Pakistan’s powerful military, which the opposition alleged helped him win the 2018 general election. They had recently publicly fallen out over senior military appointments and policy decisions.

In recent weeks, as the principal opposition parties – the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) – ramped up their efforts to dislodge Khan, coalition allies became vocal in their dissatisfaction with him.

Meanwhile, a deepening economic crisis contributed to dissatisfaction with Khan with double-digit inflation dogging much of his term.

Who will be Pakistan’s next PM?

Shehbaz Sharif , the younger brother of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is widely expected to replace Khan.

The 70-year-old is little known outside his country but has a reputation domestically as an effective administrator more than as a politician.

In an interview last week, he said good relations with the United States were critical for Pakistan for better or for worse, in stark contrast to Khan’s recently antagonistic relationship with Washington.

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Pakistan’s political crisis, briefly explained

An end to Pakistan’s constitutional crisis. But a political crisis endures.

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Editor’s note, April 10: Sunday, Imran Khan received a vote of no confidence from the Pakistani parliament, losing his position as prime minister. A vote on a new prime minister is expected as soon as Monday.

One of Pakistan’s twin crises was resolved this week. The other one, not so much.

On Thursday, the country’s supreme court delivered a historic ruling that resolved a constitutional crisis that took shape last week. The court rebuked Prime Minister Imran Khan, a self-fashioned populist leader and former cricket star who is more celebrity than statesman. Khan, the court ruled, had acted unconstitutionally when he dissolved Pakistan’s Parliament last week in order to avoid losing power through a no-confidence vote.

It was a surprising and reassuring decision, experts in the country’s politics said, given the supreme court’s checkered record as a sometime political ally of Khan. On Thursday, the court sided with the rule of law.

But the underlying political crisis that led to the court’s landmark order endures.

Khan outlandishly blamed the opposition parties’ efforts to oust him on a US-driven foreign conspiracy. Now, the Parliament has been restored and will continue with its no-confidence vote against Khan’s premiership Saturday, likely leading to his ouster and extraordinary elections later this year. Khan, for his part, said that he would “ fight ” back.

The broader political crisis, however, can be traced to the 2018 election that brought Khan to power. Traditionally, the military is the most significant institution in Pakistan, and it has often intervened to overthrow elected leaders that got in its way. Khan’s rise is inextricable from military influence over politics , and the incumbent prime minister accused the military of a soft coup for manipulating the election in Khan’s favor.

It was a “very controversial election,” says Asfandyar Mir, a researcher at the United States Institute of Peace. “There was a major question over the legitimacy of that electoral exercise and the government that Khan formed could just never escape the shadow of the controversy surrounding that election,” Mir explained.

More recently, the relationship between the military and Khan has worsened, and that gave the political opposition an opening to act against him. Though it’s not known what role the military played in the supreme court’s ruling, experts note that the harshness of the court’s order suggests the military’s buy-in. “This is part of a larger history of instability in Pakistan in which prime ministers are ousted from power, because they lose the support of Pakistan’s military,” Madiha Afzal, foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution, told Vox.

But “even if the court was influenced by the military, it took the right decision,” she says.

Khan’s position weakened domestically

The political and economic situation set the stage for a challenge to Khan.

After running on a campaign that promised less corruption and more economic opportunity for the poor, Khan has failed to deliver. Inflation is climbing , unemployment is soaring , and a billion-dollar program from the International Monetary Fund has not helped stabilize matters. An international investigation into offshore money from last year, known as the Pandora Papers , showed that Khan’s inner circle had moved money abroad to avoid taxes, in contradiction with Khan’s populist rhetoric.

Khan presided over an anti-corruption witch hunt targeting opposition parties. Indeed, the opposition parties, many of them composed of dynastic leadership and families with old money, are corrupt , and their attempt to oust Khan can be seen as a move to evade further scrutiny, Mir said.

Still, that anti-corruption effort brought the government bureaucracy to a halt. And it’s part of Khan’s broader strongman-style approach to governing that has been ineffective .

Since his start in politics, Khan has depended on the courts. Yasser Kureshi, a researcher in constitutional law at the University of Oxford, says Khan has built his political standing on backing the judiciary. “Imran Khan’s political platform has been built around an anti-corruption populism, where he charges the political class for being corrupt, and in the last 15 years the supreme court has been on a spree of jurisprudence targeting the political corruption of Pakistan's traditional parties,” he explains. “Khan has been the biggest supporter of this jurisprudence as it has validated and legitimized his politics.”

Now, the court appears to have turned against him at a time when the military has also lost faith in Khan. “With Imran Khan, I think that the problem for him is that right now, he has no institutional solutions that he can really turn to,” says Kureshi.

Khan’s relationship with the US has also cooled

Pakistan is a nuclear-armed country with a population of 220 million; it has built the sixth-largest military in the world, and has clout as a leader in the Islamic world. A longtime participant in the US war on terrorism, Pakistan has also been a conflicted partner, criticized for at times abetting the Taliban .

Khan was elected in 2018, and Mir says that, two years in, the military’s relationship to him began to cool. Khan feuded with the army chief over foreign policy issues, and the military saw Khan’s poor governance as a liability. Last year, Khan’s delays in signing off on a new intelligence chief prompted speculation of more divides between the two.

President Joe Biden did not phone Khan in his initial days in office, though he did call the leader of India , Pakistan’s chief rival. “The Biden administration’s cold shoulder to Imran Khan rubbed him the wrong way,” said Afzal. “Pakistan has just fallen off a little bit of the radar in terms of high-level engagement.”

Khan’s public messaging as a strongman has partially been responsible for agitating the relationship with the US — and by extension, his relationship with the Pakistani military, which wants to be closer to the US.

Most recently, that chill was expressed by Khan’s decision to stay neutral in Russia’s war on Ukraine; Khan visited Moscow just in advance of Russia’s invasion.

And, now, he’s turned to accusations of conspiracy: that the opposition’s stand against him is manufactured by the US. The origins of Khan’s incendiary claims appear to be a diplomatic cable that Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington sent home last month after a meeting with senior State Department official Donald Lu. Whatever criticisms Lu may have conveyed about Pakistan’s foreign policy, Khan’s interpretation of the memo has clearly been blown out of proportion. “When it comes to those allegations, there is no truth to them,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said last week.

It’s an open question whether his argument will resonate among a Pakistani populace who is suspicious of the United States. One group it’s likely not resonating with: Pakistan’s powerful military.

Khan is “critical of the United States to a point that makes the military uncomfortable,” said Shamila Chaudhary, an expert at the New America think tank. “The way he’s talking about the United States is preventing the US relationship with Pakistan from being repaired, and it needs to be repaired.”

Meanwhile, the Biden administration’s focus in Asia has been on great-power competition with China and two national security crises (the Afghanistan withdrawal and Russia’s Ukraine invasion). The sloppy withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan furthered the disconnect between Washington and Islamabad, according to Chaudhary, and further upset Pakistan’s government.

Robin Raphel, a former ambassador who served as a senior South Asia official in the State Department from 1993 to 1997, described Biden’s outlook to Pakistan as a “non-approach approach.”

“I’m a diplomat, and, I believe you get more with honey than vinegar,” she said. “It would have been more than worth it for the president to take five minutes to call Imran Khan.”

The US did send its top State Department official for human rights, Uzra Zeya, to the Organization of Islamic Countries summit in Pakistan last month. Zeya also met with the country’s foreign minister and senior officials, as the two countries celebrated the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

But there hasn’t been more than that in terms of a positive message for the US-Pakistan relationship in light of the recent political and constitutional crises in the country. Price’s recent comments on the situation were brief: “We support Pakistan’s constitutional process and the rule of law.”

What happens next

Once the Parliament completes its no-confidence vote, which may happen as soon as today, it will dissolve the government. The country’s electoral commission will then oversee a caretaker government that will likely be headed by the leader of the opposition, Shehbaz Sharif . (Sharif is the brother of Nawaz Sharif , a former prime minister himself, who is currently living in exile in the UK as he faces accusations of corruption.) And, in that forthcoming vote, Khan will most probably lose .

But even the specifics of those elections are contentious. Khan had asked the electoral commission to set a date within the next 90 days; opposition politicians told NPR that reforms are needed before the next vote, otherwise they say the military will “rig” the next elections.

Long-term, things are even less clear. Among civil society leaders in Pakistan, there is agreement that the supreme court’s ruling is good for constitutionalism. But it may also be a vehicle for further expansion of the judiciary’s ability to intervene in politics.

Kureshi, an expert on the courts of Pakistan and how they have increasingly become the arbiter of politics in the country, says the bigger takeaways won’t be fully understood until the court releases the full text of its ruling in the next month or so. That detailed order may set other legal precedents and even cast the opposition in a bad light.

After the immediate euphoria of keeping Khan’s audacious unconstitutional maneuver in check, that judgment may say a lot about how the court sees itself, especially its supervisory role over the parliament and prime minister.

“The elected institutions are deeply constrained by the tutelage of overly empowered unelected institutions, whether it is the military, historically, or the judiciary more recently,” said Kureshi. “Judgments like this give them an opportunity to further affirm and expand that role.”

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Pakistan’s political crisis: Implications and scenarios

• Thu, April 7, 2022 • 10:30 am ET

The South Asia Center’s Pakistan Initiative hosts a discussion on the dismissal of the vote of no-confidence against Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and what it means for the future of Pakistan.

Over the past few weeks, Pakistan has experienced increasing political and economic uncertainty, including a populist cut in petroleum prices, rising tempo in terror attacks, and the planned ouster of Prime Minister Imran Khan in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence. The motion for the vote was moved in parliament about one month ago, with opposing parties assembled under the Pakistan Democratic Movement arguing that Khan had lost his parliamentary majority. This was followed by a swift response by the prime minister in amplifying populist rhetoric, with aim of maintaining eligibility as a leader for the people and pointing to opposition and western powers as orchestrating his downfall.

Between alliances breaking and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) dissidents withdrawing support for Prime Minister Khan and his party, the chances of him remaining prime minister until recently appeared slim, and many thought that the PTI would fall short of the 172 votes required to stay in power. 

On April 3, 2022, parliament convened to vote, but Khan miraculously survived after the deputy speaker of parliament dismissed the vote of no-confidence, using Khan’s claims of a foreign plot as his rationale. Khan quickly moved to dissolve parliament and called for fresh elections. Meanwhile, opposition parties have approached the Supreme Court, claiming that the deputy speaker’s decision was unconstitutional.

In light of these events, the Atlantic Council’s Pakistan Initiative (as part of the South Asia Center) holds a discussion on Thursday, April 7 at 10:30AM US ET / 7:30PM PKT about the implications of these developments and what they means for the future of Pakistan.

Shuja Nawaz Distinguished Fellow South Asia Center, Atlantic Council

Safiya Ghori-Ahmad Non-Resident Senior Fellow South Asia Center, Atlantic Council

Ammar Khan Non-Resident Senior Fellow South Asia Center, Atlantic Council

Moderated by

Uzair Younus Director, Pakistan Initiative South Asia Center, Atlantic Council

Follow the conversation on Twitter with @AtlanticCouncil and @ACSouthAsia using #PakistaniPolitics

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Four Unfolding Political and Constitutional Crises in Pakistan: An Explainer and Recommendations

• May 28, 2023 |

Mary Hunter ,

• Image Credit: VOA News

There are four major interconnected and mutually exacerbating political and constitutional crises currently unfolding in Pakistan, in addition to its economic woes, increasing frequency of terror attacks and its ongoing recovery in the wake of last years floods. These crises are delayed provincial elections, questions over the powers of the Chief Justice, arrests of opposition leaders and consequent extrajudicial violence and, finally, the proposed trials of civilians under military courts.

• Delayed provincial elections

After Imran Khan was ousted from office by a vote of no confidence, he announced in December 2022 that the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies would be dissolved to pave the way for elections and to disassociate his party from the current corrupt political system amidst rising inflation, unemployment and a brain drain. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led assemblies were eventually dissolved in January 2023, Punjab on the 14 and KP on the 18. Article 105 of the constitution states that provincial elections must be held within 90 days after dissolution, which means that elections should have been held in Punjab and KP by the 14 and 18 April, respectively.

On 20 February, President Alvi unilaterally declared 9 April as the date for the Punjab and KP elections in order to uphold the constitution after he claimed that the governors of Punjab and KP had not performed their duty to appoint a date. The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial decided to take suo motu notice (action taken by the court of its own volition) of the issue two days later, with the Supreme Court (SC) consequently declaring on 1 March that elections should be held within the 90-day period, allowing the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to deviate from this deadline by the barest minimum.

Yet, the ECP announced on 22 March that the Punjab elections would be postponed until 8 October, setting the same date for KP a few days later. This was after the interior and finance ministries had informed the ECP that elections are not possible due to deteriorating law and order situation, charged political environment, serious threat to politicians and that it would be difficult for the federal government to release the necessary funds due to the economic crisis. The army had also suggested it would not be available for election duties in light of the security situation across the country.

The authorities must conduct their investigations and application of the law consistently and without political motivation, regardless of the political affiliation of the involved parties. Otherwise, the integrity of the government and police will remain shattered.

The PTI consequently approached the SC to contest the ECPs delay in elections. Shortly after, on 4 April, the SC (a three-member bench under CJP Bandial) ruled that the ECPs postponement of the Punjab elections was unconstitutional and announced that elections would be held on 14 May for the Punjab Assembly, citing that the ECP did not have the authority to extend the constitutional deadline for elections. It directed the federal government to release the required election funds for both Punjab and KP by 10 April and for the Punjab caretaker government and federal government to provide security plans. The central bank subsequently allocated the funds to conduct the Punjab elections but stated that it did not have the authority to release the funds, while the National Assembly passed a resolution to not release those funds on 17 April.

In line with Interior Minister Rana Sanaullahs warning on 22 April that elections would not be held on 14 May because the army, judiciary and ECP were not ready, 14 May passed by without the Punjab elections being held. Therefore, the lapse of the 90-day period for elections represents a violation of the constitution in a move largely characterised as democracy delayed is democracy denied.

• Powers of the Chief Justice of Pakistan

Another crisis emerged out of the above, insofar as the CJP had taken suo motu notice on 22 February of the delay in announcing the provincial elections, a power granted to the SC through Article 184(3) of the constitution. The original nine-member bench was reduced to five; after four judges recused themselves, and it was ruled in a 3-2 verdict on 1 March that the elections had to be held within the 90-day constitutional period.

