Army wants democracy to flourish, or that’s what it says
Finally General Kayani has come out clean. In the five-hour-lunch inclusive-briefing for columnists and television anchors, the COAS tried his best to remove any doubts about the military’s intentions.
At the outset, Director General ISPR Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa declared the interaction, held in the conference room of the GHQ, as strictly for deep background. Translated in layman’s language this meant that the briefing could not be attributed even indirectly to the Army Chief.
Such niceties have never deterred our professional brethren from spilling the beans in the name of the people’s right to know. The gist of what General Kayani said has already appeared in the print media and analysed by anchors present (and some not even present) in their respective talk shows.
As by the Chief’s own admission such an interaction was taking place for the first time since May 2011 – after a gap of a few months less than two years. That is why perhaps after General Kayani spoke for over an hour, everyone was given an opportunity to ask questions to their heart’s content.
The obvious question that comes to mind is that why did General Kayani go an extra mile to clarify issues at this juncture? His briefing came at a time when the country in the countdown to elections is gripped by a severe bout of uncertainty.
For all practical purposes Tahirul Qadri’s hot air balloon has been punctured at the altar of a free press and an independent judiciary. The maverick cleric licking his wounds has gone back to Canada travelling on his Canadian passport ostensibly for a medical check up.
The worst form of terrorism is threatening the very existence of the Pakistan envisaged by Iqbal and the Quaid. The economy is in shambles. In this backdrop, despite protestations to the contrary, few believe elections will be held at all.
The military spokesman earlier, and buttressed by General Kayani himself in the briefing, has reassured that the army is for fair, free and transparent elections. It has no favourites. Whoever wins will be welcome to govern.
Despite such commitments, skepticism about holding of elections prevails. Kayani was declared as the most powerful man in Pakistan and 28th in the world by the respected Forbes magazine only last December. But apparently his reassurances have come too late and too little.
The general assured his guests that it was tantamount to insulting his intelligence even to assume that Qadri had the backing of the army. Contrary to PML-N’s oft-repeated mantra, he denied that the military had anything to do with Imran’s re-launch. He asked a rhetorical question: Did the ISI send all those people to his rallies?
There will not be many takers of the claim that the military’s internal war games were completely bereft of any agenda. True that it has refused to be roped in by the likes of Qadri, who had declared at the outset that the military and the judiciary were stakeholders in the formation of a future caretaker setup. He wanted these institutions to clean up the Augean stables before holding of general elections.
Those who have been egging on the military to do away with the present democratic dispensation in the name of accountability are also sorely disappointed in Kayani. Contrary to past practice, he has refused to be drawn in matters strictly political and as such not falling in the military’s domain.
According to conspiracy theorists – aplenty amongst the commentrati –, General Kayani chose to speak to the media after all mechanisations to scuttle the democratic process failed. According to this line of argument, intrigues to delay elections did not succeed simply owing to the resilience and determination of the political spectrum and the media.
It must be acknowledged that the army and the higher judiciary refused to lend a helping hand when push came to shove. General Kayani has been a firm believer that the Bangladesh model that envisages a caretaker government comprising of non-elected technocrats failed in Bangladesh and hence will not fly here. Nonetheless tinkering with the system by ‘non state’ actors cannot be entirely ruled out.
General Kayani after completing his three-year extension is due to retire in November. Making it a point to empathically state that he was not angling for another extension to his tenure, he claimed that he would be out of uniform by 2014. But ‘no’ in this case could mean ‘maybe’.
Kayani spoke at length on the internal situation including Balochistan; categorically stating the army would only intervene if asked to under the constitution. He was visibly upset by suggestions from a journalist that the military was in cahoots with the jihadists in N Waziristan, clarifying that his troops were deployed there and have also lost more than 3,000 men fighting terrorism.
Interestingly, there was hardly any mention of the ‘U word’ during the four-hour plus exercise. The United States was almost absent from the rhetoric. This obviously means that the relations between the military have reset to normal after a hiatus of more than a year.
Mainstream political parties (sans PTI) and members of the civil society have backed jirga talks with the Taliban militants to restore peace. Ostensibly the JUI-F moot did not have the backing of the military. Nonetheless, General Kayani supports talks with the Taliban within the ambit of the constitution.
The laying down of arms has not been spelt out as a pre-condition by the second All Parties Conference within a few weeks on the same subject. However, if talks do take place, there has to be a suspension of militant activities.
A journalist at the moot made the fantastic claim that 150 suicide militants were ready to sabotage the elections. Whatever the source of his specific information, it would mean that elections couldn’t be held without the blessings of the Taliban. And that the army and the law enforcement agencies will be silent spectators while the people of Pakistan are sitting ducks at the hands of the terrorists.
Obviously, in the end analysis, without the military – a major stakeholder – no agreement will fly. General Kayani would want the civilian government in the driving seat giving lead to the military.
A watered down declaration like the one produced by the APC could be problematic for any future government as well as the army. Talks should not mean capitulation.
General Kayani throughout the briefing did not seem his usual self. He was not relaxed and at ease like he used to be. He looked worried. Any man in his place should be.
The writer is Editor, Pakistan Today