Session 7: How democratic are Pakistan's Political Parties?

An important issue, which is often overlooked in Pakistan, is the Internal democracy in its political parties. When we talk about democracy in Pakistan, we usually refer to it in macro terms rather than analyzing the democratic traditions or non-thereof in the various political parties. In the subsequent space we will analyze just how democratic some of the major Pakistani political parties are.

The PML-N:

                       The current ruling party can by no means be seen as the poster boy of inter party democracy. The PML-N has a constitution according to which any adult Pakistani citizen can become a member of the party. As per its constitution inter party elections are supposed to be held every 3 years but that is not strictly adhered to, with the past 2 elections being held in 2006 and 2011. The Central Executive Committee is supposed to meet every 3 months but it hasn’t met even once in the last one and a half years. According to the constitution all the provincial heads of the party have to be elected but all the current provincial presidents of the party were nominated by the Party Head. The Party essentially revolves around one man Mr. Nawaz Sharif, who briefly let go of the party reins in his exile, during which another dynastic politician Javed Hashmi was made the party president.

The PPP:

                 The PPP isn’t too different from the PML-N in terms of internal party dynamics. It has a smaller constitution consisting of just 9 articles. Elections are supposed to be held every 2 years for the office of Patron and Patron-in Chief and have to take place every 3 years for all party posts other than the two mentioned above. The past two inter party elections were held in 2006 and 2013. Provincial party heads are nominated rather than being elected. The CEC has a total of 55 members who are all nominated. Dynastic leadership is a striking feature of the party, with leadership being concentrated solely in the Bhutto family.

The PTI:

                The PTI has a fairly comprehensive constitution, which gives substantial powers to the Chairman. As per the constitution elections are supposed to be held every 4 years, with the past two elections happening in 2009 and 2013. The 2013 elections were very extensive even though there were a quite a few discrepancies in the election process. The Chairman was elected unopposed in the elections. All provincial party presidents are elected except for the KPK party president, who was nominated after the previous elected provincial president became the speaker and resigned. The CEC currently consists of 75 members, out of which 30 members were nominated by the Chairman Imran Khan. Even though the party leader hasn’t changed since the party’s inception, dynastic leadership doesn’t seem likely in the foreseeable future. The expulsion of Javed even before a show cause notice was served to him shows that dissent is not tolerated in the party. Compared to the PML-N and the PPP it seems that the PTI is fairly more democratic.

Democracy is strengthening its roots in Pakistan but for it to really prosper democratic traditions need to establish in the political parties also.

*all facts were taken from the PILDAT report on internal party democracy.