The most fundamental reason behind the failure of democracy in Pakistan is the choice of the system it made at its birth.
The question that automatically comes up here is: Was a final choice indeed made?
The obvious answer is in negative. The reason the parliamentary form was adopted almost automatically after the partition was, that Pakistan had been created under British system which had known no other traditions except parliamentary. Both Pakistan and India had been granted dominion status by the British Crown, which meant that till these new-born independent states found their own forms of governance and made their own constitutions, they would function as autonomous extensions of the British Crown, with the Governor Generals to act as heads of the states on behalf of His Majesty. India accepted Lord Mountbatten as its first Governor General. But the founder of Pakistan Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah opted not to become Prime Minister, and chose Governor General’s office for himself.
Some critics argue here that it was this decision of the Quaid which forever made the office of the Governor General and subsequently the President the nucleus of defacto authority.
But this view conveniently ignores the basic apprehensions that the Quaid had about the Parliamentary system.
While as a politician and a negotiator for Pakistan’s independence, the Quaid had operated within the constitution developed in the British India, there are clear indications to the effect that he hadn’t much faith in the strength of the British system. In July 1947 a month before Pakistan was born, the Quaid, while engaged in negotiations for dominion status, jotted a note to himself.
“Dangers of Parliamentary form of government are: (1) It has worked satisfactorily so far only in England, and nowhere else; (2) Presidential form of government is more suited to Pakistan because it will provide the masses an opportunity to choose their leadership directly, rather than through the powerful oligarchs and feudals likely to dominate any parliament.
After Independence, in a speech given in Baluchistan, the Quaid spoke of the advantages of the Presidential system in quite expliit terms.
“The Legislature’s role should not be governance but law-making. The Chief Executive should be elected by the people themselves, not just in the Federation but also in the Provinces.”
Alas, those who took control of Pakistan after the Quaid, had a vested interest in the parliamentary form. Liaqat Ali Khan being a settler, had no constituency, and he had to rely on the elected feudals and the powerful bureaucrats to stay in charge. Much of what the Quaid had said, advised and advocated was sadly forgotten and omitted from the record.
Consequently Pakistan remains a helpless hostage to the whims and designs of its Lords and Generals.
04-03-2014
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