Pakistan Social Sciences Review P-ISSN 2664-0422

March 2021,Vol. 5, No. I [218-230] O-ISSN 2664-0430

RESEARCH PAPER
Power Sharing in Pakistan: A Failed Experience from 1988
-1999
Received: The present
Prof. Dr. Iram study
Khalid*focuses on the democratic experience of
1 Muhammad Afzal Sajid 2
January 19, Pakistan under a female Prime Minister and a leader from the
2021 Accepted: Department
1. Chairperson, of Political The
largest province. Science, University
crash of Zia oful the Punjab,
Haq’s Lahore,
plane Punjab,
marked the
March 01, 2021
Pakistan
Online: beginning of a new era and after a long time the dawn
2. Ph. D Scholar, Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore,
of
March Pakistandemocracy dawned and establishment announced the
15, 2021
Punjab,
restoration of democracy in the state. Even though, it had
Keywords: already lifted martial law in 1985 but still the system was running
Benazir Bhutto,
under Zia. A long decade of dictatorship rule had badly affected
Democracy,
Democratization, the beauty of democracy. A new period started with the
Martial Law, expectation that it would give rise to affluence and stability in the
Nawaz Sharif system of government, but it did not meet the
PAPER INFO ABSTRACT
*Corresponding standards of the people and the system was not allowed to grow
Author in a democratic way. The study concludes with the observation
iramkrc.polsc@ that undemocratic behavior and practices failed the power
pu.edu.pk sharing in Pakistan’s political system.
Introduction

Over the last 73 years, Pakistan’s experience with democracy has been
transitional, with a short democratic retro followed by long military rule and when
army takes power directly, it suspends the constitution immediately and put a ban on
politician and political parties. There is no difference wither it is Ayub Khan’s (1958-
1959) basic democracy, Zia’s System of Islamic Democracy (1979-1988) or Pervez
Musharraf’s (1999-2008) sustained Democracy, every dictator tried to run the country
as he wished.

After General Zia’s death, Pakistani politics completely changed. The vacuum
of the post of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) was filled by General Mirza Aslam Beg and
the vacuum of president’s office was filled by Ghulam Ishaq Khan (the then chairman
senate) to run the functions of the state. Ishaq Khan was in good book of the army
and had developed strong relations with the powerful institution since Zia’s period, he
announced party based elections in the state and so began a democratic era. But
throughout this decade of democracy, establishment, while living behind the curtain,
controlled the system and the elected PM’s have not been free to exercise their full
constitutional powers. Whenever they (PM) tried to exercise their authority, they were
removed from the scene. In this decade the establishment lingered the focal point of
political activities
 Power Sharing in Pakistan: A Failed Experience from 1988-1999

General Elections 1988 and Benazir’s 1st Tenure

GIK, who had assumed the office of the President after the death of Zia,
proclaimed that elections of National and Provincial Assemblies to be held on the 16
and 19 of November 1988 respectively (Raza, 2002, p. 45). On October 3, 1988 the
Supreme Court of Pakistan decided that elections must be held party based since
non-party elections refutes the civil rights. On October 6, 1988 nine right wing parties
steered by Pakistan Muslim League formed the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) to
oppose the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in the elections (Shaikh, 2000, p.
109).The army could not have accepted a PPP complete victory in elections and to
achieve purpose make surefire a challenging opposition. An Ex person in command
of ISI ratified that his bureau and the army providedpecuniary and “logistic” backing
for the creation of the IJI, which comprised of several contra-PPP groups (Jones,
2003, p. 240).

In elections PPP won 94 seats and IJI won 56 out of 207 seats and rest of the
seats were won by other small parties and independents. By looking at the election
results, in accordance with democratic traditions, power should have been
transferred to Benazir Bhutto, the chairman of winning PPP party, but the army was
reluctant to transfer powers and had some reservations. According to Javed Ashraf
(ex-senator), the deal was made on the following points;

• Benazir Bhutto will not take revenge on army.

