monitor
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
- Messages
- 8,570
- Reaction score
- 7
- Country
- Location
Towards a civil-military diarchy
October 22, 2011
A R Siddiqi
Democracy and the military in Pakistan have never been mutually exclusive. The first ever elections on the basis of universal adult suffrage were held on December 7, 1970 under General Yahyas martial law regime. Hardly a voice was raised about the elections not being fair and impartial.
On October 9, 1993, yet another general election was held under the Transparent Election Plan (TEP) compiled at the GHQ under COAS General Abdul Waheed Kakar. Anker Jorgensen of Denmark, leader of the foreign observers team certifying to the transparency of the election said, I am not sure of such fairness in my own country.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the other day (October 19) that the US wanted to see a strong democracy emerge in Pakistan that works side by side with the military to benefit the people. Asked if the US had confidence in the current Pakistani governments ability and intent to work with the US on shared challenges he replied, We do believe they are capable of it, and certainly for our part, we are willing to work with them to address those shared challenges. Much of our work in Pakistan is geared towards building the kind of institutions (civil-military) that will strengthen Pakistani democracy.
That shifts the burden of responsibility to the custodians of government, Prime Minister Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari, to make a success of the emerging contours of the civil-military synergy diarchy in politico-constitutional language. It is a form of government in which two people, states, or bodies are jointly vested with supreme power.
The strength of democracy, in fact its very existence, would depend on how well or badly the two mind the store and stop confusing a democratically elected government as the be-all and end-all of an honest democratic dispensation. As for the army, it remains too inextricably involved in countering challenges on the internal and external fronts to harbour any thoughts of an adventurist move, save coming to the aid of civilian power when summoned.
Threats and actual war-like incursions from the Afghan side have compelled the regular army to join forces with the paramilitary Frontier Corp (FC) and levies to effectively counter the attacks. Pakistan will not allow militants to carry out attacks on its check posts and border villages, and to harass our people and get away with it. The traditional eastern front with India being quiet for the time being, is never left alone without a change of posture from the other side. That is no mean job involving complete revision of military doctrine, re-deployment of forces and relocation of strategic arms, nuclear and conventional, in keeping with an improved, albeit temporary, situation till such time as it is formally authenticated and declared by the government. There can be no letting down of the guard and the vigil would remain as before.
Besides multifarious and onerous jobs, the military also faces the tricky task of living down its shattered image in the wake of the Abbottabad and Mehran episodes of last May. Disenchantment was the word used to express the deep loss of faith in the ability of the military to conclusively deal with those events to the nations satisfaction. The phase of despair, though a matter of the past, still lingers on in the mind of the government if not in that of the general public, who are still willing to welcome the army to sort out the mess worsening by the day.
The military was blamed for parrying every opportunity of direct involvement in civil affairs to restore the writ of the government. The matter ended as soon as the Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ruled, No army operation needed. He assured the Sindh inspector general of police that the Supreme Court stood behind the police in its efforts to control the law and order situation.
Prime Minister Gilani talks untiringly of democracy almost as if it is something he treasures as his own, like personal property. He views democracy as co-terminus with his tenure, which ends in 2013. The question is, what is democracy all about? Could a government, even one democratically elected like Mr Gilanis, at all pass for a democratic dispensation without good governance? Forget about the welfare state; can a government failing to alleviate the deep sufferings of its flood-hit millions have the moral right to continue? For the prime minister, every public function appears to be a photo opportunity. Dressed impeccably in well-cut lounge suits complete with an expensive silk necktie and pocket kerchief of the same material, the prime minister goes about attending public functions, painstakingly reading out written texts (mostly in English), staying faithfully close to the script.
Unlike the prime minister, the president only rarely stirs out of his safe houses the presidential palace in Islamabad and Bilawal House in Karachi. The highway to the Arabian Sea, hugging Bilawal House, has been so fortified as to reduce it to half its size leaving little space for easy or safe driving. Residents living close to Bilawal House face security checks coming and going from their homes. The president, lacking the prime ministers sartorial passion and elegance, is generally dressed in his baggy, closed-button jacket and a richly sequined Sindhi round topi. He dresses like his prime minister only when meeting with foreign dignitaries. One of his most publicised media photos/footage showed him wading through calf-deep flood waters booted in expensive waterproof shoes. Where he lags behind his prime minister in print/electronic media coverage, he more than makes up in daily press advertisements and huge billboards adorning every major street corner throughout the country. These are party publicity bonanzas showing an ever smiling, elegantly dressed president together with his family, the chief ministers and PPP leaders of the province concerned. One would rather not estimate the huge cost of these billboards and press advertisements, but it would surely be in millions of rupees. Only the minister for information and broadcasting (and national affairs) can account for the huge costs involved. What useful purpose does such publicity serve, especially in times when every single rupee is needed for the relief and rehabilitation of flood victims? This question must be answered by the president in his capacity as co-chairman PPP, and by the prime minister in his as the second most senior member of the central executive committee of the party.
To confuse majoritarianism (brute majority) with the spirit of true democracy would be a snub to democracy. Reduced to a numbers game, democracy tends to become virtually a tool in the hands of the government of the day.
