‘Democracy is becoming the first choice of the people of South Asia’. Justify the statement.

A survey conducted on five of the largest countries in the South Asia in the year 2007 by the SDSA Team depicted that all of them sought democracy as the most favourable form of government. If we trace the history and state a few examples of countries such as –

i) Pakistan was first established as a democracy then was taken over by a military coup in 1999 only to be further restored to democracy in 2008.

ii) Nepal was under a constitutional monarch until 2006.

iii) Even Bhutan which is the smallest country in that region became a constitutional monarch in 2008 and under the leadership of the King it was changed to a multi-party democracy.

Similar course of events is followed by islands like Maldives too in the region.

Here we see an increasing sentiment among the people striving for democratic governments since there is a sense of political commitment that governments have to adhere to. This helps in a more transparent and a free flow of governance in the nation.