A DEEPLY worrying trend has been noticed in recent months, with the political parties that till last year were proclaiming themselves to be the champions of democracy now using every means at their disposal to block public participation in the political process. Be it by-elections, local government elections, the acceptance of the resignations of lawmakers who have quit the National Assembly, or the matter of returning to the public for a general election and fresh mandate the Pakistan Democratic Movement is doing everything possible to maintain its power rather than leave the fate of the country to the people of Pakistan. There appears to be no logical reason why it has sought to do so apart from what is obvious: it knows it has lost the narrative war to Imran Khan. Results of by-elections held since last April have hammered this realisation home, and the ruling parties are not willing to risk anything further on the public`s vote.

Resistance to holding elections where and when they are due is patently undemocratic and against the spirit of the political system envisioned in our Constitution. Protecting democracy does not mean denying the people the right to choose who they want as leaders.

That is something only dictators do. It is hardly democratic that the National Assembly Speaker keeps delaying the acceptance of the resignations of PTI lawmakers from the Lower House on one pretext or the other. It was indeed commendable for as long as the motivation was to convince the PTI to return to the House, but putting it off just to deny the PTI a tactical advantage seems selfserving rather than something done for the greater national good.

As regards local government elections, all parties have, in recent years, been equally guilty of denying the people a third tier of government. However, the `novel` tactics being employed now signal that the ruling parties are too afraid of giving their rival parties any momentum ahead of the general election.

Pakistan needs extensive administrative realignment to emerge in one piece from the ongoing crisis, and this can only be done with the help of a fresh mandate from the people. Yet the ruling parties continue to prioritise their narrow interests over the country`s welfare, and each delayed election hammers this point home.

In retrospect, the decision to keep the government has proven a disastrous mistake that has progressively decimated the PDM parties` chances at the ballot box. The PDM is now also losing its democratic credentials in its obsession with defeating the PTI chief by any means. It is said that if you stare too deep into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you. Before the PDM crosses a line it may find difficult to return to, it must stop hindering the political process and let democracy take its course.