Re: Recent violence and Foreign Investment [split from: Pakistan plans all-out war]
No it was not during ZAB era. People voted him out of shear love for him. Still people can die for him. It was NS who first introduced purchasing of votes, kidnapping all Mps to Changa Manga in a bus. Get your record corrected.
But Benazir did buy votes. Look my point is simple. Just being elected to office in a vote does not make a system democratic. There are many other factors: The need for a healthy and strong opposition is one, a change of leadership is another. There is a good 20 point list that covers various aspects for what constitutes a democracy.
Nehru by 1950 standards was a democratically elected leader. But was India truly a democracy for those 35 years? Its questionable. In the 1980s and 1990s, India showed for certain it had democratic institutions due to the massive change in power and leadership.