• Benazir will not interfere in Kashmir and Afghanistan policy.

• Army will be kept in confidence in at all costs on foreign policy.

But the leaders of PPP say that deal was done only on two aspects vis a vis;
do not indulge in army affairs and do not take any revenge from the armed forces.
The army officials had denied having any deal with the PPP and stated that it had
suggested nothing more than some proposals. The establishment had no strategy of
allowing non combatant regulator over themselves and Benazir agreed not to
engross in the core affairs of the military. As Saeed Shafqat has narrated that these
terms were decided;

• No intervention in service terms and nominations A bulkyfunds for

defence.

• Gen. Aslam Beg to remain as COAS.

• No foreign policy without the participation of military like Afghanistan and

Kashmir policy

• Sahibzada Yaqub will remain as foreign minister as he was during Zia era.
• Besides this Benazir approved to support GIK to carry on as Head of state
for 5 years (Shafqat, 1996, pp. 36–37).

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Thus, the military not only defended its sovereignty but also effectually
institutionalized its role in the political arena. In other words, the power was portioned
rather than transfer, and the political system that crop up in the 1988 elections was
not democratic, it was mixed. As Ahmad Salim in his book ‘Chay August Kay Baad:
Intakhabi M’arkoon Aur Mehalati Sazishoon Kikahani’ stated that the high
personnel’s of army had recommended that there was nothing more than some
suggestions.

On 2nd of December 1988 a great tribute was paid to Benazir Bhutto by

Presidents Ghulam Ishaq Khan by saying that, “she is a young, educated, decent
and capable lady. She has immense love for the country and has the spirit of service
to the masses” (The Daily Pakistan Times, December 16, 1988).

After all arrangements and assurances, Benazir formed her government in

center and in NWFP and Sindh while in Punjab and Balochistan IJI formed its
governments. On 12 December 1988, GIK was appointed as president of Pakistanby
the corroboration of PPP.

The circumstances under which Benazir took over the government are
described by William Richter in these words;

“Benazir Bhutto found herself confronted on all sides—by the President,

whose enhanced powers under amended constitution seriously limited her scope of
authority; by the military, which insisted on retaining authority over Afghan policy and
other sensitive subjects; by the IJI opposition in the National Assembly, which sought
to remove her through no-confidence motions; by the IJI majority in the Senate; and
by Nawaz Sharif, who attempted to strengthen Punjab and other provinces at the
expense of central government(Richter, 2019, p. 22).”

When the PPP government came to power, it faced many challenges,

including overcoming the establishment, Afghanistan issue. Nawabzada Haji Mir
Lashkari Khan Raisani, PML (N) told in an interview that the Zia’s legacy was
worldwide under pressure on its nuclear program, and shaky economy.
Benazir and President’s Tussle

Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who was approved by the army, although Benazir
helped him to be elected as president under an agreement, but when Benazir tried to
use her powers as prime minister, the gap between them widened day by day. The
first power sharing issue between President and PM Benazir was about the decision
of PM to retire Admiral Sirohi from his office as Benazir claimed that he has
completed his tenure of three years as Admiral but according to 8th amendment, the
power to appoint or retire any JCSC, COAS or Air Martial is given to president. The
president’s office issued an order that the admiral would continue on his position.
Although Benazir Bhutto withdrew herself from the issue of retirement, but the
differences among the PM and the President escalated due to this issue(Yusuf,
1999, p. 226). Another issue which emerged between President and PM was about
the appointment of several judges. These appointments were made during 17th
August 1988 to 1st December 1988. The government of Benazir challenged the
validity of these appointments on the ground that these appointments were made

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 Power Sharing in Pakistan: A Failed Experience from 1988-1999

without the advice of the PM. But after some negotiation, once again by noticing the
president’s aggressive style, the government withdrew its appeal on 10th of
December but this issue put another stone in the scales of the rising gulf between
President and PM.

