Daily Times

As the six-year-old stint of General Qamar Javed Bajwa as his country’s most powerful man comes to an end, he has decided to open the curtains to a surprising new beginning. To truly mark the second act of the militablishment after seven decades, he pointed to the elephant in the room–undue interference in politics.

That the armed forces have initiated “a process of catharsis” is nothing short of a breath of fresh air. Rubberstamping what the top leadership has been enunciating for a while now, it was made clear that Rawalpindi wishes to stay true to its constitutional role of safeguarding the nation against enemies; not to meddle in the power games. But while his matter-of-facted declaration should be appreciated as a much-needed development to strengthen our fragile democracy, it remains to be seen whether our politicians are ready to get off the crutches and take a step on their own. Their repeated cold press to distress signals appear to have fallen on deaf ears because most of the time, political players do not believe in walking the talk.

Those who believe in the utmost sovereignty of the mandate instantaneously shift gears at the slightest prospect of them losing the fight. Because then, neither the precious parliament nor the confidence of the masses is deemed as important as the pursuit to sit on the coveted throne. What General Bajwa said on Wednesday would go down in history as a phenomenal acknowledgement of the errors in the ways. Democracy and Pakistan have had a long, turbulent relationship, for which the interplay of nondemocratic forces cannot be discounted.

However, acceptance remains the crucial first step to solving a problem and therefore, returning the authority to where it is rightfully due and letting the power of the common man take centre stage seems the only viable way forward. It has, indeed, been a year of the firsts. The barrage of unprecedented criticism–often, in an objectionable, vile manner–since former prime minister Imran Khan’s ouster and the vicious trolling on social media against the senior command of the armed forces does make one wonder about their steadfastness in getting the job done, come what may. The attacks have been far too ugly for far too long but the remarkable paradigm of clear boundaries can help water down many of these fires. We, at Daily Times, can only pray that this new policy is able to withstand the pressures of the upcoming general election. To a new, tolerant, democratic Pakistan! *