The same day, SC justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Jamal Khan Mandokhail released a dissenting note, calling for a revisit to the power of one-man show enjoyed by the office of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, given its incompatibility with democratic norms and susceptibility to abuse of power. Two of the major issues Shah and Mandokhail identified with suo motu proceedings were that, firstly, the action should not constitute judicial overreach if, like in this case, the issue was already pending adjudication before a provincial high court or had already been decided by a high court, secondly, that this original jurisdiction of the court is extraordinary and only to be exercised in exceptional cases relating to the protection of fundamental rights. This jurisdiction must not, therefore, be frequently and incautiously exercised, lest it damages the public image of the Court as an impartial judicial institution.

Usama Khawar, a practising lawyer and teacher of law at LUMS, wrote in Dawn that the suo motu jurisdiction had been challenged before but without success and that, practically, suo motu means that the CJP may take up any issue of interest to him, fix it for hearing before a bench of his choosing, which almost always is the bench headed by himself and give a decision of his liking. Most importantly, there is no remedy of appeal against the decision by the SC in its original jurisdiction.

As another lawyer, Azwar Shakeel, noted , the two senior-most judges, Qazi Faez Isa and Sardar Tariq Masood, were not included in the bench, while Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi was, despite the audio leak controversy. Isa would later pen a note with Aminuddin Khan that the CJP does not have the authority to make special benches nor decide its members; after a five-member bench was formed in response to the PTIs petition about the ECPs delay in the election date. After Khan and Mandokhail recused themselves, the three-member bench ruled that the ECPs delay in the Punjab elections was unconstitutional and that they should be held on 14 May.

On 28 March, the federal cabinet approved new legislation, called the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023, with the aim of removing the powers of the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice and to constitute benches. The bill was swiftly passed by the National Assembly on 29 March, which has been welcomed by some lawyers in light of the identified issues above.

The central constitutional and political questions here thus include: who has the constitutional authority to choose a date for provincial elections after the assemblies stand dissolved (Shah and Mandokhails note states the Lahore High Court ruled it was the ECP)? Do the suo motu powers of the Chief Justice represent the overreach of the SC, and do they reduce the integrity and credibility of the Court? Has the judiciary, particularly the figure of the CJP, become too politicised or activist (chief of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) (JUI-F), Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, had called for a sit-in of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) outside the SC, alleging that the CJP been facilitating Khan)?

• Arrests of opposition leaders and consequent extrajudicial violence

Imran Khan was arrested on 9 May by paramilitary rangers on the orders of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) during his appearance at the Islamabad High Court on corruption charges. He was arrested in relation to the Al-Qadir Trust case, which alleges that the PTI chief and his wife obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from a real estate firm for legalising Rs50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government.

On the same day, widespread protests and rioting broke out, with the BBC reporting from Islamabad on the same day that highways had been blocked, fires lit and stones were thrown. There was also an attack by protestors on the Pakistan Armys General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, the Lahore Corps Commanders House and family and the setting on fire of the Radio Pakistan building in Peshawar. At least eight people are reported to have died, and hundreds more have been injured in the protests. Unacceptable extrajudicial violence, vandalism and arson have been meted out by the general public and the police alike. The government has also been accused of double standards for allowing and even facilitating a JUI-led sit-in in front of the SC on 15 May while section 144 was enforced in the capital.

On 10-11 May, numerous significant PTI leaders were arrested, largely under section 3 of the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960, in relation to the aforementioned law and order situation across the country. Others were charged for other alleged offences, such as Omar Sarfraz Cheema for misuse of powers while being the governor of Punjab. After some leaders had been released and granted bail, they were rearrested , including Shireen Mazari, Senator Falak Naz, Maleeka Bokhair and Yasmin Rashid.

Three days after Khans arrest, on 11 May, the SC ruled that the manner of execution of the arrest warrant issued against Imran Khan was invalid and unlawful, despite the Islamabad High Court had declared his arrest legal after finding that his fundamental rights under articles 4, 9, 10-A and 14 of the constitution had been infringed. When summoned to court the following day, Khan was granted bail for two weeks in relation to the Al-Qadir Trust case and protected from any rearrest before that time.

The political affiliation of the violent protests and the forces that have incited them have been disputed. A spokesperson for the Punjab Police said on 15 May that 3,186 PTI workers had been arrested since 9 May, with the Punjab governments intelligence wing tasked with identifying those within the PTI suspected of involvement in the attack on the Corps Commanders House. But Imran Khan alleged that this campaign is a ruse to silence and oppress PTI workers and supporters and that the violent protestors of 9 May were employed by the state to ruin the PTIs image, though he nor the PTI have offered any evidence to support this claim. Khans own government was criticised for its repeated crackdown on the political opposition, with Human Rights Watch alleging that opposition leaders were arrested on politically motivated charges, in which the NAB again played a partial role. However, the sheer number of PTI leaders and workers in such a short time span has been greater.

While those who have responded to the arrest of PTI leaders with violence and intimidation against the state and the people must face justice, all members of the party cannot be treated indiscriminately for the crimes of some of its members. After it was reported that 564 PTI workers had been arrested, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan tweeted on 14 May that it is deeply concerned by reports of random arrests and cases filed arbitrarily against PTI workers across Pakistan. A distinction must always be made between those resorting to violence and nonviolent political workers. No one must ever be penalised for their party affiliations. This goes against all democratic norms.

• Proposed trial of civilians in military courts

During a special Corps Commanders Conference on 15 May, it was announced that civilians suspected of involvement in the unrest could be tried under the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 and the Official Secrets Act, with the army terming 9 May when military installations were attacked as a black day. While the Army Act is primarily concerned with trials of military and civilian personnel employed by the Pakistan Army, amendments to the Army Act in 2015 allowed civilians to be tried by military courts if they, among other things, were involved in attacking military officers or installations, terrorism and wider anti-state activities. But ultimately, prosecution requires sanction from the federal government. This was confirmed by a retired army official, who also said that over 20 civilians had been tried under the Army Act during Khans tenure. Indeed, a letter was written by Human Rights Watch to Khan while he was the prime minister in August 2018, which addressed how military courts had been reinstated in March 2018 to try civilians, in part because they do not allow independent monitoring.

PML-Ns Senior Vice President, Maryam Nawaz, has since supported the call to try those involved in the violence on 9 May in light of the politicisation of the civilian courts, alleging that they have become controversial and a tool of a political party, referring to the PTI. However, lawyers have suggested that the use of military courts against civilians is an affront to human rights, contravening Article 10-A of the constitution (right to a fair trial). They should be avoided at all costs, noting that the related offences are covered by Pakistan Penal Code, such as rioting, mutiny and defilement of the national flag.

Dinushika Dissanayake, Deputy Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International, also said that the organisation had documented a catalogue of human right violations stemming from trying civilians in military courts in Pakistan, including flagrant disregard for due process, lack of transparency, coerced confessions, and executions after grossly unfair trials. Therefore, any indication that the trial of civilians could be held in military courts is incompatible with Pakistans obligations under international human rights law.

Conclusions

These overlapping political and constitutional crises relating to democracy, the integrity of the judiciary and office of the president, the powers of the CJP, arrests of opposition leaders, extrajudicial violence by the public and authorities and the trial of civilians within the military courts are not new phenomena in Pakistan, yet their consequences for the rights of the people, the state of the judiciary, law and order and political polarisation remain dire. Politically motivated arrests of opposition leaders and the use of military courts had occurred under Khans government, to which he and his party are now falling victim. This cannot excuse the treatment of Khan and the wider PTI, but it does complicate the path towards a resolution and a commitment to never again, given the messy involvement of all parties, past and present.

Steps towards this path must include sincere attempts at dialogue between all relevant stakeholders, political or otherwise, in order to put the people first. This can help with healing among the general public too. Provincial elections should be held as soon as possible to restore democratically elected governments in Punjab and KP and, thus, faith in the system. The authorities must conduct their investigations and application of the law consistently and without political motivation, regardless of the political affiliation of the involved parties. Otherwise, the integrity of the government and police will remain shattered. Consistency and a rules-based process, as advised by the lawyers above, is also necessary within the judiciary to maintain its independence, ensure justice is done and prevent judicial overreach. The general public should not resort to violence, vandalism and intimidation, while the right to peaceful protest should be protected. Finally, the military courts are not the appropriate place to try civilians involved in the unrest, who should instead be tried through the criminal legal system.

Mary Hunter

Mary Hunter is a PhD candidate at the University of St Andrews, researching the Islamisation of Pakistan. She is also a freelance writer on issues relating to Islamophobia, Pakistan and its diaspora in the UK.

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Pakistan’s political and constitutional crisis

Subscribe to the center for middle east policy newsletter, madiha afzal , madiha afzal fellow - foreign policy , center for middle east policy , strobe talbott center for security, strategy, and technology @madihaafzal fahd husain , and fahd husain columnist and political commentator - dawn @fahdhusain michael e. o’hanlon michael e. o’hanlon director of research - foreign policy , director - strobe talbott center for security, strategy, and technology , co-director - africa security initiative , senior fellow - foreign policy , strobe talbott center for security, strategy, and technology , philip h. knight chair in defense and strategy @michaeleohanlon.

April 8, 2022

On April 8, Brookings Fellow Madiha Afzal and Fahd Husain, columnist and political commentator for Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, discussed the implications and future of Pakistan’s government following the Supreme Court decision to allow a vote of no confidence to proceed against Prime Minister Imran Khan. The conversation was moderated by Brookings Senior Fellow Michael O’Hanlon.

I think there still is a lot of work to be done in order to solidify Pakistan’s democracy. But at this moment one can say yes, the constitution has been prevailing in its letter. Pakistan’s civilian governments always spend their time in power with this threat of political instability, with the opposition being out to oust them… they spend their time in power … putting out political fires, if you will, rather than engaging in governance … reform and meaningful institutional change that the country so desperately needs.

Yesterday was a very a big and a very significant day in terms of the Supreme Court judgment because before that, frankly, there was a fall of depression because of the blatant way that the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan violated the constitution. It was seen as a brazen attempt to bypass the basic requirements of the constitution… The last couple of days there was a lot of confusion, ambiguity, and fear that we [Pakistan] were sliding into a very dangerous fail in our politics. But yesterday’s decision not only turned this confusion into clarity, but it also made it clear that any deviation from the constitution was not permitted.

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The Political Crisis in Pakistan

by Betty Wehtje | Dec 1, 2022 | Commentary , Democracy & Rule of Law

A political crisis has erupted in Pakistan, following months of unrest since the removal of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in April. Khan lost a no-confidence motion in the parliament and quickly called for his supporters to take to the streets. Since April, protests have occurred across the country with thousands of participants, as Khan accuses his removal of being a conspiracy orchestrated by the US and his political opposition. The political crisis intensified on November 3 , when Khan was shot at a protest in Wazirabad. Khan survived with a wound to the leg and has resumed his fight to return to power, calling for the continuation of his “Long March” toward the capital Islamabad. Since his removal, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, one of the leaders of the opposition, has become the temporary Prime Minister in wait for a new election. Yet no general election date has been set. While Khan and his supporters push for the immediate election, the opposition seeks to hold elections when due in August next year. Furthermore, a new army chief has recently been elected by current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a crucial position since the army greatly influences Pakistan’s politics, adding to the tense political situation. Pakistan has reached a political stalemate that could turn into a harmful conflict. Pakistan is already heavily challenged by an economic crisis and the destruction after the catastrophic floodings, and further political unrest may only make matters even worse.

  Imran Khan, the PTI, and his Political Opposition

  Imran Khan was elected Prime Minister in July 2018 as the leader of the party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The party was founded in 1996 with Khan as the chairman, and it emerged as a socio-political movement for “ justice ,” including fighting inequality and corruption. PTI grew in popularity over the upcoming decades and gained a majority in the 2018 election, which upset his political opponents. Imran Khan is seen as a charismatic populist who can gather huge public support for his party’s causes. In 2018 he vowed to fight corruption and improve governance, yet the results have fallen short. Pakistan has faced severe economic challenges which the government was unable to counter. Furthermore, Pakistan ranked 140 among 180 countries in the Transparency International Index. According to the index, corruption in 2021 was worse than in 2018. Still, Khan gathers great support among voters in Pakistan and a majority supports his call for direct elections, which might result in his return as Prime Minister. Khan has continued his “Long March” to Islamabad in demand of immediate elections, and supporters have openly stated that they are ready to defend themselves if the protests are met with violence. Khan has recently been accused of derailing democracy when commenting on the possibility of martial laws being imposed in Pakistan as the tense political situation continues.

 Khan’s no-confidence vote was led by the opposition parties, the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Some key figures are the current Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (leader of PML-N), Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, and Asif Ali Zardari (heads of PPP). Khan has been harsh on the opposition, calling them “a gang of thieves,” threatening to expose their corruption and claim accountability, and the no-confidence vote was seen as an attempt to save themselves . However, the opposition pointed to Khan’s weak performance during his time as Prime Minister, with spiraling inflation and a massive devaluation of the rupee. Additionally, Khan has been criticized for appointing Usman Buzdar as Chief Minister in the Punjab province, who later was accused of widespread corruption . The opposition eventually won the no-confidence vote against Khan in April, as dozens of party members defected and some key allies voted against him. Yet, critical voices point to the army as the decisive actor who tipped the scales to the point that resulted in Khan’s removal, as Khan lost its support during his time as Prime Minister.

The Army: A Powerful and Decisive Player in Politics

 Pakistan is a democracy, yet the country has a powerful and influential army, which significantly impacts politics. Pakistan has a long history of coups and military involvement in politics. There have been four military coups against elected governments since Pakistan’s independence in 1947, the latest being in 1999. The army has continued to have a significant impact on politics, especially concerning security and foreign policy. When Khan became Prime Minister in 2018, he announced his good relations with the army as the two were “on the same page,” and it seemed like Khan enjoyed close ties with the military during his first months in government. However, differences quickly appeared as his leadership did not fulfil its promises, and his opposition blamed the military for bringing him to power. Tensions rose further in late 2021 when Khan opposed the army’s decision to appoint a new chief of the intelligence services since he was a close ally of the incumbent Lt.Gen.Faiz Hameed. Khan eventually lost this fight against the army, and their cleavages became more visible. The war in Ukraine also became a source to widen the division between the army and Khan. With his anti-American policies and fear of India’s growing geopolitical influence, Khan has been getting closer to Russia, with a historic and criticized visit to Moscow on February 24 . He became the first Pakistani Prime Minister to visit Russia since 1999, which happened to take place as the invasion of Ukraine began. While Khan has resisted condemning the war in Ukraine and said Pakistan was to be neutral in the conflict, the military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has criticized Russia for its aggression on Ukraine, showing further political differences between Khan and the army.

