Politics in Pakistan refers to the ideologies and systems by which Pakistan was established in 1947.[1] As envisaged by the nation's founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan is a nation-state, constitutionally a democratic parliamentary republic.[2] The national cabinet, led by the Prime Minister of Pakistan has executive power and the president is the head of state elected by the electoral college.[3] Pakistan is one of the youngest democracies in the world, established in 2003.[4] Pakistan's political system is based on an elected form of governance.[5] The democratic elections held in 2008 were the first to conclude a 5-year term in the nation's political history. However, since the country's inception, the military has had disproportionate power over state affairs.[6] Several military interventions have disrupted Pakistan's democracy. These interventions include takeovers by General Ayub Khan (1958-1969), General Yahya Khan (1969-1971), General Zia Ul Haq (1978-1988), and General Pervez Musharraf (2001-2008).[6]
History
The Indus Valley civilization, present in the area which is now Pakistan was one of the earliest and largest ancient human civilizations alongside Mesopotamia, the Nile Valley, Anatolia and ancient China, known for its highly developed, sophisticated and urbanized culture and much later also old Greece which had some form of democratic rule.
Historians and social scientists studying the civilization's social structure observe that the Indus Valley had an organised planning system, including standard architecture, civic controls, consistent grid layouts and uniformed sanitary facilities. This well-disciplined lifestyle and a common Rule of Law extending throughout a large area leads some historians to believe and suggest the Indus Valley civilization in Pakistan as possibly the earliest cradle and model of democracy; one which was based on a "popular rule by the people" based on the conceptions of Welfare State and Rule of law (and hence the presence of some form of Democracy) which even predated old Greece.[7]
In the wake of intensifying political instability, the civilian bureaucracy and military assumed governing power in 1958. Since its independence, Pakistan's political system has fluctuated between civilian and military governments at various times throughout its political history, mainly due to political instability, civil-military conflicts, political corruption, and the periodic coup d'états by the military establishment against weak civilian governments, resulting in the enforcement of martial law across the country (occurring in 1958, 1977 and 1999, and led by chief martial law administrator-generals Ayub Khan, Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf respectively).[8] Democracy in Pakistan, however imperfect, has been allowed to function to varying degrees.
The 2024 Pakistani general election while deeply flawed and with claimed electoral irregularities demonstrates a "continuity of an electoral process that has historically been subject to political engineering".[9]
Current status
Until 2013, Pakistan did not experience a democratic transfer of power from one democratically elected government that had completed its tenure to another. All of its previous democratic transitions have been aborted by military coups.[10] Pakistan was 2023 the 20th most electoral democratic country in Asia according to V-Dem Democracy indices.[11]
