Daily Times

The military establishment has given Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Mohammed Nawaz Sharif a list of 120 politicians, along with documentary evidence ranging from terrorism to corruption, and has demanded action to be taken against them. The list of politicians includes influential persons including two federal ministers and one provincial minister from Punjab. Reportedly, Prime Minister Sharif wishes to delay action against these individuals because of the present political uncertainty, but the military is insistent upon quick action. All of this is very unfortunate, and goes to show the vacuum that exists when it comes to the civilian leadership. These are all serious charges, including support for banned organisations, and it calls to question why action has not been taken against these politicians yet. Such lethargy is the reason why military is able to appropriate more space for itself within the decision making sphere, and shape public opinion in favour of that. While it is true that the history of institutional development in Pakistan has created a military that holds a great deal of influence in the country, nevertheless, rent seeking behaviour by politicians is partly to blame for the skewed balance of power that exists between the civilian government and military establishment.

The success of Pakista’’s drive of eradicating religious extremism is contingent upon the successful implementation of the National Action Plan, and fortunately, the military appears to be completely committed to it. However, when it comes to civilian leadership, the issue is muddied as there are certain politicians who have links with banned organisations, and sieving them from the lot that does not has proved to be a difficult affair. Underlying all of this is a lack of political will on the part of the civilian leadership, and while the ruling party has been quick to give Rangers powers in Sindh to carry out operation against militant wings of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Pakistan People’s Party, it has been reluctant to do the same in southern Punjab, where proscribed organisations are known to have considerable presence.

Hence, failures of civilian leadership coupled with a well-organised military establishment has created an atmosphere in which the civilian leadership has to constantly acquiesce to the demands of the military. After all, if the civilian leadership is competent enough and takes charge of all issues confronting the country, then the basis of justifying military dominance in civilian affairs is lost. However, for this to happen, investment in civilian institutions is required so that they can develop the capacity to function well. For instance, the structural issues in the the police force ranging from untrained and ill-equipped police officers to the nexus between politicians and police centred around corruption and nepotism have vitiated their functioning, and made them ineffective in providing security to the citizens. This is the reason why the army has to be called in situations where these shortcomings of the police render it useless in addressing serious security threats.

It is time that Pakistan develop strong civilian institutions so that it can be a democratic country in spirit that delivers what it promises to its citizens. *