 Critics have long accused the military of orchestrating the removal of elected governments that do not follow the military’s institutional lines, which Khan and his supporters accused the military of having followed this modus operandi in April. Khan believes his former ally has betrayed him, and he has tried to halter the election of a new army chief which has been discussed this fall. The now outgoing army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, admits that the military has “meddled in politics for decades,” but since February, it has been decided that the institution will no longer do so. Still, Khan has continued to criticize the army, and the newly elected army chief General Asim Munir, appointed by the current Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, might become yet another backlash for Khan and his relationship with the military.

The Future is Uncertain

 Pakistan is facing great challenges ahead, dealing with both an economic crisis and political instability. Politics are tumultuous, with an “all versus Khan” dynamic, in a changing environment with both a new Prime Minister and a new Chief of the army. The removal of Khan could be seen as part of the democratic process of parliamentary accountability, yet history seems to repeat itself in Pakistan. No democratically elected Prime Minister has ever completed a five-year term due to military coups, presidential ousting, and disqualifications from holding public office. The democratic process in Pakistan is vulnerable and has experienced considerable instability since the country’s independence. Corruption allegations, grievances, and political turmoil are common themes in Pakistani history, with the military as a recurrent stakeholder in politics.

 It is impossible to predict the future of Pakistan, but it does not seem like Khan is to be excluded. His public support appears to have grown even larger since his removal in April, and his continued rallies across the country still attract the masses. The question is when the general elections will be held and if Khan will gain a majority again. Khan has shown his clear will for elections to be held this winter in hopes of keeping up the momentum. On Saturday, Khan said that the PTI would resign from the provincial assemblies to force the Shehbaz Sharif-led government to hold immediate elections. It is still to be seen what role the new Chief of the army will play in this political conundrum. Even though it is said that the army would no longer interfere with politics, Khan’s ousting has again put the army at the epicentre of the Pakistani political landscape. Tensions will likely increase continuously, and it is difficult to say for sure that there is a non-violent solution to the current political crisis unfolding in Pakistan, a country with a turbulent past and a vulnerable democracy.

Betty Wehtje is a research assistant intern at Beyond the Horizon ISSG. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies at Lund University in Sweden.

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Pakistan’s political crisis and the imperatives of economic reform

Pakistan continues to reel from uncertainty as its political transition — ill-timed during a period of domestic and global economic tumult — has yet to consolidate. 

Political volatility during the new governing coalition’s first two months in power has led to policy paralysis. But this paralysis has begun to ease as the army has signaled support for the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) continues to press for austerity measures.

The IMF has made clear that it will only release the next $1 billion tranche from Pakistan’s $6 billion Extended Fund Facility if Islamabad raises fuel and electricity prices and takes aggressive measures to reduce the fiscal deficit. And the resumption of the IMF program is essential to unlocking assistance from other bilateral and multilateral partners and staving off a balance of payments crisis. As a result, the coalition led by the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) has finally started raising energy prices .

These measures will ease Pakistan’s twin deficit challenge, involving both fiscal and current account deficits, but they will also take a heavy toll on the average Pakistani. Inflation, which hit 13.8% in May , could rise to around 20% and remain in the double digits into next year. This will be a painful summer for Pakistanis as they're hit with a one-two punch of rising energy prices and electricity supply cuts .

Understandably, the PML-N would like other power brokers, including the army, to share the political burden of economic reform . Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called for the adoption of a Charter of the Economy — a national consensus on economic reform.

The idea is sound, but politically infeasible right now. What is more important is for Pakistan’s current federal and provincial governments to go beyond firefighting and push forward essential reforms — including in agriculture, energy, and local governance — that are key to ensuring the country’s political and economic stability and long-term growth prospects. Indeed, it is in their political interest to do so.

Pakistan’s angry middle class

Pakistan’s power elite must recognize that this is an exceptional moment in the country’s history — an inflection point both politically and economically.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, once backed by the powerful army and Inter-Services Intelligence agency, is taking on the new government and the army leadership. Khan is not just backed by what one might call the “anti-elite elite,” but also by much of the middle class.

Sixty-two percent of those with a full secondary education or higher said they were “angry” about Khan’s ouster in an April survey conducted by Gallup Pakistan. Given widespread anti-U.S. sentiment, Khan’s claims of being deposed by an American "regime change” campaign have resonated with this demographic. But it’s not the only reason why they support him. Khan is also tapping into their resentment of the status quo.

In recent years, Pakistan’s middle class has been hit hard by unemployment and inflation. According to the Pakistan Human Development Report 2020 from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the real growth rate of per capita income for Pakistan’s middle class from the 2013-14 and 2018-19 fiscal years trailed that of the rest of the population (1.2% versus 1.8%). The unemployment rate of those with a college degree or higher surged from less than 5% in 2007-08 to over 16% in 2018-19. Pakistan has a seen an expansion of higher education, but there remains a mismatch between the skill sets and preferences of college graduates and the demands of employers. As the current government reduces blanket subsidies, replacing them with targeted cash transfers for the very poor, macroeconomic stabilization may largely come at the middle class’s expense. And that could have political as well as geopolitical ramifications.

Khan has fused the issues of inflation and national sovereignty by alleging that the Sharif government is afraid of incurring Washington’s wrath by following through on an agreement he claims to have made with Moscow for importing discounted Russian oil. He notes that New Delhi has ramped up imports of Russian oil and, as a result, has been able to avoid fuel price hikes.

A focused reform agenda

The big picture is this: Pakistan’s economy is working, but only for its elite. Sustained, rapid, and equitable economic growth has remained elusive due to policy distortions that serve its civilian and military elite.

The aforementioned UNDP report , produced by a team of Pakistani researchers led by Dr. Hafiz Pasha, offers an exceptional deconstruction of Pakistan’s political economy. It assesses that in the 2017-18 fiscal year alone, Pakistan’s corporate, feudal, and military elite received the equivalent of $13 billion in current dollar terms in “benefits and privileges” — roughly 7% of the country's GDP.

Reform is a long-term process. But Pakistan must make use of this “shock” period to redistribute allocations toward social protection and incentivize greater productivity. Delay is not an option. In the coming years, Pakistan’s challenges will only deepen due to climate change and rapid population growth. Pakistan is already one of the world’s 10 most populous countries and it will remain among those ranks as its population surges over the coming decades.

Pakistan needs a path toward sustained, rapid, and equitable economic growth that incorporates its fast-growing population into the labor market. But Pakistan is a net energy importer with a narrow export base. Periods of economic expansion have been consumption-driven and import-dependent. As a result, Pakistan’s economy overheats once growth passes the 5-6% range . It is vital that the current government devote its energy and reallocate resources toward facilitating export growth, improving agricultural productivity, and addressing the domestic fuel production deficit.

Pakistan’s agricultural sector has grown at an average rate of less than 2% since the 2014-15 fiscal year. Declining agricultural productivity, a rapidly growing population, increasing water stress, and the worsening effects of climate change are all exacerbating an already-serious food security challenge. The agricultural industry also contributes to the massive electric power industry arrears. Pakistan provides hundreds of millions of dollars in annual electric power subsidies for agricultural tube wells. And edible oils are among Pakistan’s top imports .

Policy experiments in Pakistan in recent years have identified solutions to these challenges. For example, conditioning the provision of low-interest loans for solar tube well installation on the use of high-efficiency irrigation systems or allowing net-metering can promote water conservation, lower input costs, and help curtail power sector debt.

Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments should also incentivize innovation in the private sector seed development industry and the local production of edible oils.

With domestic gas and oil reserves in decline, Pakistan’s vulnerability to surges in global fuel prices will grow. It needs to ramp up domestic energy exploration, promote renewables, and assess the feasibility of green hydrogen and ammonia production, especially in southern Balochistan.

Finally, Pakistan must strengthen the “last mile” of governance. Pakistani politicians often hail China’s model of governance, but few recognize the role of decentralization of power and empowerment of local governments in China’s growth story.

To their credit, Pakistan’s politicians banded together to devolve power to the provinces under the 18th Amendment. Yet most have been averse to devolving power down to elected local bodies, with some provincial governments repeatedly delaying local elections. That has left large metropolises like Karachi orphaned when it comes to local governance and stunts their ability to grow and develop independent sources of revenue, including through the issuance of bonds.

Political stability in Pakistan cannot be ensured simply through intra-elite deals made in Islamabad. It also requires improving the last mile of governance and the responsiveness of the state to the needs of the public.

Arif Rafiq is the president of Vizier Consulting LLC, a political risk advisory company focused on the Middle East and South Asia, and a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute (MEI). 

Photo by AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images

The Middle East Institute (MEI) is an independent, non-partisan, non-for-profit, educational organization. It does not engage in advocacy and its scholars’ opinions are their own. MEI welcomes financial donations, but retains sole editorial control over its work and its publications reflect only the authors’ views. For a listing of MEI donors, please click her e .

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The Current Situation in Pakistan

A USIP Fact Sheet

Monday, January 23, 2023

Publication Type: Fact Sheet

Pakistan continues to face multiple sources of internal and external conflict. Extremism and intolerance of diversity and dissent have grown, fuelled by a narrow vision of Pakistan’s national identity, and are threatening the country’s prospects for social cohesion and stability.   

The inability of state institutions to reliably provide peaceful ways to resolve grievances has encouraged groups to seek violence as an alternative. The country saw peaceful political transitions after the 2013 and 2018 elections. However, as the country prepares for anticipated elections in 2023, it continues to face a fragile economy along with deepening domestic polarization. Meanwhile, devastating flooding across Pakistan in 2022 has caused billions in damage, strained the country’s agriculture and health sectors, and also laid bare Pakistan’s vulnerability to climate disasters and troubling weaknesses in governance and economic stability.

Regionally, Pakistan faces a resurgence of extremist groups along its border with Afghanistan, which has raised tensions with Taliban-led Afghanistan. Despite a declared ceasefire on the Line of Control in Kashmir in 2021, relations with India remain stagnant and vulnerable to crises that pose a threat to regional and international security. The presence and influence of China, as a great power and close ally of Pakistan, has both the potential to ameliorate and exacerbate various internal and external conflicts in the region.

USIP’S Work

The U.S. Institute of Peace has conducted research and analysis and promoted dialogue in Pakistan since the 1990s, with a presence in the country since 2013. The Institute works to help reverse Pakistan’s growing intolerance of diversity and to increase social cohesion. USIP supports local organizations that develop innovative ways to build peace and promote narratives of inclusion using media, arts, technology, dialogues and education.

USIP works with state institutions in their efforts to be more responsive to citizens’ needs, which can reduce the use of violence to resolve grievances. The Institute supports work to improve police-community relations, promote greater access to justice and strengthen inclusive democratic institutions and governance. USIP also conducts and supports research in Pakistan to better understand drivers of peace and conflict and informs international policies and programs that promote peace and tolerance within Pakistan, between Pakistan and its neighbors, and between Pakistan and the United States.

USIP’s Work in Pakistan Includes:

Improving police-community relations for effective law enforcement

The Pakistani police have struggled with a poor relationship with the public, characterized by mistrust and mistreatment, which has hindered effective policing. USIP has partnered with national and provincial police departments to aid in building police-community relationships and strengthening policing in Pakistan through training, capacity building and social media engagement.

Building sustainable mechanisms for dialogue, critical thinking and peace education.

Nearly two-thirds of Pakistan’s population is under the age of 30. Youth with access to higher education carry disproportionate influence in society. However, Pakistan’s siloed education system does not allow interactions across diverse groups or campuses, leading to intolerance, and in some cases, radicalization. To tackle growing intolerance of diversity on university campuses, USIP has partnered with civil society and state institutions to support programs that establish sustainable mechanisms for dialogue, critical thinking and peace education.

Helping Pakistanis rebuild traditions of tolerance to counter extremists’ demands for violence

USIP supports local cultural leaders, civil society organizations, artists and others in reviving local traditions and discourses that encourage acceptance of diversity, promote dialogue and address social change. USIP also supports media production — including theater, documentaries and collections of short stories — which offer counter narratives to extremism and religious fundamentalism.

Support for acceptance and inclusion of religious minorities

Relations between religious communities in Pakistan have deteriorated, with some instances of intercommunal violence or other forms of exclusion. USIP supports the efforts of local peacebuilders, including religious scholars and leaders, to promote interfaith harmony, peaceful coexistence and equitable inclusion of minorities (gender, ethnic and religious) in all spheres of public life.

Supporting inclusive and democratic institutions

To help democratic institutions be more responsive to citizens, USIP supports technical assistance to state institutions and efforts to empower local governments, along with helping relevant civil society actors advocate for greater inclusion of marginalized groups. Gender has been a major theme of this effort and across USIP’s programming in Pakistan. These programs empower women in peacebuilding and democratic processes through research, advocacy and capacity building.

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Imran Khan’s Fall: Political and Security Implications for Pakistan

Imran Khan has become the first Pakistani prime minister to lose office through a parliamentary no-confidence vote. In this Q&A, Crisis Group expert Samina Ahmed explains that his ouster occurred by constitutional means, but his challenge to the new government’s legitimacy could lead to violence.

How did the political crisis escalate?

The Pakistani parliament voted no confidence in Prime Minister Imran Khan in the early hours of 10 April, in a culmination of tensions that had been building for some time. Khan’s main opponents, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), had long insisted that his victory in the 2018 general elections was the result of military interference. But beyond that shared belief, the two parties differed over ways to oppose Khan’s government; the PPP called for a no-trust vote in the federal parliament while the PML-N vacillated, opting at times to resign from the legislature and at other times to take to the streets in protest. The Khan government brought its two rivals together by consistently targeting their top leadership through a flawed accountability process overseen by the controversial National Accountability Bureau. Meanwhile, public anger at the government was growing because of soaring inflation and governance failures. Politicisation of the bureaucracy and interference in policing deprived citizens of basis services and security. The prospect of unrest was real. Yet when the opposition agreed on a common goal, ousting Khan through constitutional means – a no-trust vote in parliament – it posed a far bigger threat to the prime minister’s survival in office.

