The Guardian view on Pakistan’s army: go back to the barracks
Editorial
The confrontation between the country’s most popular politician, Imran Khan, and the generals threatens to paralyse the state
The
standoff between Imran Khan, Pakistan’s former prime minister, and the country’s military is yet another sign that the political system created by the army is inherently unstable. Since independence, Pakistan’s generals have become ever more involved in
running the country – and its civilian leaders ever more dependent on their backing. None of the nation’s
31 prime ministershas
completed a full five‑year tenure. Politicians survive in office only if they do as they are told.
Trying to regain power against the army’s wishes is a dangerous business. Mr Khan is pushing ahead regardless. With the economy in a mess, he calculates that his best chance of winning an election is for one to be held as soon as possible. He also faces terrorism and corruption charges, which were the
pretext on which he ended up in custody earlier this month. Mr Khan was arrested by the
National Accountability Bureau, an anti-corruption body headed by a retired general. He says the charges are baseless. But if convicted he risks being disqualified from politics, a fate that befell his recent predecessor
Nawaz Sharif, who also
clashed with the army. Mr Khan fears watching the elections scheduled for this October unfold from a jail cell – if they are held at all.
The standoff between the army and Mr Khan and his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has broadened into a wider conflict. His arrest led to PTI
supporters ransacking army properties – prompting a military crackdown. The country’s supreme court, headed by the chief justice, freed Mr Khan and declared his arrest
illegal. What is emerging is a confrontation between two distinct political groups. Pitted against a section of the judiciary and Mr Khan are, it seems, the generals and the parties they endorse. Unless resolved, the contest will paralyse the country, whose economic troubles have already plunged
4 million Pakistanis into poverty. Even China, Pakistan’s closest ally, is publicly calling for its
chaotic politics to be resolved.
The military in Pakistan has had many stints in direct control. They have all ended badly. Its attempts to manage politics from behind the scenes have corroded the reputation of the army and the politicians. Some might argue that
praetorianism – the backstage rule imposed by soldiers – has a long pedigree. But that is little help today. Pakistan is a nation of 230 million people that requires technocratic
expertisecoupled with a light touch to navigate a complex society. Former soldiers are widely considered
competent, but their
takeover of the bureaucracy is a mask for government without consensus. The result is an institutionalised instability.
Probably the
greatest cricketer his country has ever produced, Mr Khan did not distinguish himself as a brilliant
administrator in office. Human Rights Watch has
reported on his government’s intensified efforts to control the media and curtail dissent. But Mr Khan’s anti-corruption and pro-welfare
platform has made him popular. Good government with an electoral mandate will be needed to negotiate the critical external
funding required to avert a balance of payment crisis. Voters, not the generals, ought to be able to judge their leaders on the basis of their performance in office.
Pakistan would be better served by having armed forces that are the military arm of the civilian government rather than having a government that is the civilian arm of the military.
Even this violence and chaos won’t shake the military’s hold over Pakistan
Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar
The arrest of Imran Khan has led to mass protests and a constitutional crisis looms. But politicians still see the army’s approval as the only way out
Wed 24 May 2023 11.14 BST
The last couple of weeks have been painful for Pakistanis at home and abroad, as the country drifted into
chaos and vandalism after former prime minister Imran Khan was arrested on corruption charges earlier this month. As protests and attacks on government and military buildings intensified, at least nine people were killed and thousands arrested, to be tried, it is feared, in military courts. It seems more such days are yet to come.
All state institutions, including parliament, the
judiciary and
the army, are at loggerheads. The country is
facing a constitutional crisis, politics has failed and the economy is in a shambolic state. The sad part is that not one player has shown any willingness so far to pull back. The stability of the world’s fifth most populous country is at serious risk.
The recent violence has captured the world’s attention, but like every other crisis, the seeds of this one were sown long ago.
With the end of military rule in Pakistan in 2008, many were hopeful of a new beginning. The country needed healing, having lost former prime minister and main opposition leader
Benazir Bhutto months earlier in a devastating
terrorist attack. Political leaders put aside their differences and worked on implementing the charter of democracy (COD), a roadmap towards democratic rule that had been signed by opposition parties during the dictatorship. Major amendments were made to the constitution, and powers tightly held by past dictators were devolved to the parliament and the provincial legislatures.
Initially, the balance of power seemed to have shifted from the military headquarters to parliament. Not for long, though. Sure of Pakistan’s importance to western capitals due to the nearby war in Afghanistan, and desiring to be seen as the sole powerbrokers, the military set about destabilising political governments in collusion with the judiciary, which often approved harsh measures such as
martial law, and acted against its political opponents. For instance, the supreme court disqualified two prime ministers,
in 2012 and
2017, on flimsy charges, and kept the sword hanging over others. But the largest assault on the democratic political system would come from Khan during the 2018 elections.
Returning to the mainstream of Pakistani politics with strong backing from the military, Khan was seen as leading a movement against the other two larger mainstream parties, the Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML–N) and the Pakistan People’s party (PPP), branding them corrupt, and responsible for the nation’s ills. His narrative and slogans resonated on the street, especially among the young (64% of Pakistan’s population
is under 30). A messianic aura was manufactured and built around him, with the perception that Pakistan’s highest court had
declared him truthful and honest, unlike his opponents. People joined his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), in droves, but the military was also accused of
interfering extensively in the election.
From this point onwards, the military and its protege ran the country jointly in a manner that came to be known as the “hybrid regime”. Opposition leaders were jailed. And to silence dissent, media freedoms were curtailed. Khan is the only civilian leader in Pakistan’s history to be
named as a press freedom “predator” by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Before coming to power, his biggest campaign promise was to end corruption, but during his tenure, Pakistan
slid further down those rankings, too.
However, partway through his time in office, cracks started to appear between Khan and then army chief, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa. Tired of his foreign policy blunders, and sensing his unpopularity, Bajwa decided to pull the rug out from under him. Khan’s coalition partners withdrew their support, and the opposition was able to file a no-confidence motion against his government, finally ousting him in 2022.
Since then he has given the military and its political allies a run for their money in how he has undermined Pakistani democracy. He
blamed the US and the military for conspiring against him, whipping up anti-American and anti-west hysteria while holding protest rallies across Pakistan. And he survived
an assassination attempt, which he now blames on serving military officers. And yet, despite his shortcomings and failures in office, he was still the most popular leader in Pakistan.
But as the events of the past few weeks have unfolded, he and his party have, perhaps, taken things a bit too far. Reacting to his arrest, his supporters stormed the military’s headquarters, burned down a military commander’s house, attacked other government buildings and destroyed public property. The military hasn’t taken this lightly – and thousands of his supporters have been arrested across Pakistan. He faces an uncertain future, and the tensions between him and the new army chief, Gen Asim Munir, with whom he already has a
chequered history, seem to have increased. This may hamper his prospects of returning to power in constitutionally mandated elections this year.
While
Pakistan stands on the brink, selfish power games are being played without addressing the most pressing question facing the nation: whose job is it to run the country anyway? The military or elected representatives? For now, the sad truth facing our political leaders, whether it’s Khan or the heads of the other parties, is that they are all vying for one thing, and that is the military’s loving embrace – in order to come to power and stay in power.
Last week, Khan stated he is
open to negotiations with the army, but has not engaged with democratic political centres like parliament. Despite everything that has happened to him at their hand, he is not principally opposed to the army’s position in politics.
- Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar is a Pakistani politician who was a senator from 2018 to 2022
The arrest of Imran Khan has led to mass protests and a constitutional crisis looms. But politicians still see the army’s approval as the only way out, says former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar
www.theguardian.com
