A day after giving an in-camera briefing to members of the National Assembly, Army Chief General Asim Munir on Saturday chaired a corps commanders’ conference, which said the army would continue to perform its “constitutionally mandated responsibilities”.
The emphasis on the constitutionally mandated responsibilities is seen as a subtle message against the backdrop of brewing tussle between the government and Supreme Court over the Punjab elections.
The federal government is reluctant to provide resources as well as manpower for the upcoming elections in Punjab despite clear direction by the Supreme Court. On Friday, a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial ordered the acting state bank governor to transfer 21 billion rupees to the election commission by April 17.
The next move, observers believe, is the Supreme Court may summon the defense secretary for the deployment of army troops for the election exercise.
A statement issued by the military’s media wing said the corps commanders reviewed the domestic and regional environment including external and internal security challenges Pakistan confronts.
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Although the statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) did not explicitly mention the ongoing political tensions, the issue of deployment of troops for Punjab and KP polls must have come under discussion.
“The forum affirmed that military leadership is cognisant of the full spectrum of the challenges and it resolves to shoulder its constitutionally mandated responsibilities with support of the resilient people of Pakistan,” the ISPR said.
That part of the statement was interrupted by some experts that the army might be preempting the possible Supreme Court order.
A retired bureaucrat, who requested anonymity, said the statement of the ISPR “leaves the room open” for any future decision. The bureaucrat said under rules of business GHQ is an attached department of ministry of defense, which works under the federal government. This means that deployment of troops for election duties is not possible without the approval of the federal government.
The senior bureaucrat indicated that it was possible that the army if called for assistance by the Supreme Court may take the plea that it could only do so with the permission of the federal government.
Meanwhile, the forum reiterated the commitment of the armed forces to fully support national responses against internal & external threats.
It highlighted that while security forces are undertaking intelligence based operations in areas along western border, there was a need to adopt a whole of the nation and whole of the government approach to eradicate the menace of terrorism on long term basis.
This focused counter terrorism campaign against terrorists as approved by the government, through whole of the system approach will lead towards eradicating permissive factors of terrorism, extremism and instability in the country.
The forum expressed its assurance to pursue the goals set by NSC to turn the tide against terrorism through the coordinated application of all elements of national power.
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