Delayed Elections and Constitutional Uncertainty in Pakistan: A Study of Democratic Backsliding in 2023

Abstract

The subject of this paper is delayed elections and constitutional uncertainty in 2023 as democratic backsliding in Pakistan. In accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan, elections are supposed to be held within a time after the dissolution of the National or provincial Assembly; however, in 2023, there were multiple conflicts regarding timelines, institutional authority, and the caretaker government’s role in elections. The elections were postponed following the deadlock between the Election Commission of Pakistan and provincial governors and the federal government, political parties, and the judiciary due to the constitutional mandate of elections in the regions of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within ninety days of the dissolution of the provincial assemblies. Subsequently, the National Assembly was dissolved, and new census results were approved, adding to the uncertainty about when general elections were to be held as a fresh delimitation of the constituencies was required. This paper examines the delay in the elections of 2023 in Pakistan using a qualitative case-study methodology, and adopting the concepts of constitutionalism, electoral integrity, and judicialization of politics, caretaker governance, and democratic backsliding. The paper suggests that delayed elections compromised constitutional predictability, institutional mistrust, and the continuation of non-elected caretaker rule, and led to the weakening of democratic governance. The crisis, however, did not indicate a total failure of democracy but rather the continuation of Pakistan’s mixed political system, where formal democratic institutions are still in place but operate under the stress of political polarization, executive discretion, influence beyond the elected, and contested institutional mandates.