Politicians played a smart game

With the memo controversy running out of steam, the country’s civilian leadership has emerged successful in handling the situation with the support of top politicians from both the ruling coalition and the opposition parties. But one should also reckon the sagacity demonstrated by Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and his colleagues who made every effort to keep the democratic system on track by bowing to the civilian rule. This was no doubt the first rare occasion, when despite tensions cropping up between the government and the armed forces, no opposition leader, including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif who actually took the memo to the Supreme Court, became part of any conspiracy against the democratic government. No politician made any backdoor contacts to invite the military for a takeover, as the tense situation in recent weeks could take an unexpected turn.
In a recent meeting held at Punjab House, chiefs of opposition parties reportedly advised the PML-N chief not to pursue his petition on the memo, as any ensuing tensions might lead to military intervention. Nawaz, who is the most recent victim of a military coup in 1999, agreed to the advice. According to sources, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman played the peacemaker’s role and convinced Nawaz that the opposition parties should not use the memo to destabilise the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government, which is already on the verge of completing its tenure with nothing to lose. Fazl reasoned that the PPP could earn political sympathy if its government was toppled, sources said.
Fazl also suggested that negotiations were a better way forward to ensure a neutral caretaker government to hold next general elections under an impartial Election Commission. Sources said that Fazl even assured Nawaz that he would convince President Asif Ali Zardari to step down as a prerequisite for general elections. This meeting gave way to Nawaz’s unscheduled visit to London and a drop scene to the memo controversy came, although the matter still remains with the apex court.
According to defence analyst Hassan Askari Rizvi, backdoor channels worked quietly to soften the hard stance taken by Kayani and Nawaz. “This case was floated in the media by the armed forces and later it was none other than Nawaz Sharif who approached the apex court. Though the matter is still pending with the court, both the army and Nawaz have retreated which is self-explanatory,” he said.
With the memo making headlines in the media, it was none other than the prime minister, who after finding himself caught in a quagmire, took a bold initiative and opted for a hot pursuit against the army leadership, and when his rhetoric worked, like a true politician he did not hesitate in mincing his words, not once but twice, in a fortnight.
On December 16, a day after submitting his response in the apex court on the memo issue, General Kayani held a meeting with Gilani. Following the meeting, a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s House read: “The prime minister and the Army chief also agreed that replies forwarded by the COAS and DG ISI were in response to the notice of the court, through proper channel and in accordance with the rules of business and should not be misconstrued as a standoff between the Army and the government.”
However, on December 22 Gilani made two emotional speeches, claiming that conspirators were plotting to bring down the democratic government. He also said that “a state within the state” would not be allowed. He also claimed that the rules of business had been violated in sending replies to the court by the Army chief and the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and that the government had been bypassed in this regard.
The following day, Kayani rubbished Gilani’s allegations and a statement by the military said that the army would support the democratic process in the country. However, after a short lull, Gilani once again hit back at Kayani by telling a Chinese online daily on January 9 that General Kayani and General Pasha had violated the rules of business while submitting their responses to the Supreme Court in the memo case without the approval of the competent authority. The government released the contents of Gilani’s interview at a time when Kayani was on an official visit to China.
However, Kayani kept his cool and a rejoinder by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) once again stated that the chief of army staff and the ISI director general were obliged to narrate facts known to them in their responses to the apex court on the memo issue. “Allegiance to the State and the Constitution is and will always remain a prime consideration for the respondent, who in this case has followed the book,” said the ISPR statement.
The top general later held a detailed meeting with Zardari, and a foreign media outlet had claimed that during the meeting, General Kayani had demanded a statement by the government to dispel the impression created by Gilani.
On January 25, the prime minister once again retracted his previous version about his tirade against the COAS and DG ISI, saying he wanted to dispel the impression that Kayani and Pasha’s statements had been submitted in the Supreme Court in an unconstitutional manner and in violation of the rules of business.
Talking to journalists at Chaklala Air Base before leaving for Davos to attend the World Economic Forum meeting, the prime minister said that his statements regarding responses of General Kayani and Lt General Shuja Pasha were relevant in certain situations.
“There were a lot of events taking place and there was overlapping by a lot of government functionaries on many issues, and I said in that context,” said the prime minister and added that later when he found out that some of the discrepancies had been made by certain functionaries, he took action against them and those remarks were not unconstitutional or against the rules for the Army chief and the ISI chief.