The need to abide by the rules of the game
The Prime Minister and his advisers have thoroughly mismanaged the Dawn leaks probe. Initially, the federal government repeatedly denied Cyril Almeida’s story as ‘fabricated and planted’. Within weeks however, federal information minister Pervaiz Rashid was sacked ‘for lapse on his part,’ to stop the publication of the story. Soon after, the government notified a seven-member committee to probe the controversy. The committee was complete its job in a month. Several months after the expiry of the l deadline, a notification was issued on Saturday by Secretary to the Prime Minister ordering action against Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs along with a bureaucrat. The notification also called upon the APNS for disciplinary action against two employees of DAWN. Ch Nisar has turned down the notification claiming rules of business empowered only the interior ministry to issue the notification. The unusual urgency shown by PM’s office in issuing the notice has landed him into trouble.
The DG ISPR has reacted in a highly objectionable way. There is a need for everyone to realise that in democracies social media is not the forum to resolve civil-military tensions. One had hoped that the military had adjusted to new political realities. Whatever the army’s differences, these have to be conveyed through normal channels available in the system. The tweet will provide a handle to Pakistan’s opponents who would use it to emphasise that the real power in Pakistan still lies with the army rather than the elected government. This will weaken the negotiating position of the government with other countries. One doesn’t think the army wants to do this.
The Interior Minister needs to answer the questions being put by the Opposition. Was the government trying to protect someone actually responsible for the leaks? Were the conclusions drawn in the report unanimous? Doesn’t the episode show that no inquiry that has the potential to endanger Nawaz Sharif’s prospects is possible with him as PM? What is needed under the circumstances is to make the inquiry report public as promised by Ishaq Dar.
