question_answer

How can you say that Pakistan was not exercising democracy when General Musharraf was ruling?

Answer:

In Pakistan, General Musharraf led a military coup in October 1999. (i) He overthrew a democratically elected government and declared himself the 'Chief Executive' of the country. (ii) Later, he changed his designation to that of a President and in 2002, held a referendum in the country that granted him a five-year extension. The government in Pakistan, under General Musharraf, cannot be called a democracy because: People may have elected their representatives to the national and provincial assemblies but those elected representatives are not really the rulers. They cannot take the final decisions. (i) The power to take the final decision rests with the army officials and with General Musharraf and none of them are elected by the people. (ii) Pakistani media, human right organisations and democracy activists said that referendum held by General Musharraf was based on malpractices and fraud.