A day after Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani talked about a conspiracy to send his government packing, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani denied plans for a military coup on Friday but said there could be no compromise on national security, clearly suggesting the continuation of the standoff between the government and army over the memo issue. “Pakistan Army has and will continue to support the democratic process in the country,” General Kayani told troops during a visit to the forward posts in Mohmand Agency and Kurram Agency.
General Kayani strongly dispelled speculations of any military takeover and said: “These are misleading and are being used to divert focus from the real issues.”
An official statement from the prime minister’s office after his meeting with some parliamentarians on Friday once again said the legislators extended full support to the prime minister on his clear message that a state within a state was not acceptable and all institutions should perform their responsibilities in accordance with the constitution.
In a clear snub to the civilian rulers, General Kayani said: “The army is fully cognizant of its constitutional obligations and responsibilities.”
He emphasised that the issues of national security needed to be considered on merit alone. He concluded by saying that “irrespective of all other considerations, there can be no compromise on national security”.
He said the men and women of Pakistan Army were performing their duty of defending Pakistan in accordance with the oath they had taken. “They will continue to do so with the support and prayers of their countrymen, regardless of the cost,” he said.
Tensions between the civilian government and army leadership have risen since the emergence in October of an alleged memo purportedly handed over by President Asif Ali Zardari to the US administration through former ambassador Husain Haqqani asking for help in averting a military coup in May in the wake of a secret US raid in Abbottabad that killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Husain Haqqani, who is considered a close aide of President Zardari, resigned last month over the memo issue under reported pressure from the military leadership to face an enquiry into the memogate controversy.
The issue is, however, in the Supreme Court where Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif and other petitioners have sought an enquiry into the matter, which they believe is aimed at undermining the country’s security.
There will be no military coup, assures Kayani