On 8 March, the joint opposition, which alongside PML-N and PPP included Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and other smaller parties, introduced a no-trust motion in parliament. At first, it lacked sufficient votes (172 in the 342-member National Assembly, the lower house) to de-seat the prime minister, who was three and a half years into his five-year term of office. But Khan had two important political vulnerabilities that allowed the opposition measure to pick up support. First, rifts within the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had widened amid reports that a sizeable number of parliamentarians who had joined the PTI after leaving their previous parties intended to defect to the opposition. PML-N in particular was attractive to potential defectors as it seemed to be getting stronger with general elections due in mid-2023. The party, which has retained its large base, appeared to have gained ground in its traditional stronghold Punjab, the country’s most populous province with the largest number of parliamentary seats, where Khan’s handpicked chief minister had done little to win over voters by improving delivery of basic services. Khan’s second weakness was rising inflation, which predated the supply problems caused by the Ukraine war. Since it headed a coalition government with a razor-thin majority in the centre, the PTI government needed to keep key partners, the Sindh-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), the Balochistan-based Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and the Punjab-based Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam, on side.

To neutralise the threat posed by party dissidents, the PTI government approached the Supreme Court through a presidential petition, which, among other questions, asked the court if there could be a lifetime disqualification from legislative office for party defectors under Article 63-A, which de-seats a parliamentarian for violating party directives. That issue is still pending before the judges. As both the joint opposition and the government escalated their efforts to woo the PTI’s coalition partners, electoral calculations once again came into play. Perceiving the PML-N and PPP as better placed than an increasingly unpopular PTI in the forthcoming general elections, the BAP first joined the ranks of the opposition, followed by MQM-P. By 28 March, the day the no-trust vote was scheduled, the opposition was confident it no longer needed PTI dissidents to vote Khan out.  

That is when Khan played what he called his “trump card”. On 27 March, he addressed a rally in Islamabad that he dubbed Amr Bil Maroof (“enjoining what is good and forbidding what is wrong”, two religious duties of devout Muslims). While continuing to accuse the opposition of buying the loyalty of PTI dissidents, he now also warned of a “foreign conspiracy” behind its efforts to remove him. He accused the opposition parties of receiving foreign funds and conspiring at the behest of a foreign power to oust his government, later identifying the U.S. as that power.  

Washington’s displeasure with his government’s foreign policy lies at the heart of Khan’s conspiracy theory. He claims that his visit to Moscow in February, on the day Russia’s attack on Ukraine began – along with his opposition to the U.S. war in Afghanistan – explains U.S. attempts to remove him. Insisting that Pakistan’s military leadership agrees the U.S. was trying to oust his government, Khan claims as evidence a “threat letter”. In reality, there was no letter; Islamabad’s then ambassador to Washington had sent a diplomatic cable following his 7 March meeting with the U.S. assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, but it contained no suggestion that the U.S. wanted to depose the government. The Biden administration denied any such intention. But President Vladimir Putin’s government in Moscow backed Khan’s allegations, which may lend his foreign conspiracy narrative worrying long-term implications. Several Pakistani diplomats express concern that the political use of a diplomatic cable will make it harder for them to discuss sensitive issues with foreign counterparts. Yet Khan appears bent on using it both to undermine the domestic standing of his political opponents now in power in Islamabad and to galvanise his base, including for the forthcoming general elections. 

What role has the country’s powerful military played?

The military supported Khan before he formed his government, leading the opposition to claim that the PTI owed its victory in the 2018 elections to the generals. After Khan took power, he enjoyed nearly free rein in the domestic domain while the military high command retained control of sensitive foreign and security policy files. Khan and his cabinet ministers were often keen to emphasise that the PTI government and the military leadership were “on the same page”.

Yet that relationship became increasingly strained when the prime minister encroached on the military’s jealously guarded institutional autonomy. In October 2021, Khan refused to speedily sign off on the military’s nominee for the crucial post of Inter-Services Intelligence Chief. He backed down in the end, abandoning efforts to retain his preferred candidate Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed on the grounds that he was best placed to deal with the crisis next door in Afghanistan , and approving the high command’s choice, Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum. But the damage was done. With the second three-year stint for army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, the senior-most military officer, coming to an end in November 2022, the generals might have thought that Khan would once again try to muscle in a loyalist, this time to the top position.

Khan’s hardline anti-West foreign policy has also likely played a role in the military’s decision to distance itself from its political ally. The prime minister’s ill-timed visit to Moscow had taken place just days before the opposition lodged its 8 March no-trust motion. Ignoring Washington’s calls to cancel the trip, Khan also took umbrage at a 1 March open letter from 22 Islamabad-based diplomats, including emissaries of all the major European Union states, asking Pakistan to condemn Russia’s aggression in Ukraine at the UN General Assembly. “Are we your slaves?”, the prime minister said at a public meeting. The EU is Pakistan’s largest trading partner and a source of much-needed assistance for a faltering economy, particularly through the provision of GSP+ status. Khan’s hostility toward the EU came at a time when the military high command was attempting – including through a mid-February visit by army chief Bajwa to Brussels – to ease tensions with EU institutions, including over differing approaches toward Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. 

Differences between the army chief and the prime minister on foreign and security policy grew even wider after Khan said the high command had at the 31 March National Security Council meeting backed his claims that the opposition was conniving with the U.S. to remove him. In fact, the meeting had merely resulted in a foreign ministry demarche to the top U.S. diplomat in Islamabad, which though critical of Washington’s “blatant interference” in Pakistan’s internal affairs, did not endorse Khan’s contention that the U.S. was plotting to oust his government. As the PTI government continued to insist that the military was on its side, a day before the opposition’s no-trust vote against Khan, the army chief issued what appeared to be a public rebuke of the prime minister’s anti-Western and seemingly pro-Russian agenda. Speaking at an event in Islamabad on 2 April, Bajwa strongly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and also emphasised that Pakistan had a “long and excellent strategic relationship with the U.S., which remains our largest export market”.

Most significantly, the military has avoided taking sides in the political standoff. Indeed, a last-minute gambit by Khan to involve the military failed. When approached on 30 March, the army chief and his intelligence director reportedly discussed three options with the prime minister: resign, call for new elections or face the vote of no-confidence. Khan opted for new elections, but the joint opposition insisted that he either resign or face the no-trust vote. The Supreme Court’s intervention would decide the fate of the prime minister and his government. Yet the high command’s decision to stay out of the political fray bears implications for the future.  

How has the Supreme Court’s intervention shaped the political crisis?

On 27 March, when Khan first claimed to have “exposed” a foreign conspiracy to oust him, he expressed hope that party dissidents would nonetheless rejoin the PTI. Khan was also still optimistic that his coalition partners would rethink the wisdom of joining hands with an opposition he accused of undermining national security. Yet both party dissidents and coalition partners sensed that they would do better in forthcoming elections by abandoning Khan.

The PTI attempted for several days to obstruct the no-confidence vote. Since it knew the joint opposition now had the necessary votes in parliament, it first opted for delaying tactics, with the speaker of parliament refusing on one pretext or another to table the no-confidence motion in the National Assembly. On 3 April, well after the fourteen-day constitutional deadline for the parliamentary debate on the motion, it finally made it into the legislature’s agenda. In choreographed moves, the government then set about disrupting the process. As the session began, a federal minister claimed that Pakistan’s envoy to Washington was told during the 7 March meeting with the U.S. diplomat that “relations with Pakistan were dependent on the success of the no-confidence motion”. The minister cited Article 5 of the constitution, which says “loyalty” to the state is the “basic duty of every citizen”, as the basis for dismissing the resolution. Soon thereafter, the deputy speaker dismissed it and, also citing Article 5, said, “No foreign power shall be allowed to topple an elected government through a conspiracy”. Minutes later in a televised address Khan said he had advised the president to dissolve parliament, adding that general elections would soon be held. The president complied and dismissed the National Assembly. He subsequently retained Khan as “interim” prime minister until the appointment of a caretaker administration that would remain in place until elections within 90 days of the assembly’s dissolution.

The political and constitutional crisis that ensued threatened to upend the entire democratic process. Even before the joint opposition or top lawyers’ bodies had approached the Supreme Court, the chief justice on the basis of suo moto (original jurisdiction) initiated hearings, which continued for five days, on the speaker’s rejection of the no-confidence motion and the president’s dismissal of parliament. While the joint opposition and lawyers argued that the speaker and prime minister’s actions were unconstitutional and against the parliament’s rules, the attorney general – a Khan appointee – insisted that new elections were the only means of restoring political stability, an implied reference to the “doctrine of necessity” used by Pakistan’s top court to justify past extra-constitutional interventions.

The Supreme Court, however, opted to uphold the constitutional process. On 7 April, the five-member bench unanimously ruled that the speaker’s 3 April rejection of the no-confidence motion was “contrary to the constitution and the law”. Since the advice given by a prime minister facing a no-trust vote to dissolve parliament was also unconstitutional, the National Assembly “remained in existence”. The ruling went much further by giving a firm date, 9 April, for the no-confidence vote and also warned that parliament’s session could not be prorogued until that process concluded. On that day, as ruling-party parliamentarians backed by a partisan speaker refused to allow the vote until close to midnight, Supreme Court judges prepared to enforce their ruling. The vote finally happened after the speaker passed on his post to a former PML-N parliamentary speaker. The resolution passed, as expected, by 174 votes, ending Khan’s term of office.

Lawyers and civil society activists have applauded the Supreme Court’s upholding of the constitution, parliamentary democracy and the rule of law. PTI leaders, however, question the top court’s impartiality. Some have decried the court’s suo moto action as an encroachment on parliament’s autonomy; others have used far stronger language, with a former federal minister and close Khan confidante denouncing the court’s ruling as a “judicial coup”. Enraged by Khan’s dismissal, the former ruling party has made the top court the target of its ire.

How is Khan’s rhetoric shaping political and security dynamics?

In his last nationally televised address a day before his dismissal, Khan said he would not recognise any “imported” government and called for nationwide protests on 10 April.  Responding to his appeal, PTI activists held demonstrations in all major cities, with large crowds raising anti-U.S. slogans. Though Khan has also called on his supporters to protest peacefully, his political rhetoric increases the risk of political turmoil. Khan intends to take his fight with the new coalition government led by Shehbaz Sharif of PML-N to the streets as is evident from the en masse resignation of PTI lawmakers, barring dissidents, from the National Assembly on 11 April.

PTI activists have already resorted to intimidation of party dissidents. On 18 March, a violent mob that included two PTI parliamentarians attacked the Sindh government’s state house in Islamabad where around twenty dissident lawmakers had taken refuge. Sindh police officers prevented the mob from assaulting the dissidents. When asked about the incident, Khan said “our people turned emotional”, appearing to excuse the attackers’ actions. Claiming that dissidents had been bribed to switch loyalties, he also insisted that public pressure would force them to return to the party. When they refused to change course, on 31 March Khan warned them against casting their votes for the no-trust motion. The nation, he said, “would neither forgive nor forget you and the people behind you for becoming part of an international conspiracy”. Earlier, on 27 March, a PTI government federal minister told supporters at a rally in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, “If suicide was not haram (forbidden), I would go into parliament and blow it up”. Party loyalists have since threatened dissidents, dubbing them “traitors”. The PTI has formally begun a process of de-seating party dissidents but lacks a legal basis for doing so.  Khan’s emotional appeals to protest his ouster, notwithstanding his calls for peaceful protests, could fuel further animosity against dissident parliamentarians in both the federal and provincial legislatures.

Though Khan insists that his supporters must protest peacefully, his claims of foreign-sponsored regime change and his refusal to accept the legitimacy of the incoming government, together with his track record, give ground for concern. Khan rejected the results of the 2013 elections that brought PML-N into power, claiming that the polls were rigged. Denying that government’s legitimacy, Khan called upon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign in advance of new elections. When the government rebuffed his demands in end-August 2014, Khan abandoned peaceful protests for a confrontation with the government. Holding a massive sit-in very close to the parliament building in Islamabad, he threatened to storm the prime minister’s house if Sharif did not step down. The next month, his inflamed activists, working in tandem with followers of a hardline Islamist Barelvi politician-cum-preacher, attacked the parliament and other government buildings; at least three protesters were killed and hundreds injured in clashes with law enforcement agencies.

Khan’s foreign conspiracy theories fuel anti-U.S. sentiment among his supporters. Agitated PTI protesters chanting anti-U.S. slogans have burned the U.S. flag and effigies of President Joe Biden at demonstrations across the country. Security agencies have tightened security measures in sensitive areas of the federal capital that house the U.S. and other Western missions. Khan’s tactic of alleging that the new government was “foreign-imposed” – in other words, forced upon an Islamic country through a Western conspiracy – could even risk giving militant groups a rallying cry to raise funds, find new recruits and attack state institutions.

What lies ahead as general elections approach?

The incoming coalition government faces multiple challenges. First of these is to defuse political tensions by offering to work with the opposition as Prime Minister Sharif has already done, while also resisting the temptation to settle political scores. The government also needs to stabilise the floundering economy, including by securing assistance from international financial institutions. Militant groups, especially the Pakistani Taliban, which has been making a comeback in the tribal belt along the Afghan border, are again an increasing threat. As the 2023 elections approach, an acute immediate task will be to ensure that political contestation does not translate into violence. Prime Minister Sharif and his coalition partners have identified reforms of electoral mechanisms and processes as a key priority; these could reduce the risk of deadly unrest by making the vote more transparent and credible. But the road ahead will be hard.

When in government, the PTI was already in confrontation mode with the Election Commission of Pakistan, accusing the body that oversees elections of partisanship. Now in opposition, the former prime minister will likely give even less credence to the Commission’s ability to conduct free, fair and credible elections.

It is evident, as stated earlier, that Khan intends to take his fight with the new government to the streets. Yet his ability to take on all institutions of the state – the executive, the judiciary and the legislature – at the same time will depend on his supporters’ staying power. A coalition government such as Sharif’s, composed of parties with widely differing ideologies, might also find it difficult to reach consensus on key political issues. The new government, moreover, could face the same pressures as Khan’s did from voters should it fail to address inflation rates, now driven up further by the Ukraine war and the sanctions imposed on Russia, which have raised fuel and food prices in particular. Should political confrontation become more violent and the security environment also deteriorate further, the military might once again be thrust into the political fray. How the new government navigates these minefields will determine whether Pakistan can turn the page on this political crisis and move to a peaceful vote in 2023.

