THE swirl of speculation, uncertainty and rumours that had engulfed the upcoming Senate elections to be followed by a general election later this year appears to be clearing. Chairman of the Senate Raza Rabbani and Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal have both indicated that they now believe elections to the Senate, the National Assembly and the provincial assemblies will be held on schedule.

For the Senate, that would suggest an election in early March.

The National Assembly’s five-year term ends in the first week of June, after which the ECP would have up to 60 days to hold an election. There is no constitutional requirement that elections to the provincial assemblies be held simultaneously and at the same time as the National Assembly poll, but a norm has developed that voters elect their national and provincial representatives on the same day.

That would suggest a general election in the first week of August.

While political controversies and institutional tensions are likely to continue, it is arguably more important that the electoral process not be disrupted.

The democratic project is clearly about more than simply holding regular elections, but without democratic continuity there can be no improvement in the quality of democracy.

In the previous general election, the electorate demonstrated a refreshing and enormous appetite for the power of the vote. The turnout was historic and the nation delivered governments led by different parties in each of the four provinces. Five years on, there is a significant amount of choice available to voters, and the major parties all have track records to defend.

While some themes of the upcoming general election are already set, the parties have an opportunity to hone their political messages and manifestos in a manner that sets up genuine governance and legislative contrasts. Until now, the parties have treated their election manifestos as an electoral formality, and the media, civil society and other sections of the public have not pressed them to explain or justify the manifestos.

The quality of democracy in the country will ultimately only be as good as the quality of democratic institutions. Few, if any, of the mainstream political parties have given priority to the strengthening of democratic institutions. The PTI has recently flagged its reformist credentials in KP, but a spate of reforms in the fifth year of an assembly’s term tells its own tale about actual government priorities.

The persistent uncertainty and doubt that has hovered over the democratic process has many reasons, an anti-democratic lobby in the country being one of the foremost. But the political class will need to recognise its own role in preventing democracy from strengthening faster. The form and substance of democracy are interconnected. Moreover, as Pakistan’s population grows, the need for robust democratic institutions will also increase.

Doing better is both necessary and possible.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2018