Dictum of Majority and Performance of Legislature: A Comparative Study of PPP (1988-90) and PML-N (1997-99)

Abstract

Pakistan inherited Westminster system of government from its colonial rulers. At the time of inception, the foremost challenge for the nascent state was to draft a workable constitution that may fulfil the aspirations of the center as well as the federating units. This challenging task was assigned to the legislature of the state which it failed to fulfil. It was dissolved by the head of the state, followed by a martial law and a subsequent constitution by the dictator. Most of the regions of the state had reservations against that constitution which was replaced by the Constitution of 1973 by an elected government. This constitution was a unanimous document but multiple amendments introduced by the governments of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Zia-ul-Haq changed its essence. When Zia’s dictatorial regime came to an end, the common man and intelligentsia were hopeful for a positive change in the form of democratic government. It was expected that a party based democratic government will be able to amend the constitution and make it according to the aspirations of heterogeneous political stakeholders and groups in the state. The task that was assigned to the elected governments could not be achieved during the decade of democracy. Different reasons are ascribed by various analysts for the failure of democratic developments in Pakistan among which the change of governments without completing their tenures is the most prominent. There can be traced other reasons as well like lack of commitment on part of politicians, their nonserious attitude towards democracy and institutional development, and absence of democratic traditions and attitude in general. The dictum of majority inside the parliament was another factor that over shadowed working of the governments during the whole decade (1988-99). The present study is planned to focus on this particular issue while comparing the two governments i.e, that of Benazir’s first tenure (1988-90) and Nawaz Sharif’s second term as prime minister (1997-99). These eras are selected for a comparison: Benazir’s first term suffered lack of majority support inside the parliament because of which it was unable to achieve any milestone in legislation; on the contrary, second tenure of Nawaz Sharif was marked with absolute majority. There was hardly any considerable number of opposition members inside the National Assembly which allowed the ruling party to amend the constitution without any considerable debate on the ‘Floor of the House’. The present study aims at analyzing the dictum of numbers and its significance in the working of legislature in Pakistan.