Benazir and Army

To appease the army Benazir announced a “medal of democracy” for the

armed forces(Khan, 2004) on 23rd March 1989. Because she wanted to complete her
term in office and she knew very well that without the support and backing of army it
was impossible because she was in confrontation with opposition. In fact, this was an
attempt to get appease President, COAS and martial law’s legacy, who were
powerful and did not allow the government to exercise its statutory power.

Despite the restless alliance between the PPP and the MQM, the government
did not has the desired seats to amend the constitution, i.e. to repeal the 8th
Amendment. It is generally assumed that the military, particularly ISI, vigorously
sought to demoralize the work of the government and did not take long to create
strains between the two. To control the ISI, in May 1989, Benazir replaced the ISI
head Major General Hamid Gul with Lt. General (rtd) Shamas Rehman Kullo and
later in the same year she tried to influence the appointment of another senior
military officer. Although, under the 8th amendment these power were given to
president to make such type of decisions. Military conceived it as interfere in internal
affairs of the institution and also the violation of power sharing formula. This tussle
further increased on the issue of law and order in Sindh, when military asked to
impose complete martial law in Sindh or to set military courts in Sindh but
government did not allow a parallel military government in Sindh(Jan, 1999, p. 707).

Benazir’s Relations with Opposition and No Confidence Motion against Her

Government
Democracy cannot prosper without tolerance and cooperation of politicians.
But the head of the state President GIK espoused the scheme of divide and rule.
Keeping this policy in mind, Ishaq Khan met with Nawaz Sharif and Ghulam Mustafa
Jatoi on 4 June 1989 and on the same evening, a political alliance was formed
known as Combined Opposition Parties (COP) Comprising all the political parties of
National assembly and Mr. Jatoi was nominated as its chief. After the formulation of
COP the strength of the opposition touched to 100. The relation of center and Punjab
and center and Balochistan were already strained.

When Benazir was in Kuala Lumpur to attend the Commonwealth meeting, a

no confidence motion was officially tabled against Benazir’s government on 23rd
October 1989. To get the loyalties of the MNA’s a new term “horse trading” emerged.
The COAS Aslam Beg’s role to topple the government was not hidden. This was
revealed by Ch. Nisar Ali Khan (one of the loyalist of Nawaz Sharif at that
time)(Shaikh, 2000, p. 173).On November 1989, voting took place but PPP won by
12 votes.

Dissolution of the Government

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On 6 August 1990, president GIK dissolved the government by using the

powers of article 58(2)(b) of the constitution and this announcement was made in a
press conference which was held in presidency at 5P.M (Lodhi, 1990, p. 11.).On the
same day the order of dissolution was issued as well. Benazir in a press conference
in Bilawal house Karachi said that president has took this step under the pressure of
army. In the next two days all provincial assemblies were dissolved as well. A writ
petitions was filed in all High Courts of provinces. In September 1990, on the request
of federal government, the Supreme Court consolidates the petitions pendant in
Baluchistan HC to Sindh HC and of Pishawar HC to Lahore HC. Both the high courts
upheld the decision of dissolution of the government. A petition was filed in SCP
against these orders but the SCP refused to grant any relief and dismissed the
petition by short order(Dawood, 1994, p. 92).

Mian Nawaz Sharif Clinches Power as Prime Minister 1990-1993

President GIK crafted an acting administration headed by Ghulam Mustafa

Jatoi. The elections of the NA and of PA were scheduled on 24 and 29 of October
respectively. The IJI decided to contest the elections on the former alliance and
symbol, while PPP formed an alliance namely Peoples Democratic Alliance (PDA).
The IJI won the elections by securing 106 seats and formed the government while
PPP could win only 45 seats out of 207 of national assembly. Although Ms. Bhutto
believed that this was a fraudulent election and transnational onlookers were not
invited, but there was no solid evidences for the allegation, and eventually the PPP
began to play the role of peaceful opposition and Muhammad Nawaz Sharif became
PM on November 06, 1990. In his period, the corporate guild was booming and
privatization of government departments was undertaken. They minimized
bureaucratic barriers to investment, which was an optimistic development in the
state's economy. With this achievement and control position, why does his regime
collapse? The answer is very simple that there was a power tussle between
president and PM and between PM and establishment. The new-fangled leadership
had to deal with austere issues such as economic slump, empty coffers, poor law
and order, Shariah Bill, Kalabagh Dam, Afghan issue and independence movement
of Kashmir.

