Is capitulation the best answer?
We normally criticise our civilian rulers for giving in to army’s pressures and compromising civilian powers at the altar of personal gains. But have we ever thought how would one feel to sit on the Big Chair presiding over a meeting (of apex proportions) where there are lined upon the right and left of the table all the political and military who’s who of the country? How would one behave after the meeting gets over in which the real power-wielder/s sat, behaving like real subordinates? Wouldn’t it give wings even to a (Red) Bull to act and fly as high as he feels like? But more than that, wouldn’t he like to make compromises in order to prolong those moments of (false) glory for as long as he can – particularly if one is dead sure that there won’t be any life after death this time if kicked out by the angels in khaki from the high skies of (that) glory? Wouldn’t it scare the man at the helm to death, having so many skeletons in his cupboard that if he acted like his real self, the ones sitting on his right (posing like subordinates) at the meeting will send him not to that infamous ‘snakes’ room’ at Attock Fort this time but to a life of ignominy before ending up at the gallows via (saniha-e) Model Town.
That apparently sums up the whole story of the great surrender on the part of today’s civilian leaders; lust for money, power and fame, personal human weaknesses, paucity of vision and political acumen, skeletons in the cupboards (crimes committed), physical capacity and power of the man on horseback, and the public support he enjoys to clean all the social and political filth.
But there is also a flipside to this story. And that is about the weakness of the political system and the machinations of the powers that be to keep the civilian/democratic side deliberately weak. Combined, they compel elected ‘politicians’ to accept a subservient role.
Nawaz Sharif’s story is no different. He came with high hopes and grand ambitions. He, like Asif Zardari before him, tried to put his foot down and let it be known who’s actually in control. But bedazzled by his own victory during the initial days, he wavered and put his foot mistakenly on the head of the proverbial dead elephant. And that was it for him. The process of surrendering more and more space to the army took a whole new meaning and a speed never witnessed before.
That apparently sums up the whole story of the great surrender on the part of today’s civilian leaders; lust for money, power and fame, personal human weaknesses, paucity of vision and political acumen, skeletons in the cupboards (crimes committed), physical capacity and power of the man on horseback, and the public support he enjoys to clean all the social and political filth
But that’s old stuff now. The two most important basic questions now are; a) Is all this good for democracy – even if it is not good for the current ruling elite?; and b) what will be its final outcome? The first question is difficult to answer; the second is almost impossible.
With so many good things happening around, it is becoming difficult by the day to find faults with the situation in which the army appears to be in the driving seat. The general perception is that it is beyond the will and capacity of the incompetent and corrupt politicians to rid the country of the evil that has entangled it like an octopus. The fact of the matter is that this is true. Doubts rear head when we confront the next big questions and try to find out reasons as to why politicians can’t and won’t do what is the need of the hour and whether if the currently adopted ‘methods’ will bring the state and society nearer to finding permanent solutions to its ills and have stronger institution in the end?
But as they say, let’s start with the start in order to comprehend what’s going on. So, let’s begin with why Nawaz Sharif is constantly leaving his rightful political turf to other institutions.
Democratic order was already in the doldrums, bereft of any public legitimacy, when PML-N took over after the 5-year PPP rule, which was stained with real and alleged corruption. The tug of war between the civilian and military set-ups during those five years had also weakened the civilian side to a remarkable extent. Nawaz Sharif started off on the wrong foot on two important fronts; Pervez Musharraf and Pakistani Taliban. But while all this was going on, Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri assaulted the capital and inflected the most lethal blow to the democratic dispensation, though their apparent target was Nawaz Sahrif government. This brought the situation to a point when at times a military takeover was felt to be just round the corner.
Nawaz Sharif, from then on, had to manoeuvre in an environment in which continuation of democratic order totally depended on the whim of those who can send him packing without any formidable challenge. In this background, Operation Zarb-e-Azb was started by the military without formal go-ahead signal from the constitutionally empowered quarters. But the civilian government had to own it afterwards as majority of the Pakistanis wanted it to be that way. Soon followed operation in Karachi in which MQM was the first target in the initial phase. Political parties across the board, except for some reservation from the PPP, supported this as again this was a step that was supported by almost everyone in the country. Next in line was PPP. Rangers moved in and acted the way what people wanted for a long time in the face of mega corruption stories that adorned TV screen every night.
In all this cycle, there are some common things; the army acted according to the aspirations of the people (as they were conditioned); civilian leadership in almost every case reacted belatedly; in every case the most vulnerable and publicly despised party was targeted; in almost every episode that party was isolated through the media; and almost always, the next likely target sided with the law enforcement agencies (read Army) out of fear and in the hope that the onslaught may stop there. Unfortunately, it hasn’t so far. Nawaz Sharif is to be blamed for accelerating the process by moving unwisely in Musharraf and Taliban issues and the procrastination he exhibited in making every important decision. These three factors have really brought unprecedented negative consequences for the democratic dispensation as a whole.
