Checks & balances

Capital suggestion

There are around twelve dozen democracies around the world of which some eight dozen follow the presidential system of government ‘where an executive branch is led by a president’. The other four dozen democracies follow the parliamentary system of government in which ‘the executive branch derives its democratic legitimacy from, and is held accountable to, the legislative’.

A dictatorship is a ‘form of government where a country is ruled by one person’. An oligarchy is a form of government ‘in which power effectively rests with a small number of people’. Question: What prevents a democracy from becoming a dictatorship? Question: What prevents a democracy from becoming an oligarchy? Answer: An institutional system of checks and balances.

In 1985, the Eighth Amendment to the constitution introduced a new clause into Article 58 of the constitution: “A situation has arisen in which the government of the federation cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the constitution and an appeal to the electorate is necessary.”

In the General Election of 1988, the PPP bagged nearly 7.5 million votes winning 114 National Assembly seats. The 9-party Islami Jamhoori Ittehad, with the PML-N as its major component, won 60 seats. When Benazir Bhutto took oath of the prime ministerial office the PPP government had at least two effective checks and balances – Article 58 (2) (b) and an effective opposition in parliament.

In the General Election of 1990, the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad won 111 National Assembly seats and the PPP 44 National Assembly seats. When Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif took oath of the prime ministerial office the PML-N government had at least two effective checks and balances – Article 58 (2) (b) and an effective PPP opposition in the parliament.

In the General Election of 1993, the PPP bagged nearly 7.6 million votes winning 89 National Assembly seats. The PML-N bagged nearly 8 million votes but ended up with 73 seats. When Benazir Bhutto took oath of the prime ministerial office the PPP government had at least two effective checks and balances – Article 58 (2) (b) and an effective PML-N opposition in the parliament.

In the General Election of 1997, the PML-N won 137 National Assembly seats and the PPP 18 National Assembly seats. On April 4, 1997, the Thirteenth Amendment act was passed putting an end to Article 58 (2) (b) of the constitution – and along with it the presidential check on the prime minister was taken away.

On May 14, 2006, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif signed the Charter of Democracy – and that effectively meant an end to opposition politics. In the General Election of 2008, the PPP won 119 National Assembly seats and the PML-N 89 seats. When Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani took oath of the prime ministerial office there were no effective checks and balances on the democratically elected PPP government.

In the General Election of 2013, the PML-N won 166 National Assembly seats and the PPP 45 National Assembly seats. When Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif took oath of the prime ministerial office there were no effective checks and balances on the democratically elected PML-N government.

What prevents a democracy from becoming a dictatorship? What prevents a democracy from becoming an oligarchy?

The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad.

Email: farrukh15@hotmail.com. Twitter: @saleemfarrukh