Ruling politicians score own goal in Pakistan
This article is authored by Amit Baruah, former correspondent of The Hindu in Pakistan and author of Dateline Islamabad, New Delhi.
When you design a legislative change to fit an individual, there are bound to be consequences for the balance of power and the quality of democracy in a country. In the case in point, Pakistan’s parliament allowed an army chief to remain in office for a total of 10 years.
On November 4, the National Assembly took just 26 minutes and the Senate 18 to allow all the three service chiefs to initially serve for five years (instead of three) and then get an extended term of five years.
So, the current Chief of Army Staff (COAS) in Pakistan, General Asim Munir, can continue in office till November 2033 after his current term ends in November 2028. An age bar that a general must retire at age 64 will no longer apply to the army chief.
In another change, the country’s parliament raised the number of judges in the Supreme Court from 17 to 34. This cements the amendments brought to Pakistan’s constitution allowing for a special bench to hear constitutional matters bypassing some troublesome judges through constitutional amendments on October 21.
There is little doubt that the spectre of jailed former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan is behind all these changes. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) leader remains popular in the country and many of his followers managed to get elected to the National Assembly despite daunting odds.
It is the fear factor that appears to be driving the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) into making all these legislative changes with the unstated objective to keep Imran Khan and his party at bay.
The alliance between the PML-N, the PPP and Gen. Munir appears to be formidable for the moment. The goal: Keep Imran and his followers away from the gates of power. But the price for such an arrangement, whose contours can change at any time, is very high for Pakistan.
It boggles the mind that in a country where an elected PM can hold office for five years, an army chief can serve out a total tenure of 10 years. The premium for the insurance policy taken out by the PML-N and PPP to stave off the challenge from Imran Khan will have to be paid by the people of Pakistan.
The army and its chief will have the last laugh. Their position has been fortified in exchange for allowing the legislature to fiddle with the Supreme Court and its powers because the ruling alliance politicians live in perpetual fear of an adverse court ruling that could send them packing.
It is for the fourth time that thrice-unseated PM Nawaz Sharif is attempting to secure his position in the country. The fear that his brother, the current PM Shehbaz Sharif, could be sent home by the judiciary, or that some fresh cases could be filed against the Sharif clan, appear to be very real for Nawaz Sharif.
The former PM, who has cried himself hoarse calling for the “supremacy” of parliament, has ended up cementing the supremacy of the army. The long tenure promised to Gen. Munir is the mechanism to try and ensure the longevity of the current ruling arrangement.
The PML-N was the creation of the army, not the PPP. But today the PPP of President Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari have displayed a zeal like that shown by the PML-N in demolishing long fought for democratic gains in Pakistan.
Forgotten is the hanging of PPP-founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and the incarceration of former PM Benazir Bhutto at the hands of the army. Bilawal could be well be the army’s choice when the game of political musical chairs is next played in the country.
One of the few voices from within the PPP to speak out was that of Raza Rabbani, a former chairman of the Senate. “Yesterday [November 4] was a dark day in the history of parliament…history will hold all of us responsible for circumventing the parliamentary and democratic process”. Such acts were driven by fear, Mr. Rabbani added.
Democratic forces have fought long and hard to ensure that Pakistan follow the constitution, but today political parties are the ones that have done the job for the army. They have scored an own goal.
Yet another indication of army assertion is a proposed law to allow preventive detention by the army. “Proposed legislation to allow 'preventive detention' by army is giving legal cover to enforced disappearances & military courts. It is institutionalising reign of terror. Those signing it remember; you will be its victims but then too late to regret. Must be resisted at all cost,” former Senator Farhatullah Babar wrote on ‘X’.
The army leadership in Pakistan has realised that taking power directly is messy. It’s simpler to make sure that the civilian captain marches to your tune.
This article is authored by Amit Baruah, former correspondent of The Hindu in Pakistan and author of Dateline Islamabad, New Delhi.