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Pakistan: A Land of Dented Democracy and Increasing Polarization

NESA Center Alumni Publication Maida Farid (Consultant and an Independent Researcher) 22 June 2023

Pluralism is a key feature of democracy, that is often accompanied by tolerance. These ideas are intertwined, as a pluralistic society acknowledges and respects the diverse opinions, beliefs, and interests of its people. However, when pluralism lacks tolerance and regard for the rights of other groups, it can lead to political polarization.  Political polarization occurs when there is a deep divide between different ideological or political groups, and there is little to no room for negotiation or finding common ground within the political system. In such a scenario, the lack of tolerance and respect for differing viewpoints can hinder the functioning of democracy. Polarized politics can be understood as a growing divide between people with different political views, leading to an environment of mistrust and animosity. It often involves zero-sum disagreements on various policies and rules within the political system. This phenomenon is not limited to any one country but is a global trend. Even the world’s oldest democracies, such as the United States, have faced challenges posed by polarized politics. Pakistan, with its turbulent history of civil-military relations, military interventions, ineffective civilian governments, and linguistic and ethnonational divides, is no exception to polarized politics and the challenges facing democracy. The socio-political fabric of Pakistan is greatly polarized on all levels, from the political elite to the masses, with a noticeable lack of consensus on fundamental democratic norms.

In Pakistan’s context, political polarization can be better understood as a top-down phenomenon rather than a bottom-up one. Throughout the country’s history, political elites have shaped narratives and influenced public sentiments. Thus, political polarization among the masses depends on what occurs in the corridors of power which penetrates the social fabric and polarizes the masses.

The struggle for power between state elites (such as the establishment and judiciary) and political parties can be seen as the primary level of political polarization in Pakistan. Due to this polarization and a lack of consensus, Pakistan has experienced prolonged influence of state institutions in political affairs, including direct military interventions, and judicial activism. The seventy-five years of Pakistan’s history have witnessed limited periods of political harmony and convergence between state institutions and political parties. Pakistan’s journey towards its first constitution took nine years due to a lack of agreement on the basic mode of governance between state institutions.  The parliament, which is meant to represent the people, has often succumbed to external pressures. Parties in power tend to avoid crossing a certain point to maintain their position and not antagonize the institutions. Moreover, the long history of martial law has further divided political parties into pro-establishment and anti-establishment factions.

Pakistan’s political system was established on democratic principles, but it is questionable if the country has experienced true democracy. Instead, Pakistan has had various forms of democracy. Mohammed Wasim in his book Political Conflict in Pakistan refers to democracy in Pakistan as “Establishmentarian Democracy.” He describes different variants of democracy briefly mentioned below:

• Direct Military Rule: Pakistan’s political landscape has seen various forms of governance throughout its history. Direct military rule was imposed on the country for a total of 17 years, with General Ayub Khan leading from 1958 to 1962, General Yahya Khan from 1969 to 1971, General Zia-ul-Haq from 1977 to 1985, and General Pervez Musharraf from 1999 to 2002.
• Military-bureaucratic oligarchy: During the early years of Pakistan’s independence, a bureaucratic polity with an elected government existed for 11 years, from 1947 to 1958. However, this period was characterized by a military-bureaucratic oligarchy, where power was concentrated within the military and bureaucracy.
• Military government under a civilian president: Another form of governance witnessed in Pakistan was military government under a civilian president, following the King’s party model. This lasted for 16 years, with General Ayub Khan serving as the president from 1962 to 1969, General Zia-ul-Haq from 1985 to 1988, and General Pervez Musharraf from 2002 to 2008.
• Elected governments under civilian presidents: where the rule of the Trica model was followed, involving the establishment, judiciary, and parliament. This lasted for 11 years, with Benazir Bhutto serving as the president from 1988 – 1990, Nawaz Sharif from 1990 to 1993, Benazir Bhutto again from 1993 to 1996, followed by a caretaker government in 1996-1997, and Nawaz Sharif again from 1997 to 1999.
• Elected governments that constantly faced military tensions: For a period of 10 years, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) held power from 2008 to 2013, followed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) from 2013 to 2018.
• Two years of an elected government and the establishment seemingly on the same page: This occurred from 2018 to 2021, during the tenure of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. However, this short-lived marriage of convenience had a bitter ending.

Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, and chairman of PTI was removed from office through a vote of no confidence in the national assembly. Initially, he alleged it was a U.S. conspiracy aimed at removing him from power. However, a few months later, he shifted the blame to the Pakistan army and effectively gathered a substantial political following that openly expresses its disapproval of the military. What sets Mr. Khan apart from other political leaders is his embrace of populist politics. The populist tendencies of Khan’s leadership have never been more evident before than now. From circumnavigating the constitutional processes, questioning, and targeting constitutional structures, and creating binaries among the masses as outsiders and insiders, Imran Khan seems to have checked all the boxes of a populist leader. Moreover, the tone and the political discourse that Khan has introduced in Pakistani politics are unprecedented.

The current political crisis in Pakistan is being referred to as extraordinary and unprecedented by some, while many political experts and journalists believe it is a recurring loop or vicious cycle that repeats itself every few years. What sets the current crisis apart from past events is the unprecedented level of openness to the public and the public outrage against the military institutions. In a recent event on 9 May 2023, Imran Khan was arrested by Islamabad high court under some corruption charges. The arrest of Khan led to significant outrage and anger among supporters of the PTI. The situation took a chaotic turn when attacks were carried out on the Army General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, and the Corps Commander House, also known as Jinnah House, in Lahore. These events not only caused havoc for those involved in the attacks but also for the PTI’s political leadership. Many PTI leaders were arrested, imprisoned, released on bail, and re-arrested, and many have quit not only their political party but politics altogether.

Those responsible for the attacks on the GHQ and Corps Commander House are being tried in military courts rather than civil courts. Furthermore, thousands of PTI supporters have been arrested in less than a week. While these actions are condemnable, it is crucial to question where the problem lies. Looking back at recent history, when the PTI itself was in power, a long list of false cases was made against their opposition. Many people were falsely imprisoned, accused, and persecuted. At that time, when it suited the PTI’s interests, they did not take any measures to stop or at least condemn the mistreatment of their political rivals. On the contrary, they not only endorsed it but also threatened severe consequences for their political opposition if they did not comply. It now appears that the actions they took against their political rivals are returning to haunt them, albeit with greater speed and severity. And now the current government is doing the same.

The Pakistan army, previously an obscure force operating from behind the scenes, has thrust itself into the public eye, shedding its taboo status and becoming a subject of open discussion. The former Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, on the verge of retirement, boldly accepted complete accountability for the chaotic state of politics. He reassured the public that the army would prioritize its core responsibilities and refrain from any political involvement. This declaration initially brought a sense of renewed hope, akin to a breath of fresh air. However, the relief was short-lived.

Immersed in a pool of problems and formidable challenges, it seems difficult to pinpoint a direct and singular solution for Pakistan. The challenges faced are multifaceted and demand an intricate solution. While many solutions have been proposed by the experts over the years, there appears to be an absolute lack of political will to address these issues. The underlying reason for this indifferent attitude is that personal and short-term goals consistently take precedence over national and long-term goals.

Nevertheless, to bring democracy into practice and reinstate the sanctity of institutional boundaries, Pakistan needs to take certain measures. First and foremost, Pakistan army would have to take a clear and strong stance by distancing itself from politics, maintaining neutrality, and avoiding involvement in political processes.  Such a step can be a significant turning point in Pakistan’s democratic journey.

Similarly, the judiciary in Pakistan should not confine itself to juristocracy and hyperactive judicial activism, which can encroach upon political sovereignty. Instead, it should operate within a balanced framework that respects the separation of powers. Legislative assemblies should introduce reforms aimed at strengthening democracy and minimizing external influences in political processes.

Political parties have a vital role to play in upholding democracy. They should strive to build political consensus on shared norms and a code of conduct. Key aspects such as free and fair elections, civil liberties, free media, equality, and peaceful transfer of government must be areas of convergence among political parties. It is crucial that all political parties accept the democratic practices and results thereof. Populist rhetoric should be avoided to gain public support, as it can undermine democratic processes.

Therefore, it is imperative that all the stakeholders identify and acknowledge the magnitude of the issues and display a collective resolve to address these issues effectively.

The views presented in this article are those of the speaker or author and do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or its components.

Pakistan and its Politics Essay

Introduction, reason for move towards islamic state, impact of islamic state on democracy, works cited.

Pakistan was established as a state in 1947 after a separation from the Indian British Empire. From its beginning, the country has had a turbulent life with political instability and ethnic disputes characterizing its existence. While Pakistan was established as a secular state with a Muslim majority, the country has exhibited over the decades showed signs of evolving into an Islamic State. Such an outcome would have dire consequences for democratization.

The prevailing economic conditions have increased the popularity of Islamic movements all over the country. Farhat notes that most Pakistanis blame bad government policies for the high unemployment, inflation, and lack of access to education and healthcare in the country (121).

Islamists express skepticism over the ability of the secular leadership, which is blamed for Pakistan’s problems. Saudi influence has also been a contributing factor to the evolution of Pakistan into an Islamic state.

Due to the lack of financial opportunities in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia has been a major destination for Pakistanis working abroad since the 1970s. When the Pakistani workers return home from this Islamic state, they are influenced by the religious teachings of Saudi clerics (Farhat 122).

Western dominance has also accelerated the move towards Islamic reform in Pakistan. After the events of 9/11, the cooperation between the Pakistani government and the United States has increased with Pakistan becoming a key strategic ally. Radical Islamists see this as a corruption of Islam by the West.

Farhat points out that this challenge of the West has become the single most important factor promoting the renewal of Islamic movements in Pakistan today (129). Western dominance has fueled nationalistic sentiments and many people are in support of an Islamic renewal.

Evolution to an Islamic State will hurt democracy in Pakistan. Politicians have been known to employ religious criteria to justify their actions in Islamic states. This will be to the disadvantage of Pakistanis of other religions and Islamic sub-sects.

Ishtiaq observes that While Pakistan has a Muslim majority with 96% of Pakistanis being Muslims, the Muslim community is not monolithic and it contains different sub-sects (195). An Islamic state would therefore threaten democracy since it would give rise to sectarianism in Pakistani territories.

By adopting an Islamic character, Pakistan has enacted many laws that are discriminatory to non-Muslims. For example, the third constitution of 1973 required the president and the prime minister to be Muslims (Ishtiaq 198). Such laws are not in line with the democratic principles that give each person equal opportunity in the state.

The Islamic state will ensure that only practicing Muslims can take up key leadership positions in the country. An Islamic state will also hurt democracy since the ruling elite may resort to Islamic rhetoric to undermine the opposition. Farhat demonstrates that Islamic symbolism may be used to legitimize leadership that would otherwise be voted out in a true democracy (127).

Pakistan is a country with a rich Islamic history spanning centuries and the country was created with these religious and cultural bearings in mind. However, Pakistan was created as a Muslim state and not an Islamic State. The trends articulated in this paper are moving Pakistan towards becoming an Islamic State. If this happens, the democratic values currently enjoyed by the country will suffer as Islamic laws becomes adapted all over the land.

Farhat, Haq. “A state for the Muslims or an Islamic state?” Religion and Politics in South Asia . Ed. Ali Riaz. NY. Routledge, 2010. 119-145. Print.

Ishtiaq, Ahmed. “The Pakistan Islamic State Project: A secular Critique.” Religion and Politics in South Asia . Ed. Ali Riaz. NY. Routledge, 2010. 185-211. Print.

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Political Instability in Pakistan: Issues, Challenges, and Way forward

The following article is written by Anam Saba , a student of Sir Syed Kazim Ali . Moreover, the article is written on the same pattern, taught by Sir Kazim to his students, scoring the highest marks in compulsory subjects for years. Therefore, to help thousands of CSS and PMS aspirants, we have uploaded this article so they can understand how to crack a topic or a question, how to write relevantly, what coherence is, and how to include and connect ideas, opinions, and suggestions to score the maximum.

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  Nothing hurts the world socially, economically, politically, and technologically the way political instability does. It not only hinders economic progress but also distorts the social fabric of a nation. Political stability is indispensable for the prosperity of a nation. Progressive political reforms ensure stability, peace and a thriving human culture. Political stability is the backbone of a nation. It is a fact that the reason for a country’s progress is not its economy; however, it is the political leadership that makes a country prosper and succeed. In the present world, only those countries lag socially, politically and economically, which neglects the importance of prudent political leadership. As a matter of fact, unlike many other developing countries, the economic growth in Pakistan has remained stagnant. Despite having the world’s best canal system, profitable geo-strategic location, and a lot of unexplored natural resources, the leadership has failed to deliver. Pakistan has experienced rising poverty and a shrinking economy for various political leadership reasons, such as fragmented leadership, inefficient political parties, and dysfunction of the federal system. Consequently, the country has faced multiple challenges of a lingering economy, lowering foreign direct investment, and rising inflation. Through the collaborated efforts of government, opposition, public parts and political will, soon Pakistan will surely make its way to the heights of development and prosperity.

“There is no stability without solidarity and no solidarity without stability.”

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  Currently,  the politicians are more interested in blame games, with the opposition, instead of introducing some unique and good strategies to improve the governance structure in Pakistan. Shortly, the power lust of politicians overpowered the country’s national interest. Nonetheless, collaborated efforts on government, opposition, and public parts are imperative to root out all undemocratic traits to make the country’s political culture consensual.

Table of Contents

There are many factors calling forth the political instability in Pakistan, but some prominent causes are given here.

First,  national disintegration is the fundamental one in this regard. In Pakistan, a multi-ethnic society, political instability is more severe due to people of diverse cultural attributes. Additionally, being a part of a multi-ethnic society, all sections of society do not get their due shares and are unsatisfied and powerless, lose their trust in institutions, and they prefer their interests in front of the state, and ultimately society leads to a split.

Second,  political instability in the context of the identity and legitimacy crisis in Pakistan has escalated mainly due to the effects of increasing socio-political mobilization and the extravagant and disorganized role of civil and military bureaucracy, which has prejudiced the whole political order of the country. Moreover, due to the splitting of the institutions of leadership into the levels of ethnic, religious, and provincial, the legitimacy and identity crisis started and, by the passage of time, gained momentum, and the theme of national leadership was lost in these various leadership levels. Consequently, the fragmentation in the administration gave birth to the crisis of identity and legitimacy and aggravated it daily.