The writer is a retired brigadier and can be reached at brigsiddiqi@yahoo.co.uk
-Daily Times
October 22, 2011
A R Siddiqi
Democracy and the military in Pakistan have never been mutually exclusive. The first ever elections on the basis of universal adult suffrage were held on December 7, 1970 under General Yahyas martial law regime. Hardly a voice was raised about the elections not being fair and impartial.
On October 9, 1993, yet another general election was held under the Transparent Election Plan (TEP) compiled at the GHQ under COAS General Abdul Waheed Kakar. Anker Jorgensen of Denmark, leader of the foreign observers team certifying to the transparency of the election said, I am not sure of such fairness in my own country.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the other day (October 19) that the US wanted to see a strong democracy emerge in Pakistan that works side by side with the military to benefit the people. Asked if the US had confidence in the current Pakistani governments ability and intent to work with the US on shared challenges he replied, We do believe they are capable of it, and certainly for our part, we are willing to work with them to address those shared challenges. Much of our work in Pakistan is geared towards building the kind of institutions (civil-military) that will strengthen Pakistani democracy.
That shifts the burden of responsibility to the custodians of government, Prime Minister Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari, to make a success of the emerging contours of the civil-military synergy diarchy in politico-constitutional language. It is a form of government in which two people, states, or bodies are jointly vested with supreme power.
The strength of democracy, in fact its very existence, would depend on how well or badly the two mind the store and stop confusing a democratically elected government as the be-all and end-all of an honest democratic dispensation. As for the army, it remains too inextricably involved in countering challenges on the internal and external fronts to harbour any thoughts of an adventurist move, save coming to the aid of civilian power when summoned.
Threats and actual war-like incursions from the Afghan side have compelled the regular army to join forces with the paramilitary Frontier Corp (FC) and levies to effectively counter the attacks. Pakistan will not allow militants to carry out attacks on its check posts and border villages, and to harass our people and get away with it. The traditional eastern front with India being quiet for the time being, is never left alone without a change of posture from the other side. That is no mean job involving complete revision of military doctrine, re-deployment of forces and relocation of strategic arms, nuclear and conventional, in keeping with an improved, albeit temporary, situation till such time as it is formally authenticated and declared by the government. There can be no letting down of the guard and the vigil would remain as before.
Besides multifarious and onerous jobs, the military also faces the tricky task of living down its shattered image in the wake of the Abbottabad and Mehran episodes of last May. Disenchantment was the word used to express the deep loss of faith in the ability of the military to conclusively deal with those events to the nations satisfaction. The phase of despair, though a matter of the past, still lingers on in the mind of the government if not in that of the general public, who are still willing to welcome the army to sort out the mess worsening by the day.
The military was blamed for parrying every opportunity of direct involvement in civil affairs to restore the writ of the government. The matter ended as soon as the Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ruled, No army operation needed. He assured the Sindh inspector general of police that the Supreme Court stood behind the police in its efforts to control the law and order situation.
Prime Minister Gilani talks untiringly of democracy almost as if it is something he treasures as his own, like personal property. He views democracy as co-terminus with his tenure, which ends in 2013. The question is, what is democracy all about? Could a government, even one democratically elected like Mr Gilanis, at all pass for a democratic dispensation without good governance? Forget about the welfare state; can a government failing to alleviate the deep sufferings of its flood-hit millions have the moral right to continue? For the prime minister, every public function appears to be a photo opportunity. Dressed impeccably in well-cut lounge suits complete with an expensive silk necktie and pocket kerchief of the same material, the prime minister goes about attending public functions, painstakingly reading out written texts (mostly in English), staying faithfully close to the script.
Unlike the prime minister, the president only rarely stirs out of his safe houses the presidential palace in Islamabad and Bilawal House in Karachi. The highway to the Arabian Sea, hugging Bilawal House, has been so fortified as to reduce it to half its size leaving little space for easy or safe driving. Residents living close to Bilawal House face security checks coming and going from their homes. The president, lacking the prime ministers sartorial passion and elegance, is generally dressed in his baggy, closed-button jacket and a richly sequined Sindhi round topi. He dresses like his prime minister only when meeting with foreign dignitaries. One of his most publicised media photos/footage showed him wading through calf-deep flood waters booted in expensive waterproof shoes. Where he lags behind his prime minister in print/electronic media coverage, he more than makes up in daily press advertisements and huge billboards adorning every major street corner throughout the country. These are party publicity bonanzas showing an ever smiling, elegantly dressed president together with his family, the chief ministers and PPP leaders of the province concerned. One would rather not estimate the huge cost of these billboards and press advertisements, but it would surely be in millions of rupees. Only the minister for information and broadcasting (and national affairs) can account for the huge costs involved. What useful purpose does such publicity serve, especially in times when every single rupee is needed for the relief and rehabilitation of flood victims? This question must be answered by the president in his capacity as co-chairman PPP, and by the prime minister in his as the second most senior member of the central executive committee of the party.
To confuse majoritarianism (brute majority) with the spirit of true democracy would be a snub to democracy. Reduced to a numbers game, democracy tends to become virtually a tool in the hands of the government of the day.
The writer is a retired brigadier and can be reached at brigsiddiqi@yahoo.co.uk
-Daily Times