Pakistani institutions are evolving rapidly. With executive authority increasingly in the hands of elected representatives, rather than dispersed among various competing institutions, the political establishment has been revitalized — and it has taken three important steps toward strengthening democracy and the rule of law.
Is Pakistan, a country long prone to military coups, finally developing a well-functioning political system?
On Nov. 27, Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain — acting on the prime minister's advice, as the constitution dictates — announced that Gen. Raheel Sharif would succeed Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani as chief of army staff, even though Sharif was not among the military establishment's favored candidates. Unlike Kayani — who has directed the Directorate-Gen. of Military Operations and the Inter-Services Intelligence (Pakistan's spy agency) — Sharif has not served in any of the positions that typically prepare someone to lead Pakistan's best-funded and most influential institution.