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((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Pakistan Parliament Democracy
HEADLINE: Pakistan’s Parliament Completes Term, but Strength of Democracy Questioned
TEASER: Parliament completes a third consecutive term for the first time in 76 years
PUBLISHED AT: 08/10/2023 at 10:10am
BYLINE: Sarah Zaman
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Islamabad, Pakistan
VIDEOGRAPHER: Wajid Asad
VIDEO EDITOR: Malik Waqar Ahmed
SCRIPT EDITORS: Reifenrath, MAS, DJ (ok), pcd
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA original
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV X__ RADIO _x_
TRT: 3:20
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO))
[[On the advice of its prime minister, Pakistan's parliament dissolved Wednesday, three days before its five-year tenure was to officially end. Though it was the third consecutive parliament in the country's 76-year history to complete its term, some say democracy remains weak in Pakistan as the military continues to be the center of power. Voice of America's Pakistan bureau chief Sarah Zaman reports.]]
((NARRATOR))
((Mandatory courtesy: Pakistan Television Corp.))
Pakistan dissolved its parliament Wednesday, under the guidance of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. It began its term in August 2018 with Imran Khan as leader of the house in the National Assembly and prime minister.
Less than four years later, Khan was ousted in a vote of no-confidence. Opposition leader Sharif then led a 13-party alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement, or PDM, to power.
((end courtesy))
Despite severe political instability, Sharif vowed that the parliament would finish its term.
For a country that has seen long periods of military rule, a third consecutive parliament completing its tenure in 76 years is a success.
[[For Radio: Former government minister Faisal Karim Kundi]]
((Faisal Karim Kundi, Former Government Minister)) ((Male, English))
“Earlier we were, like, always thinking after government completes one, one-and-a-half years, the assembly will be dissolved, and we will go for next elections, but now the stability has come that we are at least completing our five years tenure of the parliament."
((NARRATOR))
Despite continuity of democracy, the military cast a long shadow over the country’s politics.
Khan, who once touted his closeness with the powerful institution, blamed it for his ouster in nationwide protests.
Khan was arrested in May on corruption charges. When his party faced a crackdown due to supporters' attacks on military properties in protest of his arrest, parliament passed a resolution to try the politician and his supporters under military rules.
((For radio: Chairperson of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Hina Jilani))
((Hina Jilani, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (female, English))
“The PDM government’s worst periods have been after the ninth of May. And I think it fast descended into a mode where it seems to have surrendered to militarization of different civilian sectors in Pakistan."
((NARRATOR))
In its final days, the parliament quickly expanded the scope of the country’s anti-espionage law. The controversial amendments allow state scrutiny of material, including online content, and open the door for intelligence agencies to forcibly enter and search any premises.
[[For Radio: Ahmed Bilal Mehboob of the independent Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency]]
((Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency)) ((Male, English))
“Probably we are going to face a more repressive kind of a system in the future, and democratic values, human rights and these kinds of things will probably be compromised in the days to come.”
((NARRATOR))
((Mandatory courtesy: Pakistan Television Corp.))
In his farewell speech, the leader of the second biggest party in the ruling alliance, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, lamented that the parliament had failed to prevent interference from other institutions.
((Mandatory courtesy: Pakistan Television Corp.))
((Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Pakistan People's Party)) ((Male, Urdu))
“We did not succeed in ensuring that all institutions work within their limits.”
((end courtesy))
((NARRATOR))
The coalition government was widely believed to rule with the military’s backing despite denials from the institution.
((For radio: Jilani blames politicians for ceding control.))
((Hina Jilani, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan)) ((Female, English))
“There is some kind of a mindset amongst most politicians in this country that the military is not only invincible, but that civilian rule cannot be sustained without the military’s goodwill.”
((NARRATOR))
((Mandatory cg: Pakistan Armed Forces))
Last year Pakistan’s outgoing army chief publicly acknowledged decades of political meddling by his institution.
((end courtesy))
((Sarah Zaman, VOA News (standup version))
((NARRATOR))
Parliament's completing its term may make Pakistan’s fragile democracy look stable, but uncertainty remains. There’s no date yet for the next elections, while Imran Khan, arguably the country’s most popular politician, is in jail once again. For now, he is disqualified from returning to parliament.
((Sarah Zaman, VOA News, Islamabad))
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