Jang Economic Session: ‘Army chief's address to parliament to strengthen economy, democracy’

LAHORE: All stakeholders and institutions should work jointly to strengthen the democracy and national politics for national agenda and there is no harm to invite the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) to address the parliament after Senate address as this will strengthen the economy and democracy.

These views were expressed by the experts in the Jang Economic Session on ‘Experts opinion on COAS address to Senate’. The panellists were Ashraf Saleem, Zahid Mubashar, Imtiaz Cheema, Dr Qais Aslam, Sajida Mir and Pervaiz Hanif while the session was hosted by Sikandar Lodhi.

Ashraf Saleem said all democratic and other institutions need to improve their mutual trust to implement national security agenda on external and internal fronts. He said parliament is supreme institution of Pakistan and there is no harm for COAS to visit as it will give message of unity to the world. He said the government did not have a permanent foreign minister for four years, now also finance minister while performance of institutions was not satisfactory and attitude of ruling party was improper. He said US may attempt to hold Pakistan responsible for its failure so all institution should jointly evolve foreign policy.

Zahid Mubashar said that the whole nation should get united and show a common stance in the backdrop of internal and external situation. He said 128 countries' stance against US decision showed that they would not be blackmailed on loans and aid. He said the government and army should be on the same page for security of Pakistan. He said globally army suggestions were taken on important issues and both civil government and army jointly work.

Imtiaz Cheema said that COAS address to Senate is an historic act as defence and economy are correlated. He said Pakistan is surrounded by difficult conditions, so all stakeholders should be united on national issues and political parties should not politicise the national interest decisions. He said all political leaders should set aside their interests and prioritise the national economic interests.

Dr Qais Aslam said that democracy should be continued in any situation and institutions could be improved with self-accountability and transparency. He said world is changing and issues are not regional rather global and to counter them strong economy is required. He said apparently only buying from China policy was made not selling anything to it. He called for promotion of formal trade with India and other neighbouring countries.

Sajida Mir said country was heading towards anarchy which was adversely affecting the economy and democracy while mistrust among institutions was affecting the environment and in such situation COAS address to Senate was a good step. She said India had become a threat for Pakistan’s economy and security using Afghanistan soil for which parliamentarians should be taken in confidence. She believed that Army was playing its role more than defined constitutionally and the PM should sincerely give priority to national security.

Pervaiz Hanif said the COAS decision to address the Senate was right which will diffuse many misconceptions among the institutions and fizzle out the uncertainty. He said this will also make it clear that civil and military are on the same page and empowering the democracy. He said COAS address gave importance to Senate which was never given by the elected prime minister so this trend should be continued. He believed this act has given message to public that army also wanted survival of democracy.