Gen Kayani said to be systematically reversing earlier policies

[Neo]

Gen Kayani said to be systematically reversing earlier policies​

WASHINGTON: Gen Ashfaq Kayani, chief of army staff, according to a report published in the Christian Science Monitor on Tuesday, has “begun to systematically reverse some of the most significant policies of his predecessor, President Pervez Musharraf.”

“This is saying: ‘We are not in the business of manipulating politics,’ “ the newspaper quotes Daily Times editor Najam Sethi as saying.

The report lists as evidence of the “reversal” two key directives: prohibiting soldiers from meeting with politicians and ordering all active officers who hold posts in civilian agencies to resign from those positions. Those orders contrast starkly with those promoted by Mr Musharraf when he was army chief.” The newspaper sees these steps as an indication that Gen Kayani is taking his Army in the direction that the United States had hoped he would – attempting to refocus officers on the task of securing the country from terrorists, rather than playing politics or vying for public perks. Gen Kayani has also led the military’s recently renewed campaign against militants in their stronghold in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt.

Says the Monitor report field from Pakistan, “The shift is welcome in Pakistan, too, where the interference of the military into public life was seen as reaching new heights under Musharraf, and the Army – long revered as Pakistan’s bulwark – was falling into disrepute … Kayani’s orders come at a time when Musharraf’s support among his most important constituency – the military – appears to be waning. In recent weeks, dozens of retired military officers – including a former Army chief and several war heroes – sent an open letter to Musharraf asking him to resign as president. They argued that his continued presence in politics was hindering the nation.” Gen Kayani reforms do not appear aimed at Musharraf personally, but rather at undoing the damage his predecessor did to the military’s image. “Under Musharraf, military officers were installed in many influential civilian posts, alienating Pakistanis, who saw this as an abuse of power. By recalling these people, Kayani is sending ‘a very strong message’,” says one Pakistani analyst quoted by the newspaper.

The Monitor report points out that in the past year, “an increasingly unpopular Musharraf tainted the Army by association through his dual role of president and Army chief. Even now, months after he resigned from the Army, there is a perception that there will be widespread rigging of the February 18 parliamentary elections – with the military’s aid or consent – to prop up Musharraf’s political allies. Kayani’s political directive is intended to counter that fear, experts say ... But it is still to early, analysts caution. There is the hope that these are the first few steps toward withdrawing the Army from public policy, analysts say.”

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[mujahideen]

General Kayani is a very wise man. Right now in my opinion the Army does need to pull back, but it should be on stond by just incase the political situation gets out of control. If this happens the Army must intervine.

 

[JK!]

I'd like to see the army in a role like that in Turkish Politics on standby in case the civilian government makes a hash of things.

 

[Majnun]

What Musharraf did was not wrong and was necessary since he was COAS and President. But now Kiyani is also doing the right thing.

 

[Proud to be Pakistani]

I think this is only media creating a chaos ... Nothing in the Army suggest that it doesnot back Musharaf's policy.

They Back him and that is It.

 

[fatman17]

I think this is only media creating a chaos ... Nothing in the Army suggest that it doesnot back Musharaf's policy.

The Back him and that is It.

PTBP,
Kiyani is coming into his own after taking over as CoAS. he has to set the TONE. he needs to let the PA know who is the BOSS. now this dosn't mean that the army is not supporting the president. they are but they will now do it in their own way (according to the constitution). the image of the army needs to be restored.

 

[solid snake]

I love General Kayani

Hopefully this will set a precedent for future COAS's. This move will definitley restore the pride and respect Pakistanis had for the army, once it is back in the baracks and doing it's rightful duty.

 

[Proud to be Pakistani]

I love General Kayani

Hopefully this will set a precedent for future COAS's. This move will definitley restore the pride and respect Pakistanis had for the army, once it is back in the baracks and doing it's rightful duty.

Yeh we should hand over the command of pakistan to Political F-ups and let our country sold out!.... Right!..

 

[mujahideen]

General Kayani thoroughly professional officer: Newsweek

ISLAMABAD, Feb 11 (APP): A leading US magazine Newsweek has described Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani as a “deep-thinking and thoroughly professional military man,” in an article in its latest issue.The article comes a week before Pakistan goes to the polls to elect new parliament and provincial assemblies.

It says that General Kayani who ascended through the ranks by his own merits “is convinced that the armed forces should stay out of politics.”

“In recent weeks the Army and the paramilitary Frontier Corps have responded to Kayani’s encouragement, cleaning out militant strongholds in the Swat Valley,” the article points out.

It stated that the COAS has sworn from the start to get the military out of politics, and he has made no exceptions for soldiers and officers assigned to various agencies.

“Unauthorized contact with any politician is now a firing offense, and troops this elections day (February 18) are to do nothing at the polls beyond keeping them secure.”

The article quotes a Western military official in Islamabad with experience on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghan border as saying, “He (General Kayani) is by far the best officer I’ve come across.”

