Competitive Authoritarianism and the Breakdown of Political Pluralism in Pakistan (2018-2022)

Abstract

This study examines the treatment with the political opposition by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government (2018-2022) through the framework of competitive authoritarianism, focusing on the decline of political pluralism within the political system. Analyzing the vast data collected from secondary sources as well as insights from twenty-four respondents, the study reveals that democratic cooperation, tolerance, appeasement and pluralism, which characterized the past governments of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) during 2008-2013 and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government during 2013-2018, sharply declined during this era. All the respondents shared strong evidence of the government’s preferences for non-elected institutions, especially the military establishment at the cost of parliamentary procedure, while 83.3% of the interviewees stated that the government considered the opposition as an existential threat and therefore actively sought to eliminate its main leadership. The remaining 16.7% respondents partially differed by attributing these activities of the government as routine political rivalry in a parliamentary setup. Overall, the findings indicate the coincidence of competitive authoritarianism with the PTI government and the erosion of political pluralism from the political spectrum during the whole tenure.