ISLAMABAD: In a damage-control exercise after the storm raised by WikiLeaks, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani on Saturday said that he respected all political leaders.
“General Kayani holds all national leaders, including Nawaz Sharif, in high esteem,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas said in response to a question about the disclosures made by diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.
However, according to a cable by former US ambassador Anne Patterson on March 12, 2009, Kayani said he disliked Asif Zardari but distrusted Nawaz Sharif even more. Though WikiLeaks also disclosed that the Pakistan Army had once considered removing Zardari, the ISPR said the army’s policy was to support democratic process in the country. To a question about recent media reports, the ISPR DG said the army had practically demonstrated its resolve to not to indulge in politics.
“The army has a demonstrated policy of supporting the political process within the confines of the constitution of the country,” the ISPR DG said. Though the ISPR DG did not commit that the army would not in any manner support a political change, his remark that the army supported political process within the confines of the constitution suggested that any change without derailment of the system was part of political process.
However, the ISPR DG’s comment implied the Pakistan Army’s pledge to support democratic government and political process in the country. The cable said General Kayani had hinted that he might have to persuade President Zardari to resign if the situation deteriorated.
It said, “It would not be a formal coup but would leave in place the PPP government led by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to avoid the polls that would likely bring Nawaz Sharif to power.”
