The army’s statement in response to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s recent interview to a Chinese newspaper and the sacking of defense secretary Lt General (r) Khalid Naeem Lodhi by the government on Wednesday clearly demonstrated that the standoff between the government, judiciary and the army reaching had reached a point of “no return”, but despite all its anger, the military leadership seems to be in no mood of a coup or intervening to oust the civilian rulers from power corridors.
The army leadership rather appears wanting the Supreme Court settling the current political crisis and the belief is also held by analysts and political thinkers who are closely monitoring the evolving situation in the federal capital.
Some observers say the government has already committed so many blunders that it is almost impossible that a decision would come in its favour from the apex court in the NRO implementation case, so it will be highly unwise on the part of the army to step in and show government the exit door. “We can’t rule out those impulses of military. They are rooted in history, but right now the army has decided not to and rather they will stay by the sidelines and watch the Supreme Court take lead,” said Rasul Bakhsh Rais, a known political and defense analyst.
He said it must be kept in mind that it was a three dimensional war involving the judiciary, the political executive and the armed forces.
However, despite all these expectations of democratic dispensation being allowed to continue in the country, there still are fears and concerns that any extreme step on part of the government to send home army chief General Ashfaq Kayani or ISI chief Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha could trigger usher in serious crisis, which could end in direct military intervention to pack the incumbent PPP government. Some observers fear that the present government, which has failed to deliver when it comes to addressing the problems of the people, is trying to provoke the military leadership as well as the judiciary in anticipation of a strong retaliatory move that would lead to their political martyrdom.
Analyst Farukh Saleem said, “This government has done very little in terms of addressing the problems of the masses and there is absolute failure in terms of delivery. So the government wants to get martyrdom at the hands of the army or Supreme Court in order to win back their supporters and common Pakistani people.”
This is, however, a dangerous path and could not only lead to the downfall of the civilian rulers, but also end in the derailment of the democratic process in the country.
“The path of confrontation adopted by the government will backfire. Replacing the army’s chief will only enlarge the ongoing crises,” said noted analyst Ikram Sehgal.
The government’s resort to fight on two fronts, to opt for confrontation with not only the army but the judiciary as well is likely to create serious problems for the government and it is felt that the antagonistic behaviour of the government towards the two other institutions has resulted in the two bodies being on one side and the civilian rulers on the other side of the fence.
And some thinkers wonder why the government has opted for this strategy, which is only supposed to backfire instead of bringing any dividends for the government.
Shehzad Chaudhry, another analyst said, “The army is by all means set to back the judiciary and it is crystal clear now and evident by the ISPR statement today. The government is now in a close alley, a dark street, but it is itself responsible for its debacle and all problems that is presently confronting.”
