Defence analysts and politicians believe that the sacking of Husain Haqqani would not diffuse the tension between the civilian and military leadership, as the ball will keep on rolling until all faces behind the ‘memogate’ are punished in light of an inquiry into the scam.
Lt Gen (r) Talat Masood said the acceptance of Husain Haqqani’s resignation was just the beginning of the process. “The process has just started … the outcome of detailed inquiry into the issue will define relations between the government and military establishment,” he said. He said the inquiry would reveal all facts revolving around the issue and would also expose motives behind the move if the allegations of Mansoor Ijaz proved right. “It is a complicated situation and things will not become stabile with mere resignation of Haqqani,” he added.
PPP-Sherpao chief Aftab Khan Sherpao said it was the first step and the “memogate” scandal would not stop there. “This is the first step. The ball will keep rolling and will not stop here. The investigations are yet to begin and its fallout is yet to occur,” Sherpao said, adding that the fallout could be explosive.
General (r) Hamid Gul said things in Pakistan would not stabilise with the ouster of Husain Haqqani only. “The probe into the ‘memogate’ will reach its logical conclusion… not only Haqqani but a team of Pakistanis was involved in the scandal as is revealed by the memorandum … other members of the team must also face the music,” Gul said. He said in his opinion, Americans had exposed the memo as the Pakistani rulers had failed to honour their commitments made with the US administration on introducing radical changes in the country’s security system. PML-N Senator Mushahidullah said the fallout of the ‘memogate’ would be drastic and the nation needs to be taken into confidence and briefed on how things occurred.
He said Haqqani was forced to resign and it was yet to be proven who was guilty, as the ambassador himself was unable to do all by himself. The PML-N senator also added that independent judicial inquiry should be conducted into the issue.