Democracy thrives and gains strength when the political parties vying for winning the franchise of the people show unflinching respect for the constitution and law of the land, pursue their political objectives in consonance with the internationally recognized norms of democratic behaviour and ruling and opposition parties show respect for each other’s mandate besides have working relations to promote interests of the state. It is rightly said that in a democratic dispensation government and opposition are two sides of the same coin. The opposition is regarded as government in the waiting. It is a perfect recipe for socio-economic development of a country and social harmony.
As regards Pakistan, it is a matter of shame that though we have a parliamentary democracy in the country and a written constitution that spells out the course that the country has to traverse but the real democracy has remained an elusive dream even after 77 years of independence.
The country has not seen stability except under the dictatorial rules though they represented a detour from the constitutional course. The political parties have not operated the way they should have in a democratic dispensation. Almost all the elections have been controversial and the losing parties have invariably refused to accept election results. The major focus of the parties in the opposition has been on bringing down the incumbent government instead of playing its desired role. In this regard who can forget the crass politics of nineties?
However, while the political parties resorted to all kinds of devious machinations including horse-trading and instituting false case against their opponents they refrained from any kind of violence against each other or challenging the writ of the state.
It is rightly said that in a democratic........