- Analyst says positive speech would have to be followed up by meaningful steps to bridge civil-military differences.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will address the passing-out parade of young cadets at Pakistan Military Academy Kakul today (Friday) and while it is expected that he will make an important policy statement there, political observers are keeping their fingers crossed at how Nawaz Sharif will steer the future of civil-military relations in wake of differences between the two institutions on a host of issues.
A well-placed source told Pakistan Today that the relations between the military and civilian leadership were still strained and despite the recent meeting of the Cabinet Committee on National Security (CCNS), little effort has been made to remove the differences between the two sides.
“The tone and tenor of the speech by the prime minister and the following actions would define and determine the fate of relations between the civilian and military leadership. A hawkish speech will further deteriorate the already strained civil-military ties,” the source said.
“For the time being, no breakthrough is expected yet,” the source said, adding that getting false and fabricated stories of exchange of pleasantries between the army chief and Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif on the eve of the CCNS meeting could not improve the strained relations.
No one could even imagine that this routine ceremony would attract such an interest a month back, when the army chief General Raheel Sharif had sent an official invitation to the Prime Minister’s Office, requesting the premier to address the new cadets as the chief guest.
Traditionally, it is the army chief himself who comes up with his policy statement at the event. Besides young cadets, thousands of army officials and civilians also attend the ceremony.
Mohyuddin Wani, the spokesman of the Prime Minister’s Office, told Pakistan Today that the prime minister had decided to address the event some 20 days back.
Noted defence analyst Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi told Pakistan Today that strained relations could not be improved by a mere speech or a statement.
“A positive speech would have to be followed up by meaningful steps to bridge the differences caused by strong speeches made by the PML-N ministers. The prime minister would have to consult the army top brass on the dialogue process with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Moreover, the government would have to retract from its path of vengeance against Gen Pevez Musharraf,” the analyst said.
He said that the government would have to give up its policy of targeting a single individual in the treason trial as Musharraf was not the only person responsible for it.
“Until and unless the government ends its policy of witch-hunt and vengeance by targeting an individual in the treason case, the relations between the army and government cannot improve,” he concluded.