In recent weeks a steady parade of top-level U.S officials have visited Kayani to make up their own minds about him and they have come away confident that General Kayani “knows what he is doing,” the article says.

“He is a man who is temperamentally given to reading, reflection and to listening more and talking less,” Pakistani analyst Nasim Zehra, a fellow at Harvard’s Asian Centre, is cited as saying.

A retired U.S Army Colonel William Kiskowski recalls the time he along with Ashfaq Parvez Kayani attended at the U.S Army Command and General Staff College’s class of 1988. “He was a very quiet guy, very sober and very serious,” Colonel Kiskowski said.

The article notes that Pakistanis rebuffed the notion, exactly as the American had anticipated, regarding U.S sending its personnel into Pakistan to battle Al Qaeda. Instead both sides agreed to have more sharing of U.S intelligence with the Pakistanis, it says.

Associated Press of Pakistan - General Kayani thoroughly professional officer: Newsweek

 

[mujahideen]

Army men called back from civilian departments
Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD - The General Headquarters (GHQ) of Pakistan Army has issued orders to recall as many as 152 officers of different ranks posted in various civilian departments, sources confirmed on Sunday.
According to details, the orders have been issued in compliance with directives of Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The officers were posted in various civilian departments including NADRA, NAB, Wapda, NHA, Interior Ministry, Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Education and Pakistan Steel Mills and others.
Our Monitoring Desk adds: The military officials have been directed to withdraw from the civilian departments with immediate effect. The military officials have been divided into three categories for the said purpose the sources added.

The Nation

 

[mujahideen]

MI has pulled out of politics, confirms PPP


By Umar Cheema

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Army’s intelligence outfit, the MI (Military Intelligence), has quietly pulled out of political wheeling and dealing after directives issued by Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, a major political party has confirmed.

The election cell of the PPP admitted on Monday that unlike the past it had received no complaint from its candidates against the MI ever since the new orders were issued. There is, however, no final word available about the political role of the ISI, since it is under control of the prime minister and Gen Kayani’s order does not apply to activities of its political cell.

As far as the MI is concerned, it had been allegedly involved in Balochistan in the past. “We feel the Army chief’s directives have made a difference,” a senior member of the PPP election cell told The News. He said the election cell had witnessed a considerable drop in complaints against the MI role and pressure tactics used against its party candidates.

Former minister Zubaida Jalal, who is contesting independently in the general elections after turning down PML’s offer to stand on a reserved seat, also admits this fact but in a different manner.

“I have noticed that the role of intelligence agencies is much less in the electioneering after the Army chief’s directives,” she told The News by telephone from Turbat. Zubaida said there is no interference from the Military Intelligence since Gen Kayani’s orders but the provincial government in collaboration with district administration was helping the PML-sponsored candidate of BNP-Awami contesting against her, a direct admission from a former PML leader that interference was going on. She said she had rejected the PML offer and conveyed her decision to party president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.

The Military Intelligence had been actively involved in Balochistan and in parts of Sindh. The PPP election cell had highlighted this in its preliminary report on pre-poll rigging. It was in this context that the PPP made a demand in its report-cum-dossier which says: “Clear public order from the Army chief and President Musharraf is needed ordering ISI, MI and IB officials not to meet with candidates, campaign or approach election officials.”

This was part of the report which Benazir Bhutto was to handover to the visiting US senators the day she was assassinated. Of all political parties, the PPP has the most active and vibrant election-monitoring cell that furnishes data of complaints received from their candidates throughout the country about instances of pre-poll rigging in any form, including use of state resources, intelligence agencies’ pressure, etc.

According to the PPP’s election cell report that was furnished before Gen Kayani issued his directives, the party candidate from Dera Bugti, Sarfraz Bugti, was arrested by Maj Adnan of Military Intelligence a few days before the closing date of nomination papers, leaving the field open for a pro-government party candidate Tariq Missouri who was consequently elected unopposed.

About another PPP candidate from Balochistan the report says: “It has been informed by PPP candidate from NA-267, Shabbir Ahmad Shahwani that threats and warnings have been issued to him by Military Intelligence in Bolan district from telephone No: 0884-413106 that he should withdraw in favour of Yar Muhammad Rind”.

“Similarly, pressure is being brought to bear upon notables by two MI majors namely Maj Zia and Maj Babar to vote in favour of PML candidates in NA-260 Chagai,” the election cell report published at the end of December 2007 says.

According to the PPP’s election cell findings, agencies role has largely been taken over by the police and other law-enforcement outfits. Complaints received by the election cell has revealed that hundreds of party workers had been arrested from Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, Thatta, Sajawal, Qamber-Shahdad Kot, Sukkur, Khairpur, Naushahro Feroze, Tando Adam Khan and other districts of Sindh.

MI has pulled out of politics, confirms PPP

 

[BATMAN]

What Musharraf did was not wrong and was necessary since he was COAS and President. But now Kiyani is also doing the right thing.