Third,  the inefficient role and weak political organization of political parties in Pakistan are also major contributing factors to the political instability in the country. Moreover, this vulnerable organization and inefficiency of the political parties pave the way for a coalition of governments. Thus, each government exerts their whole energy to maintain the coalition setup and remains under continuous pressure from its partners. In this way, it affects policy-making in both internal and external arenas and hinders the successful implementation of domestic and foreign policy, which requires strong support from people. Resultantly, the inefficiency of political parties does not provide a platform; instead, they split and exploit public opinion for their interest. Moreover, due to a lack of education, people do not have any clear choice among the same parties, and they cannot use their political rights; therefore, they do not depend on old parties and make a party of their own.

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Last but not least,  the dysfunction of the federal system is also a significant factor that worsened the political instability in the country. Moreover, due to faults in the maintenance of the federal system, the people of various cultures exerted to obtain a separate homeland where they could live according to their cultural norms and prosper.

“The murder of Pakistan’s first prime minister heralded the imminent derailment of the political process and the onset of a brutal political culture of assassinations, sustained by the state’s direct or indirect complicity.” Ayesha Jalal

Following are the major challenges, highlighting the severity of political instability in Pakistan.

It is a fact that political stability and economic growth are closely interlinked. On the one hand, political instability may decrease investment, ultimately slowing economic development. On the other hand, a financial crisis may lead to political unrest and government failure or downfall. In addition, political instability also discourages foreign direct investment because social unrest and political turmoil discourage investors, which decreases economic growth.

Moreover, political instability also flourishes corruption. It causes uncertainty in the country, weakens the institutions, and weak institutions are a crucial factor in enabling corruption due to low checks and balances on institutions. Moreover, if a country is politically unstable, the short-term decision-making increases the likelihood of corruption.

Furthermore, political instability is prevailing mistrust in society because it splits society on various grounds. Due to the dissatisfaction of all sections of society with the actions of governments, the situation of mistrust prevails and escalates daily. Consequently, personal interests overcome national interests, making the country more vulnerable to internal and external negative forces.

Last but not least, rising inflation and unemployment is also undesirable and detrimental to the country’s political instability, creating social unrest and uncertainty among the masses. This unrest may lead to violence against government policies. Likewise, the reduction in investments decreases economic growth. As a result, the weak government fulfils the demand for public expenditure through inflation taxes.

“My biggest challenge is how we can improve state institutions and governance, so we can tap our potential.” Imran Khan

Way forwards

The following  measures  may enhance political stability in Pakistan. To enhance the quality and stability of political system in Pakistan, quality education is a crucial factor that helps the effective implementation of the national policy on education by adequate provision of resources. Moreover, sincere and patriotic leadership is necessary to improve the political stability in the country because sincere leadership provides all basic requirements to their citizens. Furthermore, the state’s prosperity, stability, and economy are interlinked with the strength of the political system. So, a stable political system is a cure for all possible challenges that arise from political instability. In addition, the solution to political instability can be achieved by solving the institutions’ legitimacy and the ruler’s personal legitimacy. Lastly, building trust among provinces is also essential to overcome the instability issue in the country. In this regard, political parties should adopt a positive approach to the national interest.

Critical Analysis

To analyze critically, political instability has become a severe problem in developing countries, especially in Pakistan. It is disturbing the social fabric of the nation and delaying its development. Political instability hinders keeping society united and maintaining legitimacy within the state. The imposing tower of the issue, which today rests in the heart of Pakistan, has its sole foundation in the absence of a stable political system. In a nutshell, there is a dire need for solid determination and political will to strengthen the political system.

In a nutshell, the prevalent political instability issue in Pakistan has eroded the socio-economic fabric, leaving the country into social, political, and economic turmoil. It gives a death blow to Pakistan’s economy. Although the suggested measures cannot bring change overnight, the challenge must be accepted. Progress will likely be frustratingly slow, but these steps will ensure accelerated and visible improvement if appropriately executed.

“Pakistan’s future viability, stability and security lie in empowering its people and building political institutions. My goal is to prove that the fundamental battle for the hearts and minds of a generation can be accomplished only under democracy.” Benazir Bhutto

About The Author

Anam Saba is a student of Sir Syed Kazim Ali. . She is Pakistan’s youngest blogger, reviewer, and writer. She loves writing reviews, blogs, and articles on various topics: current affairs, technology, everyday science, history, clothing, and entertainment. Moreover, she writes honest reviews about different clothing brands. Due to her unique writing style, she has been followed by thousands of youngsters in Pakistan. Additionally, she helps competitive aspirants in their studies and exam preparation. Apart from this, she has been engaged in writing articles and blogs on various topics to help her readers always know the best.

  CSS & PMS Solved Questions Attempted by Sir Syed Kazim Ali’s Students

The following are the some solved questions attempted by Sir Kazim Ali’s students who scored the highest marks in compulsory subjects. Click on any to land Cssprepforum , Pakistan’s largest CSS and PMS exams preparatory website, and start learning. All the questions have their breakdowns, outlines, and solutions.

• Critically examine the Congress Ministries of 1937. How far is it correct to suggest that it paved the way for a separate Muslim homeland in India? (CSS 2019)
• Discuss the features of the political culture of Pakistan. (CSS 2020)
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• What Are The Main Causes Of Energy Crisis In Pakistan? What Measures Do You Suggest To Address It? (CSS 2020)
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About the author

Anam Saba is a student of Sir Syed Kazim Ali.. She is Pakistan’s youngest blogger, reviewer, and writer. She loves writing reviews, blogs, and articles on various topics: current affairs, technology, everyday science, history, clothing, and entertainment. Moreover, she writes honest reviews about different clothing brands. Due to her unique writing style, she has been followed by thousands of youngsters in Pakistan. Additionally, she helps competitive aspirants in their studies and exam preparation. Apart from this, she has been engaged in writing articles and blogs on various topics to help her readers always know the best.

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Michigan Journal of Economics

The Struggles of the Pakistani Economy

Written by Tarini Sathe

Ever since becoming a country in 1947, Pakistan has dealt with political instability, cycling through periods of democracy and military rule. Of the country’s 29 Prime Ministers, not a single one has completed their five year term, all either being dismissed or overthrown. As a result, the Pakistani economy has also had its ups and downs, and the COVID-19 pandemic, trade disruptions, and the removal of Prime Minister Imran Khan have not helped. The crisis is all the more important because Pakistan held its general elections on February 8th—resulting in a hung parliament—and the new government will begin its term with significant challenges. Currently, the Pakistani economy is plagued with high inflation rates, trade deficits, and debt. There are already some policies in place to rectify these problems, as well as proposed solutions; they will determine the trends and future predictions of the economy. 

The pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, serious floods, and political instability all had a hand in creating the current crisis at hand. The inflation rate reached a record high of 38% in May 2023, and was approximately 30% as of January 2024 (Romei & Smith, 2024); this was partly a result of the State Bank of Pakistan dropping its cap on the Pakistani Rupee—as directed by the IMF—subsequently causing rapid devaluation of the PKR. Consumer prices have risen by 28% since January 2023, which has made it hard for many Pakistanis, especially poorer households, to make ends meet (Mangi & Koswanage, 2024). 

Pakistan also imports a lot of its food and fuel, meaning they constantly record trade deficits; coupled with high prices, foreign currency reserves dwindled to just about $4 billion in June—not enough to support even a month’s worth of imports (Hussain, 2023). The government managed to get a $2 billion loan from Saudi Arabia, as well as a $3 billion bailout from the IMF—its 23rd since independence—which comes with strict conditions to begin rectifying the crisis (Hussain, 2023). Currently, Pakistan has an absolute external debt of $125.7 billion, and faces $24.6 billion in debt repayments by the end of June (Kozul-Wright, 2024). The bulk of this debt is owed to China, who already agreed to roll over over $2 billion because of Pakistan’s lack of ability to repay on time; economists also expect that the new government might appeal to the IMF for long-term funding since its current deal expires in April. 

Pakistan’s massive debt and ability to repay loans stems from its tax collection abilities. According to Professor Tariq Banuri at the University of Utah, “‘Pakistan is one of the world’s worst performers on tax collection,’” (Kozul-Wright, 2024) with the government allowing the exemption of taxes on agricultural income and real estate. The government has also avoided aggressive tax policies out of fear of upsetting powerful businesses and the military. Among the IMF’s biggest debtors, Pakistan has the lowest tax revenue as a percentage of GDP, at ~10% (Kozul-Wright, 2024). Essentially, the lack of tax revenue ensures that there are not enough funds to modernise state-owned enterprises and improve public goods, or repay loans on time, which has led to increased borrowing and debt. This vicious cycle has only been exacerbated by high inflation and currency depreciation.   

May-June 2023 was when the crisis seemed to have been the worst, with 38% inflation and the government narrowly securing IMF funding in order to keep importing essential goods. The IMF bailout, however, came with stipulations for the government to adhere to that are aimed at economic recovery. They began with the State Bank having to drop its exchange rate controls in early 2023, causing the PKR to plummet by 9.6% in a single day (Shahid & Shahzad, 2023). Despite being beneficial for exporters, this depreciation was largely the cause of inflation rates increasing to record highs in 2023. Additionally, because Pakistan pays for a majority of its essential imports in dollars (Shahid & Shahzad, 2023) the much weaker currency suddenly made these goods more expensive—both to import and for consumers—and ultimately led to Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserve depletion and most recent IMF bailout. The SBP also raised interest rates to  22% (Shahid) in order to counter inflation.  

The government is also required to lower subsidies for the energy and utilities sector and instead increase taxation for the same (Kozul-Wright, 2024). As a result, government spending—an inflationary factor— will reduce and potential revenue will increase, although both energy/ utility providers and consumers will be affected negatively, consumers more so. Reducing subsidies means that suppliers’ production costs will increase significantly, and because so many industries—including the energy and utilities sector—lack quality infrastructure, consumers are likely to face more frequent power outages. In addition to outage-related inefficiencies, the increased costs for utilities will be pushed onto consumers and, being essential to daily life, many poorer consumers will be hit harder than the rest. While considered anti-populist, these solutions will need to be kept in place for the government to make progress with reducing its spending and current account deficit, as well as remain in a negotiating position with the IMF to continue getting much-needed loans (Hussain, 2024). 

Additionally, the government will have to implement more aggressive taxes—perhaps beginning with taxing agricultural income and capital gains—in order to significantly increase tax revenue. While those being taxed will be dissatisfied, especially since they were never taxed on these income streams before, not only can debt/ loan payments be made on time, but government spending in the long run can be directed towards infrastructure, public goods, education, etc., that would result in structural improvements in the economy. 

Overall, while the Pakistani economy is still in bad shape, it seems to be on the path to recovery. Inflation is starting to slow down; each month, the inflation rate is lower than the previous month. There is hope that the solutions currently in place will be successful in aiding economic recovery. Furthermore, with the rupee’s value being determined on the open market now and its expectation to continue “trending down slightly” (Kozul-Wright, 2024), Pakistan’s current account deficit is also expected to reduce. A review conducted by the IMF of the country’s economy showed that confidence in the economy, while still low, is improving and is in the nascent stages of recovery (Hussain, 2023). However, the economy is still in a delicate position, according to Karachi-based economist Asad Sayeed (Hussain, 2023), and there are many factors—both domestic and international—that could derail this recovery. The most important factor currently is the formation of the Pakistani government. The February 8th general elections resulted in a hung parliament—no party won a majority of the seats in Parliament to form a government—and there is still a ‘caretaker’ government in place. It is likely that a coalition government will be formed and any policies they implement will be critical to the recovery of the economy. The new government needs to prioritise economic recovery regardless of political affiliations and aspirations so as to not create another, potentially worse, crisis. Ultimately, while the economy is beginning to recover, this trajectory will only continue if aggressive solutions remain in place and the political landscape is relatively stable.  

Works Cited

Ahmed, M., & Sattar, A. (2024, February 12). Pakistan election results: Thousands of Imran Khan supporters block highways | AP News. AP News . https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-election-protests-imran-khan-7cedd1123c222834ce73ae8c647b9297

Hussain, A. (2023, November 16). Pakistan and IMF reach deal for releasing $700m from $3bn bailout package. Al Jazeera . https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/16/pakistan-and-imf-reach-deal-for-releasing-700m-from-3bn-bailout-package

Hussain, A. (2024, February 7). Pakistan’s election: Can the next government bring economic stability? Al Jazeera . https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/2/7/pakistans-election-can-the-incoming-government-bring-economic-stability

Kozul-Wright, A. (2024, February 6). In Pakistan, old hopefuls jostle to turn around struggling economy. Al Jazeera . https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/2/6/in-pakistan-old-hopefuls-jostle-to-turn-around-struggling-economy

Maini, T. S. (2023, January 31). Pakistan’s elite and the current economic crisis . Modern Diplomacy. https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2023/02/01/pakistans-elite-and-the-current-economic-crisis/

Mangi, F., & Koswanage, N. (2024, February 6). Economic Pessimism in Pakistan Hits Record in Pakistan Ahead of Election . https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-06/economic-pessimism-hits-record-in-pakistan-ahead-of-election

Peshiman, G. (2024, February 12). How will Pakistan form a coalition government after split election results? Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/how-will-pakistan-form-its-next-government-2024-02-12/

Romei, V., & Smith, A. (2024, February 14). Global inflation tracker: see how your country compares on rising prices. Financial Times . https://www.ft.com/content/088d3368-bb8b-4ff3-9df7-a7680d4d81b2

Shahid, A., & Shahzad, A. (2023, January 26). Pakistani Rupee Plummets as Markets Adjust to Removal of Unofficial Controls . Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/pakistani-rupee-records-sharp-drop-early-trading-vs-dollar-trade-data-2023-01-26/

Crisis of Good Governance in Pakistan: Causes, Impacts, and Remedies

• Amna Shafique
• March 12, 2022
• CSS , CSS Essays , PMS , PMS Essays
• 38088 Views

CSS, PMS Solved Essays | Crisis of Good Governance in Pakistan: Causes, Impacts, and Remedies

The essay is attempted by Inspector Amna Shafique on the given pattern, which Sir Syed Kazim Ali  teaches to his students, who have consistently been qualifying their CSS, PMS essays. Sir Syed Kazim Ali has been Pakistan’s top English writing and CSS, PMS essay and precis coach with the highest success rate of his students. The essay is uploaded to help other competitive aspirants learn and practice essay writing techniques and patterns.

Introduction

The imposing tower of miseries resting on Pakistan’s heart has its soul foundation in the presence of a crisis of good governance. It has started robbing the national notion of socio-economic stability in the country. However, pragmatic steps, such as reforming institutional efficiency, upholding accountability and ensuring transparency, can curb the menace of bad governance in Pakistan.

