Daily Times

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, in his speech at the GHQ on the occasion of Martyr’s Day, has given a rare but much needed assurance by the army to support democracy in Pakistan. He has made it clear that elections would be held on May 11 and that nobody should have any doubt about it. He even dispelled the narrative about that ‘other’ force trying or succeeding in putting a spanner in works of the election process. He considered elections important for Pakistan. However he did indicate that to prevent a dictator from coming to power, the political leaders will have to rise above personal interest and serve the national polity. He regarded public awareness the cornerstone of development and a necessary impetus for a functional democracy. Kayani’s speech is being seen a response to the suspicion voiced by the MQM, the ANP and the PPP about the involvement of the national and international establishment behind the recent wave of violence in Pakistan to keep the liberal/secular parties outside the election process.

The involvement of the army in helping the civilian government to make the elections happen is very much on the cards. That is where another hitch lies. In their latest press conference, all the three aggrieved parties have resolved to resist the army’s assistance in the elections. A day earlier, during the All Parties Conference (APC) called by the caretaker Sindh government, of all the 23 parties attending the APC, the trio stood against the decision of the government to seek the army’s help in transporting election material and to maintain law and order in the province. Their desire for civilian-led security arrangements is based on the assumption that the army’s involvement could affect the impartiality of the elections. The question, however, is whether the police is ready to take the burden of the crisis engulfing the province. Then there is the presence of the army in Balochistan. The people of the province are uneasy about the deployment of the army, which they blame for the repression in Balochistan.

The suspicion about the army’s role in the elections emanates from the past role of the army in elections. If Musharraf used rigging to skew the 2002 election results, his predecessors like Ziaul Haq also made every effort to meddle with the democratic process. The assurance by the army chief about the army’s intention to remain neutral and to allow the smooth transition of power is indeed timely and appreciable. Still, the impression of the army taking the lead to first make the elections happen and then to keep the anti-democratic forces at bay, could affect the credibility of the civilian government. The Election Commission of Pakistan is required to step in and gear up the civilian security apparatus to guard the elections. With the caretaker government in place, there are chances of the police improving its performance.

The emergence of right wing, pro-jihadi parties, as a result of the alleged effort to bring them to power will create more ideological divisions, something that the COAS has asked the people to eschew. Just ten days are left to the elections. While the mainstream political parties are paying the cost of harbouring liberal/secular views, the centre-right organisations are leaping ahead in the election campaign. Will this discrimination, allowed so far unhindered, help democracy to sustain in the long run, is the million dollar question that even the COAS has failed to consider. *