Eman Ali Cheema
The political system currently prevailing in Pakistan cannot even be described as a “hybrid regime” anymore. A hybrid regime, at the very least, maintains the illusion of a balance between civilian governance and military oversight—often preserving a façade of electoral democracy and public representation. But what Pakistan has today is not even that. It is a system entirely devoid of public mandate, where the civilian component is hollow and powerless, and where democracy has been reduced to a farcical performance. In truth, this is a system of sheer power politics — engineered, enforced, and manipulated from the shadows.
Pakistan’s constitutional framework envisions a federal, parliamentary, and democratic structure. However, in practice, all real authority, decision-making, and control lie outside the institutions empowered by the Constitution. Parliament—supposedly the supreme institution of law-making and public representation—has become a ceremonial body. Major decisions are made elsewhere, and the legislature is reduced to rubber-stamping policies it never debated or initiated.
Elections in Pakistan are rarely about free choice. Long before a single vote is cast, a political narrative is constructed, alliances are brokered, and outcomes are pre-designed. Voters are pushed into choosing from a narrow range of engineered options. The entire process—from pre-election manipulation to post-election alliances—undermines the very concept of democratic representation. Public will is sacrificed at the altar of expediency, and the system continues to function without legitimacy.
The so-called civilian government, the visible face of this system, lacks any real authority. Decisions are often subject to “approval” from unelected power centers. Ministers act more like middle managers than policymakers. The bureaucracy, judiciary, and security establishment operate in a delicate but lopsided equilibrium, where the civilian domain is the weakest. A government that cannot take independent decisions is, by definition, not sovereign.
What we are witnessing is not a hybrid model; it is a deception. It is a deliberate illusion of democracy where real power lies in unelected hands, and where public participation is superficial at best. The structure is maintained not to empower citizens, but to control them—through surveillance, media censorship, judicial coercion, and bureaucratic overreach.
This system is deeply flawed because it disconnects the people from the process of governance. Citizens are treated not as participants, but as subjects. Major policies—economic, foreign, and security-related—are shaped without public consultation or parliamentary debate. Local governments are rendered toothless. Political parties are sidelined or co-opted. This results in a political vacuum that is increasingly filled by apathy, disillusionment, or extremism.
And herein lies the most dangerous flaw: a system that excludes the people cannot sustain itself. No political order—however well-engineered—can endure if it is not rooted in legitimacy, transparency, and accountability. Pakistan’s current system lacks all three. It is failing to deliver on the basic responsibilities of governance: stable economy, rule of law, social justice, and national cohesion.
As democratic institutions are hollowed out, state institutions are undermined. Political parties are weakened to the point of irrelevance. The media is suffocated. Civil society is marginalized. As a result, the system is not only disconnected from the people—it is also inherently unstable. It runs on the assumption that control is better than consent, and coercion is more efficient than consultation.
This system also creates a dangerous precedent for the future. If power remains concentrated in unelected centers, and if elections continue to be reduced to scripted performances, then the idea of democracy in Pakistan will be permanently disfigured. It will no longer matter who wins or loses elections, because the real levers of power will lie elsewhere.
The solution is not merely to hold elections and install new faces. The real change must come through a structural rebalancing of the state. Power must be returned to where it belongs: the people. Institutions must be placed within constitutional limits. The security establishment must operate under civilian oversight. Parliament must legislate with independence. Judiciary must be impartial. Local governments must be empowered. Only then can Pakistan begin to rebuild a genuine democratic order.
I believe Pakistan urgently needs a new social contract—one that redefines the relationship between the state and its citizens. A system where sovereignty lies with the people, not behind closed doors. A system based not on engineered outcomes but on genuine representation, institutional integrity, and constitutional supremacy.
Until then, let us be clear: what Pakistan has today is not a hybrid system. It is a quiet autocracy wrapped in democratic symbols, deceiving the nation into believing that they still have a voice. In reality, the public has been silenced—not by law, but by design.
