Ray

Authoritarianism and Political Party Reform in Pakistan


28 September 2005



Although the dangers are evident, the international community continues to support General Pervez Musharraf because of his perceived cooperation in the war on terror, ignoring unconstitutional constraints on the civilian opposition. However, the military's refusal to cede real power to civilians and its marginalisation of moderate parties has boosted religious extremists. Instability is worsening, and sectarian conflict threatens to spin out of control. Lacking robust international support for a democratic transition, mainstream parties struggle to survive, subjected to coercion and violence. They can be the most effective safeguard against the religious lobby's manifestly anti-Western agenda, but only if allowed to function freely in a democratic environment. They need outside help but must also get more serious about reforming themselves.

Since his October 1999 coup, General Musharraf, like his military predecessors, has sought domestic and international legitimacy through a civilian façade. He has created his own party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam, PML-Q) and brought it to power through rigged elections. The PML-Q now heads the government in the centre and in three of Pakistan's four provinces. Yet, its reliance on the military undermines its credibility as a representative and independent party.

To offset Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N, Nawaz), as well as regional parties, Musharraf has consolidated the military's links with religious parties. This has enabled the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), a combination of six religious parties, to form the government in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and become the PML-Q's coalition partner in Balochistan, as well as gain an influential voice in the national parliament.

During the local elections, the moderate parties again bore the brunt of state coercion, particularly the PPP and PML-N, which headed Pakistan's emerging two-party system during the democratic transition of the 1990s and still present the most credible alternatives to authoritarian rule. While Musharraf has restricted their political space, his government's tactics have also brought them together in an anti-military coalition, the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD), the largest opposition group in the National Assembly.

The PPP and PML-N each formed two elected governments in the 1990s and share blame for that flawed democratic transition. Their inept governance, political vendettas and willingness to align with the military against the other stalled democratic reform and enabled the high command to oust the elected government in 1999. Both parties now acknowledge their failures, and their opposition to authoritarian rule has allowed them to regain some credibility.

Whether they can steer Pakistan towards democracy and political stability, however, will depend importantly on whether they can organise their grassroots base in a hostile environment, hampered by the continued exile of their leaders and the defection under military pressure of many senior figures. Flawed internal structures have made the PPP and PML-N, as well as other opposition parties, especially vulnerable to the military's political machinations.

Overly centralised structures have weakened communication between the leadership and lower cadres, making internal discipline and accountability elusive and hampering efforts to broaden decision making. Addressing these weaknesses through internal party reform needs to be a top priority.

To revive party machinery under the current regime, the PPP, PML-N and other moderate groups will need to reduce dependence on individual leaders and institute mechanisms aimed especially at extending ownership over party policy to grassroots workers, who have been crucial to the parties' survival, but have been largely ignored in decision-making processes. Allowing all tiers to play meaningful roles would make parties more responsive to new social and political challenges and enable them to build the durable political infrastructure necessary for a successful democratic transition.

Strengthening Pakistan's democratic parties is also crucial for the international community. The marginalisation of moderate voices has allowed religious parties to fill a political vacuum. Their increasing strength has encouraged intolerance and extremism that could erode regional stability if left unchecked.

RECOMMENDATIONS

To the Political Parties:

1. Promote internal discipline and accountability by:

(a) monitoring attendance at party meetings and making attendance mandatory for all office holders;

(b) establishing disciplinary committees, with elected heads, in each district with the authority to take action against district and sub-district party workers and office holders (with right of appeal to the provincial leadership);

(c) permitting defectors to return to the party only after a comprehensive review of their reasons for defecting and a vote in the relevant district or provincial office; and

(d) rewarding committed and effective party workers with greater opportunities to rise through the ranks, including to run for office, have access to funds and other resources for their candidacies, and to gain promotions to important committees.

2. Promote internal democracy by:

(a) holding regular elections for all leadership posts in all units up to the district level, with term limits for office holders;

(b) requiring every district office to elect delegates to annual provincial and national party conventions by direct vote of the district branch membership;

(c) holding regular elections among district delegates in the relevant province for all provincial party leadership posts; and

(d) electing two thirds of the central executive committee membership through delegate votes in provincial party branches, with remaining members to be selected, as at present, by the party leader.

3. Broaden participation in the decision-making process by:

(a) enforcing the requirement that local units conduct monthly meetings;

(b) requiring local units to submit monthly reports to district offices; district offices to hold monthly meetings and convey feedback to provincial offices; and provincial offices to send consolidated reports of these meetings, along with the reports of local and district units, on a monthly basis to the central executive committee; and

(c) providing all necessary facilities, including research staff, to assist executive committee members tasked with preparing position papers on domestic and international issues, which should then be adopted as party policy by the central executive committee only after consultation with provincial offices.

4. Establish central and provincial party funds to enable low-income party workers to contest elections and allocate these through a transparent and accountable process.

5. Require all party workers to undergo mandatory training programs before achieving full membership, and devote particular attention to training members of special constituencies such as women and students and other young people.

6. Increase representation of women in central and provincial executive committees and other key decision-making bodies.

7. Enhance organisational and managerial capacity by professionalising party headquarters, including by hiring trained professional staff members on a merit basis and instituting efficient management structures and practices.

To the Government of Pakistan:

8. Remove immediately the discriminatory requirement that a candidate for public office must hold a bachelor's degree.

9. Amend Political Party Order 2002 (PPO-2002) by the end of 2005 to allow parties to establish their own requirements, criteria and schedules for the election of their leaders and officials.

10. Appoint an independent federal Election Commission, after consultation with all major political parties, by January 2006.

11. By March 2006, refine party finance laws, including by establishing mandatory reporting requirements and removing restrictions on corporate funding of parties, within defined limits; provide state funding to parties through a transparent, accountable and equitable process; and give the reconstituted Election Commission the authority and resources to monitor and enforce compliance.

12. Remove the two-term limit for a prime minister by repealing the Qualification to Hold Public Offices Order 2002 immediately.

13. Remove the ban on student unions.

To the International Community, in particular the United States and the European Union:

14. Press the Musharraf government to resume the democratic transition by holding free and fair local, provincial and national elections and tie political, economic and aid policy towards Pakistan to tangible progress along that democratic path.

15. Help strengthen moderate democratic parties by:

(a) calling upon the government to stop immediately all unlawful arrests, detentions and other harassment of opposition leaders and workers;

(b) ensuring that high-level visitors consult with leaders of the main opposition parties; and

(c) enhancing financial support and capacity building activities to include technical assistance and training in professional management techniques for party headquarters and documentation of party finances.

Lahori,


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