Daily Times

LAHORE: Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani has termed National Security Council (NSC) set up by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf a “failed experiment”, stressing the need for no more experimentation.

Speaking at a book launch ceremony here, he said the country cannot afford any more experiments. The Senate chairman however stressed the need for all state institutions to mull over security threats the country was currently facing. He said a new establishment would emerge as a result of public struggle but added that this establishment would be comprised of middle-class and intellectuals. The idea and inception of the National Security Council – a principal forum that is mandated for considering national security and foreign policy matters with the 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, who argue 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 under the National Security Council Act. Although, the NSC remains to stay as statue on the constitution, the council is not active since 2008, but the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) is reactivated in its place.