Exactly, It is always the need of time, which demand certain actions and decisions. We cannot compare the persons but we can judge them how they dealt with the given situations and opportunities in there respective time and capacity.

As we all know, Mr. Sharif appointed Musharraf as COAS and asked him to bail out Pakistan's mega corporations from bankruptcies as a last ditch attempt. Later looking at Army's sucess he asked Musharraf to appoint army supervision in various other out of control sectors of civil managment.

I remember watching wapda employees in small towns cleaning and white washing there offices persumably in their free time. I even saw them gardening around their buildings and much more.
I also remember, once there was arranged a engineering seminar in Avari hotel Lahore and most of the Assistant Director ranked officers from Wapda house declared attending it but actually and habitually disappeared and I remember an Army Major comming to the seminar and making attendence and marked absence for all missing.

I wonder when again Army will be required to fix the morality of Pakistani society.

 

[solid snake]

Yeh we should hand over the command of pakistan to Political F-ups and let our country sold out!.... Right!..

All new democracies are flawed. The US constituion said "ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL" but until the 60s the country had a policy of racial segregation. Watch 1930s American movies, you will see rampant corruption depicted among police and government officials who took bribes more openly than politicians do in Pakistan. It is only after decades of stable democratic governments that a system is improved and eventually perfected.

Yes, the new deomcratic government won't be perfect, but things improve as people become aware of their rights and as the rule of law is upheald ordinary citizens are able to challange the actions of the highest politician in the land.

A few years ago, I think in 2002 George Bush's niece was arrested. The niece of the most powerful man on earth arrested and charged like any ordinary criminal. Can anyone in Pakistan dare to arrest the niece of the Pakistan army chief?

 

[blain2]

Guys,

Musharraf would have done the same thing had he been in Kiyani's shoes. The bottom line is that Musharraf does not need Army officers in civilian organizations any longer and he has retired from the Army so the need for those currently serving in the Army and him (or any other politician) to meet does not exist any longer.

I would also like to say that despite all this brouhaha about Kiyani's professionalism, pretty much all of the Pakistan Army chiefs (except a very few) have been solid professionals when they were just in charge of the Army. Musharraf was every bit as capable and professional as Kiyani and held all of the right posts in the Army prior to his promotion to CoAS.

Also too much is being made of the point about Kiyani asserting himself. He does not need to, Musharraf gave up his right to call the shots after retiring. There is no tussle between Musharraf and Kiyani for the latter to have to assert himself. Both of the orders emanating from the Chief's office are typical...Army officers who were seconded are being pulled back (as there is no military led government any longer) and the need to stay away from politicians is something that is voiced often (I have mentioned this in a previous post that even Musharraf took notice of anyone falling out of line on this count and set an example by firing Lt Gen Tariq Parvez for meeting NS without seeking his approval or permission first).

While I personally like Kiyani and think that he is doing good for both Pakistan and the Army by pulling it back and re-focusing, comments such as "The article quotes a Western military official in Islamabad with experience on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghan border as saying, “He (General Kayani) is by far the best officer I’ve come across.”

In recent weeks a steady parade of top-level U.S officials have visited Kayani to make up their own minds about him and they have come away confident that General Kayani “knows what he is doing,” the article says.

“He is a man who is temperamentally given to reading, reflection and to listening more and talking less,” Pakistani analyst Nasim Zehra, a fellow at Harvard’s Asian Centre, is cited as saying." have been used for Musharraf when he was the Chief and prior to that when he was a senior officer by western observers (including those who saw him up close including Brian Cloughley who thought Musharraf was a "first rate officer" and even those at Royal College of Defence Studies.

Bottom line is that most of the senior Pakistani Army leadership has evolved considerably and is markedly different from the Generals of the past like Ayub Khan, Zia, and Yahya in terms of their professional development and have to be through and through professionals. The challenge is the entanglement in the world of politics and then losing focus. Kiyani like Musharraf, Karamat, Kakar etc. has beenl put through his paces in a professional Army that has continued to become more and more professional in its outlook, but hampered by the instability of Pakistani politics.

In conclusion, I would say that Kiyani is just as professional as Musharraf and his predecessors. The problem for poor Musharraf is that he got shoved into politics and as such he would be judged as a politician and not a soldier while fortunately for Kiyani (I hope and pray this stays the case), he can focus on soldiering.

 

[solid snake]

Hardly anyone knew of Musharraf or even paid attention to Pakistan in the 90s until Kargil. Can you provide any sources which used the same words for Mushy as are being used for Kayani now?

"First rate officer" is something I think the western media may describe Mushy as even now. His army skills are not in doubt. Back then no one expected an army chief to grab power. And I think the measures Kayani is taking is more than just symbolic, he would not do this if he had any political ambitions. He knows he is much better off pleasing America through distancing himself from politics.