Controlled Democracy and Political Opposition in Pakistan: A Case Study of Musharraf Era

Abstract

The paper analysez the state of democracy, process of democratization and challenges to the government in Pervez Musharraf regime. It was a time when Musharraf introduced some new phenomena and reforms to the politcal set up of Pakistan. Some were appreciated in and outside of the country but others were bitterly criticized. Musharraf implemented National Security Council (NSC) to check over parliament. It had been observed that all important issues had been dominated by the military establishment. Military establishment adopted forced methology to attain results which were contradictory to democratic norms and values. Aim of the paper here is to discuss that why Musharraf introduced something new and were considered undemocratic? How political forces challenged his government and international pressure was applied? Methodology used in this research is descriptive-analytical, as to describe the events and then analyze them with arguments. It is concuded in the paper that Pakistani public rejected Musharraf and his allies in 2008 general elections, by bringing a civil democratic political structure in country.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n14p560