Nawaz Sharif and the army

From ‘everyone on the same page’ to ‘no major gulf between civil and military leadership’

When Nawaz Sharif assumed office in June 2013 he was clear on what kind of civil-military relations he desired.

A month before assuming power, Sharif told Indian journalist Karan Tahapar in an interview on CNN IBN’s Devil’s Advocate that the army is an attached department of the federal government and the chief of army staff works under the federal government and implements the policies of the federal government. “All I know is when I was prime minister the policies were being formulated by the federal government, by the civilian head of the state and then of course executed by the institutions.”

Nawaz Sharif had secured a clear majority in the 2013 elections. He further expanded his support base through political alliances. He had good relations with the PPP which despite having put up bad performance in the elections was the largest opposition party in the NA while it enjoyed majority in the Senate.

Within months of assuming office Sharif got the opportunity of appointing the new COAS. In November 2013, five months after taking over, he anointed Lt Gen Raheel Sharif as COAS, ignoring Lt Gen Haroon Aslam, who was the senior most general in the army followed by Lt Gen Rashad Mahmood.

Raheel Sharif being a professional soldier the prime minster had an opportunity to concentrate on the two major problems facing the country — terrorism and load shedding. What he badly needed was the strengthening of institutions beginning with the Parliament. He had also to pay attention to the economy and improve the lot of the people. This would have strengthened the position of the civilian government vis a vis the army.

Nawaz Sharif had secured a clear majority in the 2013 elections. He further expanded his support base through political alliances. He had good relations with the PPP which despite having put up bad performance in the elections was the largest opposition party in the NA while it enjoyed majority in the Senate

The key mistake made by the PM was to ignore the Parliament. He reverted instead to the personalised style of governance that characterised the PML-N rule in the 90s. He rarely attended NA sessions. In 2014 he attended only one sitting of the Senate.

The year 2014 saw the gradual decline of the government’s clout vis-a-vis the army. The government frittered away its energies in unnecessary skirmishes with the armed forces which was a dangerous exercise because of the growing distance with the opposition. Some of the loudmouthed ministers indulged in army bashing on the media. This caused resentment among the army officers who were not amused when Musharraf had to face humiliation while appearing before the courts. Raheel Sharif stated the concerns publicly when he told Special Services soldiers in Tarbela that army “will resolutely preserve its own dignity and institutional pride”.

When a Geo anchor was shot in Karachi and the media house pointed an accusing finger at the ISI the PM was expected to intervene and play the role of an arbitrator. What happened was the opposite. Nawaz Sharif and some of his key ministers were seen to be taking sides of the media house. The tensions thus generated reached the extent that the defence minister was shunned by the military leaders and was not called to meetings with them for a number of months.

The army which was fed up with the terrorist attacks finally told the government that use of military force had become inevitable and it was launching Operation Zarb-e-Azb to put an end to terrorist activities. With the military operation the army which had so far remained confined to complaints gained the initiative and took the place of the government at the center of Pakistan’s security policy.

The PML-N supported the army till it found that the army wanted to launch a thorough operation in Punjab also. It was claimed that the terrorists had set up no-go-areas in the largest province also. It was also maintained that there was a need to nab the terrorists and their financiers and helpers

Mian Nawaz Sharif’s India policy was never shared with the Parliament as Nawaz Sharif liked to play keeping the cards close to his chest. Gen Raheel Sharif was as anti-India as his predecessor Gen Kayani. Nawaz Sharif’s decision to attend Naredra Modi’s swearing in ceremony and hold talks with him would have carried more weight if he had taken the Parliament into confidence. But the urge to take all credit and a general policy of ignoring Parliament stood in the way. The generals were displeased with the manner in which the PM had proceeded with the peace dialogue despite their reservations.

The back lash came finally in the form the Islamabad march by the PTI and PAT. The demand made by Imran Khan at the outset of the march was for resignation by the PM as he held Sharif responsible for rigging the 2013 polls. It has been claimed the march was planned by former ISI chief Gen Shuja Pasha. There was also no love lost between his successor Gen Zaheerul Islam and the PML-N government. There were reports that some of the corps commanders who were about to retire also backed Imran Khan’s protest.

As Nawaz Sharif pleaded for arbitration by the COAS, he was assured that there would be no coup, but in return he must “share space with the army”. Meanwhile the government was advised to shun use of force against the highly charged PTI-PAT activists who had laid siege to the PM’s house. The PPP leadership however came to the government’s rescue, reviving self confidence in a demoralised Sharif. It was finally the opposition’s support in parliament that ensured the government’s survival.

The government survived but the high level meetings which took place subsequently were held in a format which indicated that both the PM and COAS were jointly chairing the moots. This indicated a situation of diarchy where some of the federal subjects were handled by the civilian government, others by the army.

The army enjoyed the upper hand in conducting the operation in Karachi. The PML-N government looked the other way as the Rangers took action against the MQM, launching raids on Nine Zero, arresting and torturing scores of MQM activists. Interestingly even the PPP supported the action.

A little later came the turn of the PPP. PPP officials and the party’s supporters in bureaucracy were arrested on charges of collecting money through illegal means to finance the terrorists. It was maintained that billions of rupees thus collected were taken out of the country. The PML-N supported the army’s stand which led the PPP revise its stance from a friendly opposition to a staunch critic. The bitterness against Nawaz Sharif has continued to grow in the PPP.

In the wake of the attack on the Army Public School, the army’s grip over the system was further strengthened. Under the National Action Plan (ANP) the army got extra powers, including setting up of military courts.

The PML-N supported the army till it found that the army wanted to launch a thorough operation in Punjab also. It was claimed that the terrorists had set up no-go-areas in the largest province also. It was also maintained that there was a need to nab the terrorists and their financiers and helpers. The PML-N was highly worried over the demand for deployment of Rangers with the same powers as in Karachi. The PML-N leadership thought it was the thin end of the wedge.

While the Punjab government has refused to call the Rangers to help the civilian government with additional powers, the army has devised a new way to conduct operations in the province without the need of the government’s permission. It has announced to launch combing operations in no-go-areas. This puts a lot of pressure on the government as some of its district level leaders are known to have had connections with the terrorist outfits. What is more, several well known figures in the party are involved in shady deals including land grabbing.

Whether the idea behind the raids is to put the government under more pressure to make it follow the army’s dictates blindly or to finally send it home remains to be seen. Whatever the outcome the government’s acts of commission and omission are responsible for much of its plight.