Civil-military relationship

Plagued by the colossal “Panama Leaks” scandal, the government is naturally engaging in creating distractions. Instead of addressing the exposed corruption and proving that a vigorous democracy is the answer to all of Pakistan’s woes, this government is focused on blaming the military for its failures. The government has chosen to use its platform to bash another element of state rather than formulate polices to tackle the numerous problems afflicting the country. Perhaps they are not aware that they do have the power to pass a resolution and disband the Army if it is such a problematic institution.

The elected government’s foreign and domestic policies continue to fail. Was it the military’s decision not to have a foreign minister? This choice has resulted in the lack of a clear vision or goals as far as relations with Afghanistan, India and the US are concerned. Ask any PML-N member about relations with neighbouring states and their response will be the tired cliché of “cooperation and peace” without any real substance. Likewise, CPEC appears to be a business venture between private citizens rather than between two governments. Transparency is needed to see how much is Nawaz Sharif personally benefiting from CPEC projects.

Domestically, no military operation has been undertaken without the approval of parliament. Why hasn’t the government allowed further military operations in Punjab to root out terrorism from the province? As far as the economy is concerned, in the last three years, the PML-N government has borrowed $25 billion in foreign loans and an additional $30 billion domestically. In order to hide the growing public debt, the government went as far as amending the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Act of 2005 which restricts public debt at 60 per cent of GDP. The PML-N is in violation of this restriction and has pushed ahead the 2013 deadline to 2018 to reduce debt to 60 per cent of GDP. This type of borrowing is unsustainable and will wreak havoc on the future generations of Pakistan.

Most of the government institutions in Pakistan have either collapsed or merely exist to go through the motions. They are a victim of government sponsored nepotism and narrow-mindedness in lieu of merit based qualifications. The Army, having ruled the country, also shares the blame for the collapse of these institutions and is also responsible for the sad state that Pakistan currently faces. However, any aberration brought about by military rule can easily be corrected through constitutional amendments of which no civil government has found it within themselves to enact. Nor have they attempted to reverse General Zia’s Islamisation of the constitution. Thus, there appears to be a tacit approval of the policies in the past except for the 18^th Amendment. More legislation continues to be passed that is damaging to the country such as removing the requirement of an educational degree needed to be a legislator. To make matters worse it appears that the mullahs now have a license to influence and dictate Pakistan’s foreign and domestic policy.

Ultimately, it would be wise for the government to realise that it is surviving, not despite the Army, but because of it. In the event of any major disaster, the Army is called to intervene, e.g., the 2008 earthquake and 2010 floods. The Army is also needed to conduct elections, the census and to even de-silt water channels, etc. Such duties are key to a functioning civilian government and they, the elected officials themselves, are clearly incapable of carrying out such critical services. Instead of focusing on diversions to avoid discussing the names in the Panama Papers, the government should prioritise the average citizen. Pakistan’s biggest misfortune is that “democracy” only visits it either in the form of a Sharif or Bhutto. This cycle needs to be broken before real progress will stand any chance of materialising.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2017.

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