intelligence, of bad governance, and of practicing an ugly, divisive and violent form of politics. More importantly, they are guilty of never learning from their repeated mistakes. A similar list can be linked to military governments.
If anything, under the Zardari government, we saw repeated provocative actions designed to induce the military to intervene and afford ‘democrats’ such as Zardari a chance to play victim again. Such provocations ranged from astronomical corruption and mismanagement to repeated attempts to ‘contain’ Pakistan’s military at the behest of Zardari’s foreign friends.
Instead of declaring a questionable victory over our military, President Zardari could have included the institution in the list of those that deserve credit and praise for the success of democratic transition since 2008. He could have humbly acknowledged past mistakes by everyone, including politicians like him who have given a bad name to democracy, and pledged to strengthen governance by harnessing the power of all pillars of the state.
A strong and robust working relationship between our elected governments and the armed forces is important for the stability of the political system and for our national security. The military’s support for the democratic transition is one requirement to ensure this, and it has been amply demonstrated.
Another thing that can cement this support is for the elected government to sincerely work in close concert with the armed forces on addressing issues that impact our stability. The government should take a lead in creating multiple mechanisms to channel the military’s policy input. The Defence Committee of the Cabinet is too archaic. It needs to be bolstered by creating more channels.
An ideal scenario would be a constant flow of policy ideas, opinions and feedback between the government and its military and security departments. This can be done. It would integrate the government and the military and end a manufactured civil-military rift that threatens stability and provides openings to foreign meddling in our politics.
Email: aq@projectpakistan21.org
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