Democracy under attack
Despite its shortcomings democracy is widely hailed as the best-known system of governance known to mankind. It ensures participation and will of the people to prevail. Historians believe that democracy…
Democracy’s missing link
After weeks-long back and forth due to deliberations, the entire polity of Pakistan reached a consensus on the 26th Amendment. It may not be considered a watershed moment in the…
Democracy’s missing half
The global movement for gender equality has driven change across many sectors, but political representation remains one of the most formidable challenges. Although women make up nearly half of the…
Ailing democracy
AT a time when democracy across the world is under challenge, there have recently been a number of developments, some that may shape its future trajectory. Elections in India saw the…
Renewing democracy
FOLLOWING Liaquat Ali Khan’s assassination in 1951, Pakistan witnessed a carousel of prime ministers, with six leaders in seven years, each serving an average term of 14 months. The wobbly…
Better democracy
PAKISTAN’S electoral history is a tale of evolving political consciousness, as evidenced by voter turnout oscillations. The dismally low 44 per cent turnout in 2008, a manifestation of public scepticism,…
Aborting democracy
WE have failed to democratise since 1947 thanks mainly to the security establishment as well as all major political parties. True, we are no North Korea — small buds of…
Breakdown of democracy
PAKISTAN is experiencing a complete breakdown of democracy with a powerless civilian set-up at the centre, caretaker governments in Punjab and KP serving beyond their constitutional mandate, a divided judiciary…
Leaking democracy
THE recent spate of leaked audios of conversations among PML-N government leaders as well as PTI leaders is a matter of grave concern for the right to privacy, cybersecurity and civilian supremacy,…
Authoritarianism & democracy
RECENTLY, Salahuddin Ahmed, a well-known legal eagle of Pakistan, tweeted about feeling gloomy. And he wasn’t referring to inflation or the floods. His concern was the state of democracy in…
