Editorial
Pakistan’s political landscape has narrowed to a stark reality. Among parties commanding genuine popular support at the grassroots, only Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Peoples Party retain meaningful vote banks. This is not a minor observation. It carries profound constitutional consequences.
If either or both of these parties are pushed outside the parliamentary process at any critical juncture, the representative character of the entire political setup becomes deeply compromised. A system that excludes its largest popular constituencies cannot credibly claim democratic legitimacy. Worse, constitutional amendments and major decisions taken in such an environment risk becoming permanently contested in the future.
Pakistan’s own history confirms this pattern. Constitutional changes rammed through without broad political consensus have repeatedly been challenged, suspended, or reversed. The Seventeenth Amendment, the controversies around the Eighth Amendment, the turbulent fate of various judicial and electoral reforms — the record speaks plainly. Amendments built on temporary numerical majorities or shifting power arrangements do not endure. They provoke the very instability they claim to prevent.
The lesson is straightforward. A constitution is not merely a legal document managed by whoever holds a parliamentary majority on a given day. It is a collective social contract between the state and its people. Its amendment must therefore reflect the widest possible political participation — across parties, federating units, and popular representatives — so that its moral, political, and democratic authority remains unquestioned.
A consensus-based constitutional process does more than satisfy procedural requirements. It creates political stability, binds competing institutions to shared norms, and reduces the risk of future constitutional crises. Pakistan cannot afford another round of amendments that half the country regards as illegitimate from the moment they are passed. Durability demands inclusion, and inclusion demands the courage to negotiate rather than exclude.
