Democracy put to grass

Paksitan's military rulers have traditionally tried to invent new models of democracy, ranging from 8216;guided8217; democracy to 8216;ba...

Paksitan8217;s military rulers have traditionally tried to invent new models of democracy, ranging from 8216;guided8217; democracy to 8216;basic8217; democracy and, now, 8216;grassroots8217; democracy. Every invention of this kind is done to ensure that power remains in their hands. That Pakistan8217;s self-appointed military regime today is well on its way to formalising such a dispensation through a civilian facade, therefore, should come as no surprise. General Musharraf8217;s 8216;grassroots8217; democracy would remain just that 8212; while the army continues to wield actual power, a civilian political system is held accountable.

The key to that rule since General Zia-ul Haq8217;s time has been the infamous Eight Amendment to the 1973 Constitution, which gave powers to the president to appoint or remove the prime minister. Nawaz Sharif, with his massive political mandate, finally removed that Sword of Damocles over the head of an elected leadership, by first removing the president and then the Eight Amendment. But he paid for that audacity by losing power, facing imprisonment and exile. The restoration of the Eight Amendment, therefore, would remain an inevitable pre-condition for any election under a military dispensation.

General Musharraf has been making it amply clear that the prime minister would have all the powers but that he would control the prime minister in the name of unity of command! The same model is already functioning at lower levels. But the plan is obviously not to rely only on the unique provision of the Eight Amendment but also to ensure that the army has a key role in the national decision-making process. The proposed National Security Council would be the instrument for this purpose. It was General Jehangir Karamat8217;s demand for constituting such a Council that had cost him his job as the army chief in 1998 under a Sharif government.

Apart from these two issues, many of the other proposals for a constitutional amendment being considered by the regime could be negotiable. The weakened political parties can at best protest with little hope of support from any quarter. The tragedy of Pakistan is that its military regimes, which may have achieved some tactical successes, have always failed the people. But then it does not rule in its name and General Musharraf, even in his address to the nation, pays tribute to the military ahead of the country and its people.

The sad aspect of the process is that it goes against the global trend of deepening democratic practice. Unfortunately, the world community has become so cynical that even the world8217;s most powerful democracy has put expediency ahead of principles. The contrast between President Bush8217;s demands for a 8216;8216;practising democracy8217;8217; in Palestine and his satisfaction with the emerging new model of democracy in Pakistan is stark indeed. The problem is that peace and stability in the region would remain a mirage as long as experiments with democracy continue in Pakistan.