January 8, 2022
Bol News
The Pakistan Army had to officially deny rumours of a deal between former premier Nawaz Sharif and the establishment to take the wind out of the double-edged propaganda campaign which, on one hand, aimed to destabilise the government and discredit the military leadership and, on the other, create political space for one of the most corruption-tainted political families of the country.
Major General Babar Iftikhar, the Director General of the
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), in his short but emphatic response to a
question, during his first briefing of 2022, called speculations of a deal with
Nawaz Sharif “baseless” and said that individuals making these claims should be
asked to give evidence and name those making such offers. DG ISPR’s response
was in line with the Pakistan Army’s policy of operating within its
constitutional ambit and not getting into the business of making or breaking of
the governments as was once the norm in the 1990s.
But it seems that Pakistan’s traditional parties – aka the political
establishment – from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to the Pakistan
People’s Party (PPP) and their allies want to rewind time and embark on a
journey into the past. The journey which takes them to the era of the 1990s
when one political party conspired against the other by striking underhand
deals with the establishment. The brazen loot and plunder and gross
mismanagement forced the establishment of those times to support change in
hopes of a better outcome, which unfortunately never materialised.
Times changed, but not the old habits of politicians
who thrive on dynastic politics and manipulation of the weak and flawed
democratic institutions of the country. No wonder, all the major opposition
players – from Sharifs to Zardaris – are still looking towards the
establishment for their return to the corridors of power, though for the public
consumption their leadership keeps issuing politically correct statements. Just
as both the PML-N and the PPP repeated this mantra after DG ISPR’s briefing of
January 5 that they bank on nothing else but the power of votes.
However, their compulsions of realpolitik remain
totally opposite. If, in a recent speech in Nawabshah, former president Asif
Ali Zardari in not so veiled terms asked the establishment to first send this
government packing, the PML-N too came up with its own story of a deal which
would pave way for Nawaz Sharif’s return and eventual ascend to power. The
planted story of Sharif’s return was bought hook, line and sinker by many of
our “informed analysts and mediapersons” who painted it as a done deal.
However, in their passion to push the storyline of
“Sharif’s triumphant return,” they completely ignored the fact that the former
Premier was not just an absconder, but a certified convict. Only by trampling
the law of the land and the constitution, could Nawaz Sharif be given a clean
chit in the blink of an eye.
Was it even logical to think that the military
leadership would do this for Nawaz Sharif or for that matter any other
politician by setting aside all the principles, the law and the constitution?
How any institution or its leadership could have explained this about-turn to
the masses? How could this be explained even to its own rank-and-file?
And for that matter is the establishment oblivious of
the hostility and antagonism Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam and handful of
close loyalists harbour towards the institution of the army? The PML-N’s ruling
family – read the duo of Nawaz and Maryam – not just want to target a few
individual officials, but they want to change the whole complexion of the army.
Sharif in the past too had tried to transform the Pakistan Army into the Punjab
Police by interfering in postings and promotions, but failed to have his way.
Now after the ouster from power for the third time, which was because of
Sharif’s involvement in the Panama Scandal, he still holds the Army responsible
for his disgraceful exit and wants to settle the score by maligning the
institution and its leadership.
Those who orchestrated the story of the deal – now
being vehemently denied by the PML-N leaders – wanted to cash in on the recent
friction between Prime Minister Imran Khan and the military leadership over the
appointment of the ISI chief. The aim was to create mistrust and try to widen any
possible wedge between the two sides. But that episode is done and over with
and the civil and military leadership are back on their normal working
relations.
However, this did not stop Nawaz loyalists from
pushing the story that the military leadership is desperate to get rid of Imran
Khan and wants Nawaz Sharif back to pull the country out of its economic
challenges. Some close aides of Sharif were seen proudly boasting that it was
Nawaz Sharif, who kept stiff conditions for a deal in which a public apology
from the institution remains one of the top demands.
But there are many in the government and the
opposition camp who know that many of the economic issues are the result of
structural flaws and inherent weaknesses of the system and corruption of the past
rulers. Imran Khan and his team’s lack of capacity alone is not responsible for
the deterioration of conditions, given his government’s thin majority in the
Parliament and a hostile but entrenched interest group working 24/7 to make it
unsuccessful – from those in the political to the media establishment.
Imran Khan’s stubbornness and mistaken priorities may
have complicated some of the challenges, but on many of the broader issues,
there are no fundamental differences between the civil and military leadership.
Both sides are well aware of the grave challenges faced by the country on the
domestic and external fronts and know that it can ill-afford any misadventure
or heightened political instability.
However, the agenda of the opposition is to keep the political
pot on the boil at the cost of political stability of the country. By doing
this, the opposition wants to maintain pressure on the government and show its
relevance. Hence, the regular and frequent calls for agitation and protests as
the PPP announced its anti-government march for February 27 and the PDM
threatening to do the same in March. This never-ending protest mood, agitation
and political polarisation is an in-built flaw of parliamentary democracy,
which is one key reason hampering stability and progress in Pakistan.
The state’s lack of capacity to hold the corrupt
accountable and failure to ensure the rule of law is keeping the country in
perpetual political turmoil. These are the challenges which require resetting
the system and introducing sweeping structural changes. Unfortunately, this is
not even on the PTI agenda.
Yet, Prime Minister Imran Khan still has a good
one-and-a-half year in power before the 2023 elections. And even if his
government operates within this degenerated and flawed parliamentary system of
democracy, it can at least put the accountability process back on track to
ensure that the corrupt stays out of the electoral politics and address some of
the economic issues to mitigate the burden on the common man, who is been squeezed
by rising inflation and falling income. To achieve even these minimalistic
goals, the civil and military leadership would have to work in tandem and that
too, against all the odds.
Going by the initial signs, 2022 is all set to take
Pakistan on another rough ride in which heightened political polarisation,
growing instability and uncertainty would remain the order of the day.
Unfortunately, the state cannot put the house in order without stamping down
hard on factors responsible for this situation. And to do this, overhauling the
system inside out is a must. But who will bell the cat? Your guess is as good
as mine.
The writer is the Editor-in-Chief, Bol Media Group
