2. Remember the Introductory Paragraph We
had
• Democracy is a form of government, garnered by mankind over a period
millennium's experiments with various governance structure. Unlike other
forms of governance, democracy places supreme power of the state in the
masses, making them the fountainhead of sovereignty. In fact, it was this
characteristic of democracy that led famous US president Abraham Lincoln to
designate democratic forms of governments to be of the people, by the people
and for the people.’ Unfortunately, in Pakistan, democracy has been a duel of
power-play among various interest groups, of which, masses have accrued little
benefit. Unfortunate as it may be, weak institutional foundations, civil military
imbalance of power, self-serving and irresponsive bureaucracy, incompetent
politicians and geo-political situation in the region has dealt many blows to the
fledgling democratic system in Pakistan. Arguably, no democratic government
in Pakistan has fully been free of pressure and intimidation to perform its best.
In this context, Pakistan’s journey on the path of democracy, underlying
problems it has been facing and an optimistic way forward for a democratic
Pakistan are taken up below.
3. Concluding for the Same
• To conclude, democracy is an achievement by mankind in the arena of
governance following hard-earned experiences spread over centuries. This
form of governance is the best as it makes the masses the fountainhead of
government, supreme power of the state and the state itself. However, in case of
Pakistan, the masses have derived little benefit from the democracy because of
conflicting interests at play since her inception. Bureaucracy, institutional
tussle, weak politicians, subservient judiciary, feudalism and geo-political
situation as thoroughly discussed in this essay have prevented a conducive
atmosphere for a democratic culture to grow to its fullest zenith for the
ultimate benefit of masses. Notwithstanding dark clouds on the horizon, a
silver gleam of light always keeps the hopes alive. Hence, despite all hurdles,
Pakistan has a potential of growing into a robust democracy and has shown
this to the world, as already discussed, in the past two decades through various
movements for restoration of democracy and democratic institutions. With
such positive vibes at the root, one sees no reason why Pakistan cannot
prosper as a shinning nation in the comity of democratic states.
4. Thank you so much.
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Safiullah Shahwani