Differences between Army and Nawaz Sharif

These differences began when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Iraq invaded Kuwait in
August 1990. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were also feeling the
threat of an attack. In this situation, Saudi Arabia and the UAE asked Pakistan to give
them protection through its (Pakistan) military. The COAS wished to support Iraq
against USA as he was of the opinion that USA will lose the war. Meanwhile, Eygpt
took the advantage of this situation and deployed 50000 thousand troops to Saudia
and in return Saudi Arabia exempted it from all its international loans (Chaudhrypp.
125–127).This incident created a rift between Nawaz Sharif and army. The General
Beg openly criticized the government for supporting the USA, calling it anti-Muslim
though the military’s post-war trend changed but this incident raised tensions
between Islamist parties in the IJI and Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. Although it was the
government’s job to formulate a strategy on which country to belong and which not
to, but the military made it a personal ego.

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 Power Sharing in Pakistan: A Failed Experience from 1988-1999

PM Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif tried to replace COAS Gen. Aslam Beg
with an army chief of his own choice. This act of MNS not only angered the sitting
COAS but also exasperated the president Ghulam Ishaq Khan as well(Jalal, 1995,
pp. 112–113).

But what played the biggest role in widening the gulf between the army and
MNS was this that when USA cut off funding to Pakistan’s military because of
Pakistan’s nuclear program, Nawaz sharif intended to reduce the Pakistan’s military’s
financial resources to meet the country’s other needs. ISI Chief Durrani was replaced
by the Lt. General Javed Nasir On March 2, 1992.Javed Naser was nominated by
Nawaz. Nawaz had sidestepped the process for his selection as he did not observe a
panel of proposed name by the GHQ. This act also widened the differences between
the army and Nawaz Sharif.

Bitter Relations of President and Prime Minister

Power was shared in a struggle between GIK and MNS. Now apparently the
voted government is about to rheostat the power of the government. Trio (president,
PM and COAS) was a bequest of army rule with distinctive power-partaking
arrangements among the PM, the head of state and the COAS. Until NS not
challenged the establishment, the government continued. When in January 1993,
COAS Asif Nawaz passed away, the question arose as to who would be the new
army chief? President GIK wanted COAS of his choice while NS wanted the COAS of
his choice. This issue had widened the gap between the President and PM. But
president nominated General Abdul Waheed Kakar as new COAS. This annoyed
MNS and he openly announced to remove the 8th amendment of the constitution
which empowered the president to dissolve the assembly. For this purpose, Nawaz
Sharif needed Benazir’s help. But Benazir played a Machiavellian role. She mended
her relation with army and president and grabbed benefit of the mounting doubts in
the troika (PM, President and COAS)(Shafqat, 1996, p. 668). As Aqil Shah believed,
it give the impression that in Pakistan, when a politician is out of government he is
ready to make any compromise with the army to get the government(Shah, 2003, pp.
34–38).