What is a governance crisis in its real sense?  A glimpse of the Governance Crisis in Pakistan How has Pakistan been affected because of bad governance nowadays? Why does Pakistan face the Crisis of Good Governance?

• Non-participation of citizens
• The Weak rule of law
• Absence of a transparent system
• Retarded responsiveness of institutions
• Lack of equity and non-inclusive decision-making
• Poor institutional efficacy and inefficiency
• Lack of accountability
• Lack of consensus among institutions

In what obstacles Pakistan has stuck itself?  Political impacts

• Political instability 
• Political polarization

Economic Impacts

• Economic declivity 
• Unemployment and poverty

Social Impacts

• Societal degradation
• National disintegration

Psychological Impacts

• Promotion of anti-state elements
• Tarnished image of the country

What available tools are there for Pakistan to religiously fix the crisis of good governance? 

• To promote public-private partnership for effective administration
• To hold the culprits accountable by strengthening the transparency mechanism 
• To equip the youth with equitable opportunities 
• To uphold meritocracy in the recruitment process 
• To reform bureaucracy for a better functioning
• To bring consensus among the political leadership at provincial and federal levels 
• To revamp the criminal justice system
• To transform societal attitudes by effective use of media and technology
• To ensure access of the public to information

Critical Analysis Conclusion

The imposing tower of miseries resting on Pakistan’s heart has its soul foundation in the presence of a crisis of good governance. It has started robbing the national notion of socio-economic stability in the country. There is no doubt that good governance is the only tool through which Pakistan can settle all its monumental problems. However, the country has remained unable to sustain its political maturity and socio-economic development due to the prevailing crisis of good governance. Since independence, governance issues have been a part of the debate in Pakistan. The inefficient political leaders, multiple military interventions and delay in constitution-making have manifested poor governance in the country. The plight of governance in Pakistan is due to the non-participation of citizens, the weak rule of law, and the absence of a transparent system. In addition to them, retarded responsiveness of institutions, non-inclusive decision making and poor efficiency of institutions increase the woes of a governance crisis. It is certain that in the absence of good governance, the country cannot integrate into the international economy, and these conditions will lead it toward chaos and instability. Moreover, it cannot drive its people out of poverty; thus, social degradation and the promotion of anti-state elements is inevitable. Now, Pakistan is at a crossroads. It needs to reform its institutional structures by promoting public-private partnerships for effective administration. Furthermore, reforming bureaucracy for better functioning, ensuring accountability and revamping the criminal justice system would enable Pakistan to get its desired position among nations. The need for governance has been rightly remarked by  Benigno Aquino, “With proper governance, life will improve for all” . This essay throws light on the crisis of good governance, its socio-economic and political impacts, and the available tools to fix this crisis.

Governance simply implies the manner and actions governing an organization or a state. It finds its deep roots in the country’s administration, and so is the case in Pakistan. For the first time, the concept of governance was introduced in the late 1980s by United Nations to elaborate on the acute social problems in sub-Saharan Africa. For decades, governance issues have been a part of the debate in Pakistan, stressing their impact on the daily lives of the masses. Unfortunately, Pakistan has been unable to take practicable steps to solve its governance crisis; thus, weakening the socio-economic fabric and political institutions and destroying the precious future of its generations. In order to be seen through the prism of modern economies, Pakistan must ensure exemplary governance, as it is the key to stability and prosperity.  Etounge Manguella  remarked,  “Good governance implies the presence of the rule of law, safeguard of human rights, the existence of honest government, accountability, transparency, predictability and openness.”

Good governance has always been an important issue since the inception of Pakistan. It is evident that the country has always been affected by instability in the political system, both by the civilians and military regimes. Moreover, the delay in constitution-making has also aggravated the country’s governance system. Although Pakistan is rich in resources, its poor management has wreaked havoc on the persistent economic crisis. The quantum of good governance relies on the efficient working of state organs; however, in Pakistan, state institutions face a shortage of accountability, transparency, meritocracy and the weak rule of law. The country is not a collapsed one, but a governed state, lacking equity and non-inclusive decision making. Therefore, the crisis has resulted in political instability, economic declivity and societal degradation. Moreover, the country is dominant in a race of nukes but crawling on the belly in terms of human development. This has accelerated the poverty and unemployment rate. It has been seventy-four years since Pakistan came into being, but it cannot ensure sustainable growth because the Pakistani political leadership has not learned from their previous mistakes. Furthermore, some power-hunger politicians are trying to topple the elected government on the pretext of massive rigging in the 2018 Elections. Until this political thinking prevails, Pakistan cannot materialize its dream of good governance. As  Quaid I Azam  stated,

“If we want to make this great State of Pakistan happy and prosperous, we should wholly and solely concentrate on the wellbeing of the people and especially of the masses and the poor.”

Astonishingly, the governance crisis does not revolve around any one factor; it is ingrained in various structural factors. The policy to keep the majority aloof from administrative matters lies at the heart of this evil. 

Appallingly, it results in a reactive policy instead of a proactive one; the persistent natural gas crisis in winters every year stands evident to this docile policy. Furthermore, lack of transparency results in the exploitation of resources, which in turn is aided by the weak accountability system. According to the latest transparency index report ,  Pakistan ranks 124 among 180 nations, which means it does not do enough on the governance parameter. Besides this, the accountability institutions of Pakistan are unable to perform their duties as credible independent organizations. Dejectedly, they have become a tool of political victimization in the hands of governments; consequently, the incapacity of the institutions to enforce across the board accountability is adding fuel to the fire. As a fact, Pakistan has been entangled between the devil and the deep blue sea, making the country lag behind politically, socially and economically. Moreover, the gap between the masses and the ruling elite continues to widen, aggravating the governance crisis further into a trench.

In addition to the unaccountability across the board, the weak rule of law is a significant hurdle that exacerbates the crisis of good governance in Pakistan. As a result, meritocracy has merely become a dream, concentrating power only in a few hands. Furthermore, the absence of an uninterrupted local government system has also played its part in weakening the country’s governance structure. Similarly, the lack of coordination among institutions is a severe predicament to the prevailing crisis, as the house divided cannot stay long. Evidently, the meagre political system, uprooted on various occasions, has also been an obstacle to consensus building. Therefore, a sense of insecurity is depicted in the Politicians, trying to consolidate power only with their trustworthy people. However, this non-inclusive decision-making has become a double-edged sword; on the one hand, it makes ineffective decisions, and on the other, inefficient by adding to the lengthy procedural complications. Above all, the slow solution of complaints and inability to utilize the resources and opportunities at best have further aggravated Pakistan’s governance structures. The significance of timely decision making is correctly described by  Piyush   Goyal, “The speed of decision making is the essence of ensuring good governance”.  Thus, it is a fact that many factors contributed to making poor governance a daemon, severely impacting the political, economic and social wellbeing of the masses. 

Like every problem has some impacts, poor governance gives birth to political instability and socio-economic chaos. Instead of fulfilling its task and duties, the corrupt bureaucracy gets involved in political engineering and wreaks havoc on the governance system of Pakistan. Besides this, political polarization, another outcome of bad governance, divides the country into religious, ethnic and cultural domains. As a result, the sense of unity and feelings of nationalism disintegrates, which fuels the cultural provincialism in the country. It is evident in Pakistan that the facts and moral truths are losing weight due to political vote blocs. Furthermore, the opposition leaders leave no stone unturned to thwart the political policies and projects of the incumbent government; consequently, the leg-pulling attitude of the opposition cause hindrance and delay in political policy implementation. Thus the country fails to overcome this crisis and disintegrates due to political polarization. A.P Memon rightly says it 

“The unstable government, inefficient political parties and a weak political culture create a scenario of poor governance for a politically unstable state”.

Apart from political instability, economic declivity has grabbed its hold in Pakistan. It is a fact that economic growth is a driving force in reducing poverty. Still, the experience has shown that poor governance has significantly impaired the country’s economic progress. As a result, unemployment and poverty rates have increased with time. According to  the multidimensional poverty index (2016) , around 39% of the population lives in poverty. Thus, bad governance misallocates the resources; consequently, this resource inequality allows the elite to subvert the political regulatory and legal institutions for their gains and oppose institutional reforms against their vested interest. Therefore, these conditions give birth to inequality, and the state fails to provide employment opportunities and other basic services to its people. However, the poor governance of Pakistan has failed to implement economic policies to alleviate poverty.  M.H Mushtaq  has aptly remarked,  “Good governance drives economic development”.

In addition to Pakistan’s political and economic crisis, the deterioration of the social fabric has led to moral bankruptcy. Likewise, Pakistan’s society has, obviously, become a victim of moral degradation. The changing moral fabric and cultural norms of a country induced moral panic, moral transformation and status anxieties within the public. As a result, people violate laws, traffic rules, and other common violations that create distress. Moreover, the use of foul language is common among traffic wardens, health officers and everywhere. Thus the governance system has failed to implement strict punishments in the different sectors; consequently, social chaos has ridden the societal peace. Besides this, national integration is strongly dependent on good governance at the national level where all rights are equally respected without any linguistic, regional or cultural identities. Although Pakistan is multilingual, multicultural, multiethnic and multi-religious, the crisis of good governance has exacerbated the issues of national integration. 

Last but not least, the poor governance structure in Pakistan has given a constant mental dither to its masses. As a result, the anti-state elements create a disturbance and spread anarchy. Besides this, a negative image of Pakistan has been portrayed around the globe; consequently, the worth of the Green Passport has been lost and Pakistanis are perceived as unethical, unprincipled and corrupt individuals. Thus Pakistan has given scant attention to providing good governance not only in recent times but throughout its history. 

  Ibne Khaldun  said,  “Throughout history, many nations have suffered a physical defeat, but that has never marked the end of a Nation. But when a Nation has become the victim of a psychological defeat, then that marks the end of a Nation”.

 As every problem has a solution, there are specific ways to improve the governance structure in Pakistan. The first and foremost option is to promote Public-Private Partnerships for the effective administration of public institutions. Unfortunately, the country’s different sectors, such as the Pakistan steel mill Pakistan International airline, are responsible for aggravating the financial burden on the country’s economy. According to the Prime Minister, Imran Khan, the Pakistan steel mill is the largest loss-making unit that costs 17 billion rupees a year. Therefore, Public-Private Partnership is important to keep losses at a minimum level. Moreover, an unbiased accountability system is an indispensable tool to strengthen the governance mechanism and curb irregularities in the institutional processes. Although the National Accountability Bureau holds politicians accountable, it must uphold unbiased accountability towards all public institutions and their officials.  Quaid e Azam said, “With faith, discipline, and selfless devotion to duty, there is nothing worthwhile that you cannot achieve.” It is proved from the above saying of Quaid e Azam that a nation can achieve whatever it wants without involving any corruption.

In addition to accountability, another significant step is to equip the youth with an equitable opportunity in all sectors and uphold meritocracy in the recruitment process. According to the Trading Economics Global Macro Model, the unemployment rate in Pakistan would reach 5% by the end of 2021. Therefore, it is the need of the hour to abolish nepotism and uphold merit in the recruitment process. Moreover, the provision of equal opportunities would provide equal chances to all the applicants and encourage them to participate positively. Furthermore, the reforms in the bureaucracy would focus on capacity building and training programs, which will enable the civil servants to strengthen their capabilities to respond to the humanitarian crisis. Moreover, an inclusive approach of involving the people and the stakeholders in the decision-making by the field officers of the administrative services would result in the effective and efficient delivery of services.

Besides bureaucratic reforms, the consensus among the political leadership at provincial and federal levels and revamping the criminal justice system are essential elements for good governance. The consensus among politicians on different matters such as E-voting and free and fair elections can curb the political rigging; the present government’s focus on constitutional developments of provincial set-ups and the independent functioning of the election commission of Pakistan can improve governance. Besides political consensus, reconstructing the criminal justice system is the need of the hour; consequently, it would eradicate criminalization based on sex, gender and equality. The following quote of Quaid e Azam throws light on the importance of law and order. He stated,  “The first duty of a government is to maintain law and order so that the life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects are fully protected by the . Last but not least, a change in social attitude towards politics and free flow of information to the public would create awareness among the masses and arouse positive feelings towards politicians and administration. As the role of media has impacted the social, economic, and political aspects of a nation, advanced technology and updated information and its access to people would reduce the crisis of governance in Pakistan.

Pakistan needs bold steps to be taken to be placed in the list of countries with good governance, where it may gain respect and honour in the international community. However, since its inception, it is evident that it has not been on sustainable economic growth, social progress, and cultural development. The reason is that Pakistani political leadership has not learned from their previous mistakes. And, when formidable challenges have surrounded the country, some power-hunger politicians are trying to topple the elected government on the pretext of massive rigging in the 2018 Elections. However, it’s the government, and all the institutions of the state and the masses as well are responsible for such a deteriorated society of Pakistan. To conclude, governance impacts a country’s affairs socially, politically and economically.

In a nutshell, good governance in Pakistan would pave the way toward building morale and upright institutions. Thus, to resolve the governance crisis, there is a need to implement an actual model of democracy that can actually deliver services to its citizens. Moreover, the country cannot flourish until it has skilful leadership, strong accountability, the rule of law and meritocracy. However, national integration and social transformation are essentially needed to root out poor governance. Likewise, coordination among public and private sectors for the uplift of state institutions; and reforms in bureaucracy would promote good governance in the country. Unless the governance crises are not curbed, socio-economic growth and political instability are inevitable. According to  Jairam Ramesh, “There never is a good time for tough decisions. There will always be an election or something else. You have to pick courage and do it. Governance is about taking tough, even unpopular decisions”.

