On 15 March 2000, for instance, public rallies, demonstration and strikes were banned precisely at the moment when the 18-party opposition Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) demanded national non-rigged elections. Some opposition leaders were arrested, and time and again in preceding and consequent year activists who sought democracy and opposition personnel were arrested on trumped up charges (Talbot, 2002). The first goal of any military regime in Pakistan is to neutralize opposition, and Mussharaf's regime has been no different (Shah, 2007). Moreover, continuance of sectarian and domestic violence with little concerted attempt to stop it, also prevent Pakistan from failing to consolidate its democracy. Musharraf's promised "liberal and progressive Islam" has failed to replace the "punitive Islam' which, as long as it continues, discourages any democracy from being established (Talbot, 2002). On the contrary: "since independence in 1947, the Pakistani state and political elites generally have sought to accommodate and manipulate Islamists" (Shah, p.33). Liberalism's call for curbs and inference has never been taken seriously as evidence in the Pearl case.

This is not so in Pakistan where the poor are not only underrepresented and stripped of their voice but are also, frequently, mistreated. Votes of the rural poor are, for instance, hijacked by the landlord elite, and political representation is skewed to reflect that of a certain status-based, power-holding elite. Gender and class inequalities remain prevalent rendering possibilities of Pakistan establishing a democracy, at least for the moment, non-existent. In conclusion, Musharaff's assertion that he seeks a democracy seems to be a farce with his ambitions really groping for retention of military, authoritarian rule. As long as political institutions, such as freedom of expression and freedom of political choice remain assailed and as long as reduction of social and gender inequalities continues unabated with sectarian violence remaining unchecked, Pakistan is far from achieving its democracy.
Reference

Shah, A. (2003) Pakistan's 'armored' democracy. Journal of Democracy, 14, 26-39

Talbot, I. (2002). General Pervez Musharraf: savior or…