Dissolution of Nawaz’s Government

On 18th of April 1993, president GIK dissolved the National Assembly and
sacked Nawaz Sharif and his cabinet using the power of 58 (2)(b) of the constitution
of 1973. The speaker of the NA Gohar Ayub Khan defied the order of dissolution in
LHC and latter Nawaz Sharif filled a constitutional petition under article 184(3)
directly in SCP (any matter relating to human rights can be filed in SCP directly) and
challenged the order of dissolution as this act of president was against the human
rights. After the dissolution of NS government severe fall in country's foreign
exchange reserves reflected the fear and uncertainty President's action had caused
among public (Yasmeen, 1994).Petition was heard by full bench of 11 judges headed
by CJ Naseem Hassan Shah. SCP heard this petition on day-to-day basis. On 26th
May 1993, the SCP restored the National Assembly, PM and his cabinet. This verdict
was made by 10 to 1.

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But despite this, matters between the president and the PM did not return to
normal and the situation deteriorated day by day. At last COAS General Waheed
presented a formula. According to the formula Nawaz Sharif on 18th of July 1993
recommended the dissolution of the NA and then also resigned. GIK dissolved the
assembly and stepped down from the presidency and a caretaker government was
formed under Moeen Quereshi (a former vice president of World Bank). Like past
governments, in this era a restricted democracy was prevailing with strong
establishment. The establishment was running the affairs of the government with
political figures who could protect their interests.

Benazir Bhutto 2nd term

After the dissolution of National assembly Moeen Ahmed Qureshi sworn in as

caretaker PM and Mr. Wasim Sajjaad the then chairman of senate assumed the
office as interim head of state. The elections were scheduled on 6 and 9 of October
1993. Elections were held peacefully. In the elections Benazir’s PPP won the majority
of seats and formed the government with help of some independents and other small
parties. MQM boycotted the elections. Benazir Bhutto took the charge of the office on
19th October 1993. To secure her position, Benazir Bhutto nominated Farooq Ahmed
Laghari as president of Pakistan. It was clear that the government had no interest in
amending the powers of the president (Yasmeen, 1994, pp. 587–588). After taking
office, it seemed that Benazir had learned a lot from her past mistakes and was very
careful in dealing with the army. She remained away from the internal affairs of the
army. Despite intense economic pressure, Benazir refused to cut the army's budget.
Nor did she disapprove the military’s verdicts and for example gave instant
endorsement to an amplification of the operation to calm down Sindh in 1994. But
when the differences between Benazir and the president escalated, the military did
not remain completely impartial and maintained some support for the president.

Benazir Government and Judiciary

Benazir Bhutto promised to reform the judiciary and appoint judges in

consultation with the opposition, but she then did the exact contrary. Judges were
chosen on the basis of constancy to her party. In the election manifesto, the PPP had
said that it would distinct the courts from the executive, but it did not do so. Sajjad Ali
Shah was made CJ by bypassing the three most senior judges(Shāh, 2001, p.
211).The selection of enduring judges was intentionally postponed and the Chief
Justices of the three provinces were performing their duties as acting chief justice.
This step of government politicized the judiciary. Benazir Bhutto appointed 20 judges
of the LHC, 13 of them belonged to the PPP, and these appointments created
mistrust between Benazir and Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah. A petition was filed in
SCP against these appointments. On March 20, 1996 by a bench of the SC led by CJ
Sajjaad Ali Shah gave its rulings and the court curbed the executive’s power of
appointments of judges. Benazir refused to accept the decision of the court and she
asked president to give permission for the appointments of judges but the president
refused. Then she tried to fill the SCP with ad hoc judges. In this way she damaged
the independence of the judiciary. Once again she failed to deliver what she
promised.

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 Power Sharing in Pakistan: A Failed Experience from 1988-1999

The most troubling issue of this period of politics was undemocratic behavior
of PPP and PML (N). They never tolerated each other. They did everything to disturb
the one another. During the period 1993-1996 politics of confrontation was on its
peak.

Dissolution of Benazir’s Government

On November 5, 1996, President Faroq Ahmed Khaan Laghari dissolved the

Benazir Government and NA by using the power of 58 (2)(b) of the constitution. He
accused the government of flaunting SC verdicts and mocking the judges. It is also
supposed that BB’s government recorded the phones of Supreme Court judges,
army officers and senior government officers. Benazir reacted by saying that her
dismissal is unconstitutional and undemocratic. Benazir challenged the dissolution in
the SCP but SCP gave its verdict in favor of the dissolution order. Thus ended
Benazir’s rule and once again Benazir failed to complete her five-year term.