But that doesn’t mean that these were the only reasons that have brought us as a nation to this pass. This isn’t the story of just about two and a half years. Struggle for supremacy between the civilians and military can be traced back to the early years of the formation of this country. And Nawaz Sharif can’t be singled out to have wilfully allowed the army to creep in to civilians’ domain.
The first reason is that military takeovers historically didn’t allow political parties and democratic culture to take strong roots in society. Consequently ‘political party’ didn’t develop into an institution in itself – like it is in the West. Uncertainty about the continuation of the system prompted the politician to be corrupt and unprincipled – to ensure his/her political existence. Intermittent democratic experimentations didn’t allow him acquire required political skills and be competent enough to run the system efficiently when he was allowed to do so; hence, his real and alleged incompetence. And last, but not the least, the political leadership that is now in currency mostly comprises of those who were not a product of natural process but which was groomed by and during military dictatorships.
These and other factors together made democracy and all its related institutions, including politicians, weak vis-à-vis the military, which if nothing else, gave temporary political and economic stability on different occasions. The US (and the Western) money and political support was crucial to its short-lived achievements, though. But to let PML-N off the hook for a while, let’s ask these simple questions: is the obtaining political situation in the country like what it should be for a political government to thrive in? Is everything going by the book? Are politicians in the driving seat?
If the answer to these questions in the ‘no’, then, is there any political force/party in the country to question the army’s intrusion into civilian domain and challenge it directly? If ‘not’ again, then, will the army – heeding inconsequential protestations from encircled politicians — call it a day? Or will it hand over the reins of power back to politicians after cleaning the Augean Stables? But why will it do it? And which politicians will be left after this cleansing is over – provided, you consider Imran Khan a politician?
Situation becomes more complicated when we confront the question head on; will it all be good for democracy in the end?
We may reach a conclusion fast if we start by asking, what is that single thing really at the bottom that necessitates military take direct or indirect charge after every few years to straighten things up? This, of course, is lack and weakness of civilian institutions. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, like periodical military interventions, lack of resources (due to defence constrains), devastating external and internal policies, and shortcomings of the political class. But we have narrowed everything down to ‘corruption’ – and that, too, of the politicians alone.
The best way, it appears, will be to agree on some out of the box solutions and make both the civilian and military equal partners in this drive. This may seem hard to digest at first but unless a grand reconciliation is forged among all the stakeholders, we will go from one end to another, come back then go again and so on and so forth
So, if the root cause is weak civilian institutions then there appears to be a basic flaw in our current methodology of dealing with it. This is so because by moving forward like that we, to some extent, are compromising due process and the rule of law itself. This by no means can be taken as s defence or exoneration of the corrupt politicians as they deserve the worst. But the point is that if in our pursuit to hunt these criminals down we further weaken the already weak civilian institutions, then it may not be realistic to expect that the solution will be permanent. Just examine the fallouts of the current law enforcement agencies drive on other institutions like, judiciary, police, civilian intelligence agencies, anti-corruption institutions, and all the democratic institutions collectively, etc. Secondly, at occasions laws are seen being twisted to certain ends and civilian governments seen bypassed. This doesn’t auger well for future.
Now, if political setups are unwilling and unable to do the needful and cleanse this country of the corrupt practices and the scourge of terrorism and the army is not empowered to overstep into civilian domain, what should we do? Just sit idle and do nothing? Or allow the army to do whatever it is pleased with but to bring in results? The first proposition, of course, is no option at all, and the second one is fraught with serious legal and constitutional implications beside capitulating civilian powers to the army with serious impediment to the process of political development.
The best way, it appears, will be to agree on some out of the box solutions and make both the civilian and military equal partners in this drive. This may seem hard to digest at first but unless a grand reconciliation is forged among all the stakeholders, we will go from one end to another, come back then go again and so on and so forth. But the result will be back to square one, as we have seen in the past. We have allowed this malady spread for such a long time that it has now become malignant and out of capacity of any single institution to root it out. Secondly, the problem is neither totally military, nor solely political. It has become an all-encompassing social crisis which should be addressed holistically by the whole society collectively.
In our search for solution to these problems we shouldn’t anymore shy away from making required legal, constitutional and political adjustments. Corruption and terrorism have literally eaten into the vital of this nation; it has almost conquered it soul by soul. And now no one seems immune to it, even those who consider themselves clean and pure like angels. So, what possibly can we do and who is there to cast the first stone?
Let’s ponder.
