National Security Council a failed experiment, claims Senate chairman

LAHORE: Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani has termed the National Security Council (NSC) a failed experiment during former military ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s tenure, stressing the need for no more experimentation.
Speaking at a book launch ceremony here, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader said the country cannot afford any more experiments.
He, however, stressed the need for all state institutions to mull over the security threats the country was currently facing.
Raza Rabbani said a new establishment would emerge as a result of public struggle but added that this establishment would comprise middle-class and intellectuals. “Parliament’s supremacy will prevail in the new system.”
The idea and inception of the National Security Council – a principal forum that is mandated for considering national security and foreign policy matters with senior national security advisers and cabinet ministers – was first conceived in 1969 under President Yahya Khan.
The idea of this institution remains highly debatable and controversial in the country’s political circles, arguing that the NSC provides legal cover for expanding the role and influence of the military in nation’s public and political affairs to subdue the popular democratic transitional process in the country.
The council was recreated by Musharraf in April 2004 through the National Security Council Act. Although, the NSC remains to stay as statute on the Constitution, the council is not active since 2008, and the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) has been reactivated in its place.
The NSC was abandoned by the PPP government with a unified confirmation from parliament, and its functions have been taken under control by the DCC as of 2009.
The council was revived under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who presides over meetings of the council when there is an emergency, such as hostilities between India and Pakistan, or a chance to discuss the events related to terrorism and extremism.