By Raja Asghar

Islamabad, Aug.10: Pakistan marks its golden jubilee this week with its frayed democratic institutions under pressure from ethnic and religious violence, economic strains and a profound disenchantment with the ruling elite.  

“Clearly there is panic on all sides,” political commentator Nasim Zehra wrote in a recent article. “The government knows it is not able to fulfill the basic requirements of providing security to its citizens, nor can it expect any positive response from local and foreign investors against the backdrop of a rising death toll in Pakistan’s two major cities — Karachi and Lahore,” she added. 

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who won a commanding mandate in the elections in February, has used his clout in Parliament to scrap constitutional rules used by Presidents in the past to dismiss governments, often at the bidding of the military. He has tried to consolidate power by hastily amending the Constitution to allow party leaders to expel members of Parliament who fail to toe the party line.  

Yet, predictions of doom, including possible military intervention, still surface in Pakistan, where the generals have held power for 24 years of its 50 year history. After nearly six months in power, Mr Sharif’s government is grappling with a tide of sectarian violence involving Sunni and Shia Muslim militants in the populous Punjab province, along with a resurgence of ethnic killings in the southern port of Karachi.  

“The first duty of the government is to maintain law and order, then you talk about development and other things,” former attorney-general Yahya Bakhtiar said. 

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“When you can’t do that, you have no business to stay in government at all.”  

The daily death count bodes ill for Mr Sharif’s drive to rescue a crumbling economy and turn Pakistan into a new economic tiger. He has offered package after package of reforms and incentives designed to revive stagnant industry and stimulate export-led growth, while simultaneously striving to meet International Monetary Fund demands for fiscal restraint. If he fails to turn the economy around and deliver on his promises of prosperity, many commentators say his government may be short lived despite its huge parliamentary majority.  

In a country where no elected government has ever completed its full term in office and the rule of law has rarely applied to the rich, powerful and corrupt, another such failure could encourage those who argue that Pakistan must try a new formula.  

Ms. Benazir Bhutto, fired as Prime Minister in November on disputed charges of corruption, blamed vote rigging for her party’s election defeat in February, but pledged to cooperate with Mr Sharif to let the democratic system work. She backed his move to sideline the presidency to avenge her own sacking. However, Ms. Bhutto recently demanded the establishment of a “national survival government” of political parties, armed forces, bureaucracy, judiciary and intelligence networks to save Pakistan from what she sees the “coming catastrophe.”  

Ms. Bhutto’s proposal, apparently incongruous from one who campaigned against the military dictatorship of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, has drawn widespread derision from a lot of quarters. (Reuter)