May 16, 2013

Last Saturday, Pakistan’s national election proved to be a milestone in the political development of  a country that has been entrenched in turmoil and grief for several months, if not years. In more than 60 years, this is the first time in the country’s history that one elected government served its full five-year term and subjected itself to the electorate in a free and fair manner.
 
In Pakistan’s past, governments in power were either tossed out by behind-the-scenes maneuvers or by military coups. This year’s election was supervised by an independent election commission, and the government put itself in the hands of a temporary caretaker that was set up to oversee the process. In the end, the winner was Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, returning him to the prime minister’s office for the third time. He ruled twice in the 1990’s and was deposed in 1999 by a military coup and exiled to Saudi Arabia. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the party of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007, and was the party in power, suffered a massive defeat at the polls.
 
Regardless, what is promising is that the real winner in the election was democracy.  Voter turnout was at a record 60 percent, especially in spite of calls by the Pakistani Taliban for people not to vote. The Pakistani Taliban carried out a campaign of terror against the three main parties who were perceived to have more secular leanings: the PPP, Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM, a Karachi-centered party based on Pakistanis who emigrated from India after the partition), and the Awami National Party (ANP, a Pashtun nationalist party that opposes the Taliban). This terror campaign did tilt the playing field by making it unsafe for public campaigning by these parties.
 
President Barack Obama congratulated the Pakistani people for their achievement in a peaceful and transparent transfer of civilian power.
 
“By conducting competitive campaigns, freely exercising your democratic rights and persevering despite intimidation by violent extremists, you have affirmed a commitment to democratic rule that will be critical to achieving peace and prosperity for all Pakistanis for years to come,” said the President in a statement to the Pakistani people.  
 
Pakistan now faces major challenges. The economy has done poorly in the past five years, and an electricity shortage continues to make life difficult for average people and businesses. Inflation has run high, though finally, it has come down in the past 18 months. The Taliban, both in Afghanistan and Pakistan, continue to be an active source of violence and terror, and more than 50,000 Pakistanis have died due to  fighting and mayhem brought on by these groups during the past 10 years.  Relations with India, the ongoing issue of Kashmir and the future of Afghanistan after the U.S. draws down in 2014 will need to be addressed.
 
Sharif has a historic opportunity to cement democracy in Pakistan if he can deliver on his promises to fix the economy, public safety and foreign policy issues. It is well known that he sees the Turkish model, in which the elected Adalet ve Kalkenma Partisi (AKP) was able to establish civilian control of the military after it delivered on governance and economic prosperity, as a blueprint for how to do the same in Pakistan. The question is whether he is skilled enough to see it through.
 
In the meantime, Pakistanis should hold their heads high for beginning to walk the path toward honest democracy.