A Alliance Politics in Pakistan: A Case Study of Pakistan Democratic Movement (2020-2023)

Abstract

This article critically examined alliance politics practiced by Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) during 2020 and 2023. The core question of the study is to analyze the causes and impacts of the alliance. Alliance politics remained a regular feature of politics in Pakistan since its inception. Pakistan is a multi-racial state with a multi-party system, which makes alliance formation an essential condition of democracy in the state. This phenomenon makes alliance politics a subject of potential discussion for political science students. The scholar has opted for a qualitative scheme of study during the research. The study is based on secondary sources of data. The data was carefully collected and analyzed, and a conclusion was drawn. Pakistan Democratic Movement was formed by ten opposition political parties in September 2020 to counter-balance the immediate political adversary or incumbent government of PTI. This was an opposition alliance, successfully campaigned against the incumbent government of PTI and also succeeded in toppling the government through constitutional process of Motion of No-Confidence. The alliance transformed into coalition government for remaining period of the National Assembly. PDM played an active role in the political landscape of Pakistan, but failed to take democracy to the next stage of evolution. It was all about short-term interests rather than the goal of strengthening democracy. After coming into power, leaders of the alliance abandoned their lofty promises and commitments to the nation and focused solely on ministerial positions.

     Keywords: PDM, alliance politics, coalition governments, political parties, multi-party system, elections