THE backdrop was ironic, the claim sensational. The rare meeting of the PML-N parliamentary committee appears to have been held primarily to ensure the presence in Islamabad of enough party legislators to smooth the passage of the 23rd Amendment — democracy working to undermine democratic principles. As if to confirm Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s continuing fixation with a former political nemesis, the only headline to emerge from the meeting was his dramatic claim that then-president Gen Pervez Musharraf had in 2007 offered Mr Sharif a deal to form a coalition government after elections — eventually held in 2008. Perhaps Mr Musharraf, known for speaking his mind, will himself confirm or deny the prime minister’s claim, but it does provide an opportunity to reflect on the state of the transition to democracy, now nearing a decade and on the verge of delivering two full-term parliaments.

Certainly, democratic gains have been considerable. That a decade ago the country was ruled by a military dictator and the democratic façade was fragile enough for a single individual to determine who would form the government itself demonstrates the distance travelled. Today, robust political competition exists, different parties govern in the four provinces, and the next election ought to produce a fairer and more transparent verdict than before. Pakistanis have genuine electoral choices; it is they who will decide who will govern the country. Moreover, with three tiers of government across the country and democratic reforms having been extended to first Gilgit-Baltistan and now Fata, the structure of democracy is deeper and wider than it has ever been. Gone, and seemingly with a growing irreversibility, are the days that power can simply be grabbed by strong men and legitimacy bestowed upon illegitimate governments by unelected judges. Seventy years since Independence, Pakistan is closer than it has ever been to fulfilling its destiny as a durable democracy.

However, challenges remain. For all the electoral competition and promise of regular elections, the institutions of democracy have not been strengthened in a comparable manner. The country’s elected representatives, in their unwillingness to address issues of corruption and the high barriers to entry in politics, are presiding over a system that is tarnished and viewed sceptically by far too many people. Absent is the vital democratic corollary: a belief in and commitment to a system of checks and balances. From dynastic politics to the murky nexus between politics and business, and from dysfunctional systems of accountability to the refusal to embrace regulatory reform, the toll on democratic institutions continues to grow. Democracy, ultimately, is only as strong as the people’s belief in it. A dearth of institutions that promote fairness and justice erodes public confidence and allows anti-democratic forces to survive. Mr Musharraf is no longer in power, but the mindset he embodied lives on in some quarters.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2017