The Impact of ‘Charter of Democracy’ on Democratic Stability in Pakistan

Abstract

This paper attempts to examine the implications of the signing of the Charter of Democracy (COD) between the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on democratic stability in Pakistan. Signifying a historic shift, these two major political adversaries, for the first time in Pakistan’s political history, set aside their conventional rivalry, competition, and opposition to collaborate in establishing a political consensus aimed at enhancing democratic stability. This collaboration involved the agreement on formulating comprehensive policy goals, which were mutually committed to and consensually implemented. This qualitative study has employed the theoretical framework of consociational democracy, with the primary data collected through semi-structured interviews. The findings indicated that the implementation of COD not only stabilized democracy and promoted constructive cooperation among political parties but also brought about structural changes through constitutional amendments in the political system. These changes transformed the system to address longstanding concerns about the previously centralized structure of small provinces to a large extent. Consequently, the country experienced relative political stability, with two elected governments completing their terms and a peaceful transfer of power from one elected government to another.