The recent removal of Nawaz Sharif as prime minister was seen as another example of Pakistan
allegedly having a "bonsai democracy" at a seminar here that was addressed by academics
from Britain and the United States.
The event organised on Thursday by the Democracy Forum saw robust exchanges between speakers
and a section of the audience that opposed viewing Pakistan in critical terms.
The forum is headed by Charles Bruce (Liberal Democrats), a member of the House of Lords.
Farzana Shaikh, a Pakistani-origin fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs,
described Pakistan as a "bonsai democracy" or a state restricted by its environment:
"Nowhere has this been more keenly felt in recent times than in the dismissal of Nawaz
Sharif."
According to Christine Fair, associate professor at Washington's Georgetown University, Sharif
was ousted in a "judicial coup".
She did not see the Pakistani judiciary as independent, but as "a new condominium emerging"
between the army and the Supreme Court.
"The army has to develop new tools to keep pruning the grass of democracy, to prevent
it from taking root in Pakistan," she added.
Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court last month for being dishonest while declaring
his assets.
The court gave its ruling in the Panama Papers case after a joint investigation team probed
the Sharif family's assets.
Lawrence Sáez of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) said he "initially
considered the ousting of the corrupt Nawaz Sharif as a positive step", but had since
revised the view "since it increased unaccountability in Pakistan".
Burzine Waghmar, also based at SOAS, highlighted the alleged complicity of Pakistan's deep
state with the "pick up and dump routine" while trying to suppress the freedom struggle
in Balochistan province.
Marie Carine-Lall of London University's Institute of Education user her research to
say: "Democracy does not seem to be the system of choice among the young in Pakistan
and there is a tendency towards a pro-order and/or pro-army view, especially among the
more educated youth."
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