Muhammad Nawaz Sharif 2nd term

After the dismissal of government and National Assembly, Mr. Laghari
appointed Malik Miraj Khalid (he was a former Speaker of the National Assembly) as
concierge PM of the country on 5 November 1996.Leghari had assured fair elections
on February 3, 1997. An interesting incident took place here that the President
without consulting the Prime Minister Malik Meraj Khalid altered the Rules of
Business 1973 and made a Council of Defence and National Security (CDNS) on
January 6, 1997. This council led by the Head of state and comprising of the PM, the
foreign, defence, interior and monetary ministers and the top army personals. Its
purpose was to “guide” the regime on guidelines affecting nationwide security. In fact
CDNS legalized the role of army in decision making. In fact the establishment of the
CDNS was a “statutory takeover”(Talbot, 1998, pp. 351–352).

In elections PML (N) won 137 seats and PPP won 18 seats out of 207. PML
(N) formed the government with overwhelmingly majority. Benazir Bhutto rejected the
election results. Nawaz Sharif was elected as new prime minister by attaining 177
votes against Aftab Shaban Mirani of PPP who secured only 16 votes on 17 of
February 1997. The Nawaz government was enflamed with the vanity of two-third
majority in Parliament. No other party in Pakistan's electoral history has won such a
large majority. The PML-N, using its parliamentary majority, made two major changes
in the constitution. The Muslim League strengthened the parliamentary system of
government with the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan,
limiting the powers of the President, which had been extended to the President in the
Eighth Amendment by 13th Amendment which abolished the Head of state’s power to
melt the Assembly, while the Fourteenth Amendment prohibited the parliamentarians
from buying or changing political allegiances (floor crossing)(Mahmood, 2000). After
these amendments to the constitution, the government temporarily strengthened
itself. Now the government was not in danger of the president breaking the
assemblies, nor of changing political allegiances.

Speedy Lawmaking

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The numerical majority of the government urged it to enact legislation as soon

as possible. In 1997, a Family Court Bill was introduced, which empowered the court
to look into matters relating to dowry. The bill was passed so quickly that the
opposition was not given a chance to debate it, and the government, due to its
majority in the National Assembly, pushed back the laws. Similarly, in 1997, the
Repayment of Loans from Banks and Accountability Bill was similarly introduced in
the Assembly and passed as soon as possible.

Confrontation with Judiciary

The Nawaz Sharif government made history by messing with the higher
judiciary. There were two major issues that have caused tensions between the
judiciary and the Nawaz Sharif government.

1. Enforcement of Anti-Terrorist Law

2. Appointment of five judges recommended by the Chief Justice
Sajjad AliShah

NS did not like the recommendations of the Chief Justice and issued a
letter/notification in which the number of judges of the SCP would be reduced from
17 to 12. In response, the Chief Justice declared this notification void ab-initio. Now,
the situation was that Nawaz Sharif refused to accept the recommendations of the
Chief Justice and on the other hand the attitude of Justice Sajjad Ali Shah was also
very strict. The Supreme Court also suspended the Fourteenth Amendment. Under
article 190 of the constitution, president made the appointments of the Judges and
this was the victory of CJ. The Supreme Court issued the formal contempt of court
notifications to eight parliamentarians including Nawaz.

A contempt of court case was being heard in November 1997 against MNS
and others when the Supreme Court was attacked by some activists of ruling party
and they were demanding the resignation of CJ. According to Sheikh Rashid Ahmed,
the attack on the judiciary was planned by Nawaz Sharif and his people were housed
in the Punjab House. Eventually the issue was resolved and Justice Mian Ajmal was
made Chief Justice of Pakistan.President Leghari later revealed that the army was
drawn in the whole course as an effective body which could play real role to end the
catastrophe.