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Gaza and the Crisis in Pakistan Network ReOrient

In this episode of the Radio ReOrient podcast, Dr. Shehla Khan, Dr. Sher Ali Tareen, and Salman Sayyid discuss the ongoing crisis in Pakistan under Gaza’s looming shadow . The latest exacerbation of the crisis comes with the general elections of February 2024, which represent an electoral heist of historically unprecedented proportions followed by the regime’s concerted efforts to normalize the results. This conversation ties the current political climate to broader global issues, including the tragic events in Gaza. The discussion navigates through a complex of concepts central to the development of a critically informed understanding of the Islamosphere. Secularism is usually understood as the separation of church and state, religion and politics, or rationality from dogma. This is an overly simplistic reading of the concept, which dates to historically long-running power struggles and wars that accompanied the rise of European nation-states and colonial empires, and fundamentally changed the exercise of political power. Rather than merely marking the disentanglement of political from sacral authority, secularism refers to the process whereby princes and monarchs (rather than priests) gradually extended their authority over state and society in an uneven, contested, and variable fashion. The process culminated in the establishment of a form of state that based sovereign authority on a set of interrelated functions. Firstly, it assumed the power to legislate the boundaries between the public and private spheres. Secondly, it constructed 'religion' as a category denoting a distinct area of human experience, primarily identified with Christianity. Thirdly, it relegated this area of experience to the private sphere, and in doing so, also proclaimed its neutrality and non-interference in this domain as a means of promoting societal harmony and tolerance. Taken together, these endeavors enabled the rise of secular power and informed its deep anomalies. Far from retreating from the newly instituted realm of 'religion', the newly empowered secular state sought to domesticate its content and purpose, regulate its expression, differentiate 'good' from 'bad' variants, and ultimately co-opt and align with some sects and denominations while suppressing or persecuting others. Lastly, the conversation critiques in passing 'methodological nationalism'—an approach to understanding the world that considers the nation-state and its territorial limits as the naturalized, sole points of reference for explaining and analyzing complex political, social, and economic phenomena that sidelinesthe merits of a relational, transnational approach. These concepts are used in this conversation to illuminate the current crisis in Pakistan as an example of how Muslim political sovereignty, whether in Palestine, Egypt, Eastern Turkestan, or for the Rohingya, continues to be systematically undermined. Further Readings and Listening tps://criticalmuslimstudies.co.uk/project/the-political-struggle-in-pakistan/ https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/pakistan-reframing-the-debate/id1458817693?i=1000619861664 https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-political-struggle-in-pakistan/id1458817693?i=1000614889565

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From crisis to crisis

The ripple effect on south asia of a bjp win, kashmir turning into another palestine, imf predictions, a simple buffalo disease, anthrax and toilet cleaners, lahore flourishes with seasonal blooms before eid, uog student leads team as environmental initiative takes root at fc…, iranian commander says tehran could review ‘nuclear doctrine’ amid israeli threats, palestinian photographer motaz azaiza included in time magazine’s 100 most influential…, india goes to polls from friday to decide future of its…, china boosts emerging industries and new quality productive forces, sees economic…, china expresses support for palestine’s full un membership ahead of security…, pakistan, new zealand series likely to be affected by rain, new zealand cricket team arrives in islamabad for t20i series, amir, imad make a comeback as pakistan team for nz t20…, army chief hosts iftar for pakistan cricket team, pcb selection committee meets with players in islamabad ahead of nz-series….

Is the ground moving?

AT PENPOINT

Is there a deliberate effort to make the government stumble from crisis to crisis, or is that how things are just happening? More significant, is the visible difficulty of ruling Pakistan the result of not following the logic of the result of the February 8 election?

Perhaps the most pressing problem facing the government is economic. The problem is twofold, because not only does the government have to negotiate a new deal with the IMF, but it also has to put a cap on the inflation that is making the life of the common man so difficult. Unfortunately for the government, the IMF has laid conditionalities in the past, and is likely to do in future, which will lead to hikes in the electricity, fuel and gas prices, both fuelling inflation across the board and acting as a dampener on growth.

The government has found that the attack on Chinese engineers in Dasu, which killed five, has combined with an escalation of the tension with Afghanistan, with the killing of four soldiers, including a colonel, in Tirah the result of Tehrik Taliban Pakistan action. The government responded with the bombing of a TTP camp in Afghanistan. It has also tried to mend fences with China.

Then there is the mysterious affair of the letters. At first, there was only the letter which had been sent by six judges of the Islamabad High Court to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, about interference by an intelligence agency in their work. That led to a meeting of the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the appointment by the Cabinet of a judicial enquiry commission–followed swiftly by the recusal of the person appointed, and then the Supreme Court took up the matter in its suo motu jurisdiction. This was followed by the arrival at the Supreme Court, the Islamabad High Court and the Lahore High Court of letters to various judges, all containing a white powder, labelled anthrax, though forensic testing later showed the powder contained arsenic, not anthrax spores.

While there was a fearful hubbub around the judges’ letter, with Bar Councils and Bar Associations weighing , the anthrax letters seemed to have lost attention, even though they were more dangerous. They showed that the various courts had a system of receiving mail that does not seem to be security-oriented. It showed that the various registry departments which actually received mail were vulnerable to booby traps, even if the judges seemed to be safe. They were saved not by attention to security, but by the administrative convenience which has all mail delivered to one place, with further distribution to the judges from there, after the mail was opened. It seems that boobytraps are possible.

The government should be interested, not just because it needs to ensure the independence of the judiciary, but because the mails were used. It should also be noted that there was no CCTV footage available to the post office, located in a business centre, not because there were no cameras, but because they were out of order. Either the Safe City Authority was falling down on the job, and those posting the letters were powerful indeed.

The letters, both from the judges and to them, were still the subject of great speculation, when the confrontation at Bahawalnagar occurred. It appeared that the police’s attempt to arrest the brother of an Army officer was fiercely resisted, with the ISPR noting that the colour of a confrontation between the police and the military was being created on social media. A Joint Investigation Team has been set up.

While it might seem that an old warhorse has been returned to service in the shape of the PML(N), it should be noticed that the PM and Punjab CM are entirely new. If at all history is to repeat itself, it will be after they are allowed a free run. And it is not likely that anyone will benefit, unless it is someone who is at present not in the front rank.

It should be noted that if the police raiding party was subjected to violence, its previous attitudes have been to blame. The police have a reputation for throwing their weight around. Under the Raj, when they were  the ‘steel framework of the Empire’, their purpose was not so much the protection of the citizens as the preservation of the Raj. The British realised that this required the provision of justice, which it did through the police. They were allowed to use methods which violated fundamental rights. After Independence, the process of converting into free citizens is still not complete, and the police are now acquainted with the concept of fundamental rights and due process.

However, acquaintance does not mean observance. The third degree is still practised. Policing universally and historically involves policemen trying to avoid observing due process of law. Pakistan’s police forces are  no exception. They also enjoy government patronage, not just from politicians, but military rulers. They are not only still the ‘steel framework’ of the state, but are relied on to ‘deal’ with political opponents. Anyone who has ruled in Pakistan has relied on the police.

Because of that, they continue to ignore fundamental rights, with the result that anyone who can claim a group solidarity, will resist arrest. When the military is involved, there is a flurry of concern that there is an institutional clash. When the Islamabad police attempted to arrest journalist Mohsin Baig in February 2022, there was a gun fired, but he was arrested. However, it did not become a press-versus-police issue, though it could well have. One reason is that press bodies are not strong or united enough.

Perhaps that is a good thing, for there are people within the press who would exploit this power. It might be noted that the Baig case occurred because the police were being pressed by the executive. In Bahawalnagar, there does not appear to be that combination of two powerful bodies gasngin up on the third.

Already, there is talk of a clash between institutions. This might be the result more of wishful thinking rather than anything else. After all, ever since 1970, power players have only come to the fore because of establishment help. The visit of President Yahya Khan in January 1971, after the December 1970 election, to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s Larkana estate for duck shooting came before the abortive National Assembly session in Dhaka in March, the military crackdown there, then the 1971 War and the break-up of Pakistan. The result of the election had given the Awami League an absolute majority, and Yahya went to Larkana after meeting Mujeeb earlier, but not getting any guarantees that he would continue in office.  When it became impossible for Yahya to carry on after the War, Bhutto became CMLA and President.

He was removed by the military in 1977. In this time, there emerged two contenders for office: Bhutto’s daughter Benazir and Mian Nawaz Sharif. After Zia, these two alternated in office. The establishment switched from one to another, until the 1999 Martial Law.

It seemed the alternation would resume after Martial Law was lifted, but the murder of Benazir Bhutto created a new situation.. A new contender appeared, Imran Khan. His ascent to power became an inevitability, perhaps because the other volunteers had been tried before.

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In shadow of losses amid Ganganagar drug crisis, villagers flag poll players’ apathy, decry lip service

In rajasthan seat bordering punjab and pakistan, locals complain that bjp and cong have not done anything substantial to curb rampant drug menace despite its toll on many families..

Ajami Devi, a 58-year-old resident of Kaliyan village near Sri Ganganagar city, has tears in her eyes when she speaks about her 19-year-old nephew, a drug addict who died due to drug overdose. This is a familiar story in hundreds of villages in Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts where the rising drug menace has proved disastrous for a legion of such youths and their farmer families.

Ajami says half of the village youths are involved in taking some kind of drugs which has, she adds, resulted in over 50 deaths so far. “Earlier, it was just alcohol abuse but in the last 10 years various forms of drugs have become available in the village easily. Addicts can get any drugs, syringes or medicinal drugs in the village,” she says.

Sukhvir Singh, a resident of Kaliyan village, echoes Ajami’s concerns, adding that medicinal tablets used as drugs are also sold in the village pharmacies. “In this small village there are 8 medical shops where different medicines used for drugs are sold. Most of the youths, aged between 15 years and 35 years, are losing themselves to drugs and we have complained many times to the authorities but no one helps. We have questioned politicians in election rallies who just give assurances,” he says.

Ganganagar is among Rajasthan ’s 12 Lok Sabha seats going to polls on April 19, where the issue of drug abuse among youths has been raised by various contenders in their campaigns, which locals however dismiss as just “lip service”.

The Ganganagar parliamentary constituency comprises Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts, which border Punjab state as well as Pakistan. The two districts are known as “mini-Punjab of Rajasthan” because of the sizeable population of Punjabis and the influence of the Punjabi culture and language there.

As the drug menace reached its peak in Punjab in recent years, drug traffickers made these Rajasthan border districts their next target. According to the local police, the drug menace in Ganganagar has shot up in the last decade, mainly due to its smuggling through the Pakistan border. For some years the surveillance of security forces at the Punjab border has increased, so the smugglers have now been using the Ganganagar region adjoining Pakistan to push drugs into India by drones.

Many locals in the region complain that despite the devastating impact of drug abuse on a large number of families, the leading parties, including the BJP and the Congress, have merely given assurances about addressing the

problem but nothing substantial has been done till now. “In every election, the drug issue is raised at the rallies of various candidates, only to be forgotten afterwards,” they say.

Ahead of the November 2023 Assembly elections, which the BJP swept to oust the Congress from power, both the parties had raised the drug abuse issue, as they have been doing now, several local residents point out.

This time, the BJP replaced its sitting MP Nihalchand Meghwal to field Priyanka Balan Meghwal from the Ganganagar seat. In the 2019 polls, Nihalchand had trounced the Congress’s Bharat Ram Meghwal by over 4 lakh votes.

Priyanka Balan told The Indian Express that the BJP government has already taken several steps to curb the sale of certain medicinal drugs through pharmacies and that she has also been taking it up in her rallies.

Her rival, Congress candidate Kuldeep Indora, while addressing gatherings in Ganganagar’s rural belt, claimed that if elected he will highlight the issue in power corridors in New Delhi .

According to the Sri Ganganagar police, more than Rs 100 crore of drugs has been seized by them in multiple operations in 2023. BSF sources told The Indian Express that during the last year they confiscated in the district 76 kg heroin.

Gaurav Yadav, Sri Ganganagar SP, said a lot of drug consignments is dropped from drones sent from the Pakistan border. “The BSF has intercepted hundreds of crores worth heroine packages that were dropped at the border. As per our investigations, 100% of these packages are for Punjab. Punjab-Pakistan border area has become very strict recently, so smugglers have started dropping packages at Ganganagar as it is adjacent to Punjab. Their modus operandi is to send a man from Punjab who will pick up the dropped packages.”

The SP said the heroin worth Rs 2,000-Rs 4,000 per gram is expensive and largely unaffordable for locals, adding that it is usually meant for customers in Punjab.

Jasmeet Singh, a Hanumangarh-based anti-drugs activist, said that a teenager as young as 12 years old, has been found to be taking drugs. “People who have money take the heroin and other crushed medicinal tablets, heat it to make a liquid and insert it with syringes. Over time, the veins of drug addicts get blocked due to excess usage. We went to every politician and government officials but no one has taken this seriously due to which this problem is rising every day,” said Jasmeet.

There are many others who underline that despite the grave consequences of the drug menace for a large section of the electorate the issue has barely got the focus from the candidates in the fray.

A police official, on the condition of anonymity, said, “Most of these drug mafias are functioning with the support of politicians. If we catch a truck or a drug smuggler, we have to let him go due to political pressure. We have done various raids on pharmaceutical companies supplying these medicines without any proper records. What is the medical department doing and who is supporting them? The police alone cannot control drug problems when this is such a big nexus.”

A Ganganagar farmer said both the BJP and the Congress have “ignored” the drug abuse issue in their poll campaigns.

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Tunisian journalist sentenced to 6 months in prison for insulting an official

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A judge in Tunisia sentenced a journalist and political commentator to six months in prison in the country’s latest assault on members of the media who criticize the government.

Mohamed Boughalleb, who had been charged with insulting a public official, was sentenced Wednesday and will remain behind bars, where he has been since his arrest last month after an official lodged a complaint against him.

The official alleged he was harmed by Boughalleb’s commentary linking him to corruption and misuse of public funds.

The complaint from a member of Tunisia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs came after Boughalleb on Facebook questioned trips abroad that the civil servant made with the minister and called them a “waste of public funds.”

He was subsequently charged with violating defamation laws in Tunisia’s penal and telecommunications code.

Lawyers for Boughalleb, 60, denounced the sentence as “an assault on freedom of expression” and raised questions about its political nature. He joined a chorus of Tunisians who have called into question the government’s pursuit of its critics as President Kais Saied prepares to compete for a second term leading the North African country.

Authorities have increasingly targeted and arrested journalists this year and about 20 are now facing similar charges, Ziad Dabbar, the president of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, said.

To sentence a well-known radio and television commentator like Boughalleb constitutes “another attempt to silence free voices and prevent journalists from doing their job,” Dabbar said.

Journalists critical of the government are one of many groups that have seen their civil liberties restricted in Tunisia. More than 20 activists and politicians critical of Saied have been behind bars for more than a year, charged with plotting against state security in cases their advocates have denounced as politicized.

The pursuit of journalists, cartoonists and political opponents comes almost five years after Saied won the presidency on an anti-corruption platform and months before he’s expected to seek a second term in a yet-to-be-scheduled election.

After taking office, Saied suspended Tunisia’s parliament, rewrote the constitution to consolidate his own power and curtailed the independence of a judiciary that has since ramped up its pursuit of his critics and opponents .

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