Challenges to the Parliament in Pakistan and the Rise of Secessionist Movements

Abstract

  The purpose of this study is to identify challenges to the Parliament of Pakistan and how it paves the way for the secessionist movements in Pakistan. This article relies on secondary sources of data, such as books, articles, newspapers, and national archives, to review and interpret the secondary data. While the study argues that the constitution-making process in Pakistan resembled a game of musical chairs, involving the people, the ruling elite, and federating units, unfortunately, the winners consistently turned out to be the military-backed nexus of bureaucracy and the landed elite. This paper observes that the power struggle escalated to the extent that it took a toll on the vitality of the nation. Various experiments were conducted in the composition of the parliament to appease the interests of specific provinces, ultimately shaping the current parliament as a reflection of historical dominance by institutions, particularly those favouring a single province. Therefore, this paper proposes that the lower house of the current parliament, the National Assembly, should adopt a "parity formula" aimed at addressing the demands of smaller provinces. In this way, Pakistan may return to its genuine form while historical imbalances could be removed, resulting in a more inclusive political landscape.