Nawaz Sharif and Army

The second term of Nawaz Sharif's government is also considered as a

parliamentary dictatorship. The 13th amendment also weakened the CDNS. Rizvi has
discussed that it was Sharif’s personalization of powers and victory in assigning his
personal contenders as President and provincial governors as well as in humanizing
the judges that energized him to oppose the army(H.-A. Rizvi, 2000, p. 211).

In 1998, Army Chief Jehangir Karamat addressed the navy officers at the
Pakistan Naval War College in Lahore. In his address the COAS stated his anxiety
about the subverting effects of political divergence, ineptitude and fiscal decline. This
statement was taken as cautioning for approaching military immersion, as “Koonings

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 Power Sharing in Pakistan: A Failed Experience from 1988-1999

and Kruijt” say, coup d'état are "often preceded by some kind of
announcement"(Koonings & Kruijt, 2002, p. 23). Nawaz Sharif then forced the Chief
of Army Staff to resign and replace him with Pervez Musharraf. Nawaz Sharif had in
mind that Pervez Musharraf is a Muhaajir and there are more Punjabis in the
Pakistan Army so they would support a Punjabi PM instead of a Muhajer COAS(H.A.
Rizvi, 1999, p. 181). The forced resignation of the Chief of Army Staff by Nawaz
Sharif was not well received by the top brass of the Army. In the same year, another
incident, known as Kargil war in history, took place when Pakistani troops traversed
the LOC and occupied Indian-administered territory, sparking a battle between the
two armies. Pakistan has been the target of intense international criticism and the
incident ended with US intervention when the United States asked Pakistani Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif to withdraw its troops. The incident created a strange situation
because the Prime Minister said that the Pakistan Army had carried out the operation
without his knowledge, while Pervez Musharraf said that the operation was carried
out in consultation with the civilian government(H. A. Rizvi, 2013, p. 212). As a result,
links between the military and the civilian government deteriorated to the point that
they could not return to normal.

When Nawaz Sharif removed Pervez Musharraf from the post of Chief of
Army Staff in 1999, as Rizvi stated that the army did not support Nawaz Sharif's
decision because the army was already against Nawaz Sharif on the following
reasons;

1. Forced resignation of COAS General Jahangir Karamat

2. Blaming the army for the Kargil incident by MNS.

Pervez Musharraf imposed martial law in the country and overthrew Nawaz
Sharif's government. Pervez Musharraf arrested Nawaz Sharif on charges of
treachery. Emergency was affirmed in the state and the constitution and assemblies
were suspended. Pervez Musharaff designated himself as the country's chief
executive.

Thus ended another democratic government in the country and Nawaz Sharif
could not complete his five-year term despite gaining an overwhelming majority in the
elections.

Conclusion

The period from 1988 to 1999 is called the Decade of Democracy in Pakistan
because after a long interlude, democracy came to Pakistan but regrettably it could
not prosper significantly. The period was the reprehensible in several ways like poor
functioning of governments, interference of institutions in political affairs etc. In this
era, there came 11 governments. During this period, the economic situation was bad
and the country was subjected to repeated economic sanctions. In the form of the
Eighth Amendment, president had a great deal of presidential power, which he used
to overthrow governments which brought political instability in the state. The army
ruled Pakistan for eleven consecutive years but now they were not directly involved
in Pakistani politics but at the same time they did not allow Pakistani politicians to

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Pakistan Social Sciences Review (PSSR) March, 2021 Volume 5, Issue I

operate freely. Therefore, different terms were used for democracy during this period
such as guided democracy and controlled democracy. And once again, the power of
Pervez Musharraf was given legal protection by the judiciary on the basis of dogma
of necessity. In other words, it can be said that the army considers itself only patriotic
and that it can protect the best interests of the nation and create the best political
rule.
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