Right from its inception in 1947, Pakistan has been ruled by an elitist pattern inherited by British Colonial rule. After eleven years of authoritarian dictatorship under General Ayub Khan, the people of Pakistan launched a movement that was a class-conscious movement in its nature. The movement gave rise to Bhutto, and after the sad demise of the Eastern wing of the country, he took over the power. Though he implemented the unmatched egalitarian reforms in various sectors but espoused "Bonapartist" actions not only against his political opponents but his own party stalwarts, journalists and trade unionists, which shadowed his revolutionary reformist agenda. Such "fascist" populism paved the way for another military dictatorship which tore up the very fabric of democratic norms and civilian supremacy. The study examines the transition from elitist authoritarianism to Bonapartist populism. The regime shift was followed by the installation of various elitist groups led to the re-emergence of the same elitist authoritarian rule cultured by Gen. Ayub and his ancestors.

The Military s involvement in the political system of Pakistan began from the mid-1950s and continued verily as a guardian, a praetorian, or ruler on various occasions. Its disengagement, after the direct intervention, remained usually slow and gradual. Hence, it took a long time for disengagement and created a power-sharing model instead of transferring power to the civilian elite. The pattern of civilianization adopted by the Ayub Khan and Zia-ul-Haq was also adopted by the Musharraf regime with few changes. In his early days, though, General Pervaiz Musharraf demonstrated intention for economic revival, accountability, devolution of power, and democratic consolidation as his foremost goals and took some steps towards that direction but he abruptly reversed those steps when he sensed a threat to his dominating position in a self-created system. This paper is an attempt to critically analyze the process of civilianization during the period under consideration based on the theoretical framework and practical norms of the democratic system.