Against the backdrop of simmering tensions between the civilian rulers and the army, the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) will hold its crucial meeting today (Saturday) with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the chair and army chief General Ashfaq Kayani also participating along with other services chiefs to ponder over the “memogate”, that has generated grave political crisis and led to confrontation between the government, army and judiciary.
The meeting of the DCC has been seemingly convened to deliberate upon another vital issue of stalled Pakistan-United States relations and especially the recommendations made by the Special Parliamentary Committee on National Security on how to revise the ties with Washington, but it would focus mostly on the “memogate”. The issue is now in the Supreme Court but serious differences have occurred between the government, army and the judiciary owing to civilian rulers’ resort to dub the so-called secret letter as inauthentic, military leaders calling it a real and genuine letter and the apex court frustrated over the civilian authorities’ refusal to accept courts’ jurisdiction over the grave matter. The situation became worse, however, on Wednesday when the prime minister fired defence secretary Lt General Khalid Naeem Lodhi for not following the rules and regulations while sending the replies of the army chief and ISI DG to the apex court on the memo issue.
Before that, the PM said in an interview with a Chinese news agency that the army chief’s and ISI DG’s replies to the court were illegal and against the constitution. The army also came up with a strong-worded statement expressing annoyance over the PM’s interview and also declaring that the replies of top military leaders were in accordance with the law.
The DCC meeting on Saturday is the first gathering of civilian and military leaders after the escalation of civil-military tensions on Wednesday. One of the government’s allied parties, the Awami National Party also tabled a resolution in the National Assembly on Friday seeking support for the government in the face of its standoff with the army and it would be voted upon on Monday. “The prime minister is likely to use the opportunity that he has in the form of DCC meeting to iron out the government’s differences with the military, but owing to the serious nature of conflicting issues, it is highly unlikely that he will have success in this regard,” said a security official seeking anonymity.
He said the army leadership was of strong opinion that the “memo issue” would have to be settled by the apex court and they were in no mood to allow any other forum for the purpose, including the DCC. Some observers, however, look at the vital DCC meeting differently, saying the forum could be used to lower the tensions to some extent and it was a good opportunity for the government and for the prime minister.
“The DCC meeting could help lessen the civil-military tensions but that depends on the tone that the prime minister would use in the meeting. If he (Prime Minister) opts for conciliatory tone and disposition, it will lessen the tensions and ease the situation to some extent if not ending the standoff altogether,” said noted analyst Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi. “However, if the prime minister opts for the other way round and lodges complaints only during the meeting, the DCC will certainly not help his case,” he said.