Pakistan: Political fortunes of Outgoing Army Chief looks bleak after ‘catharsis’ remark
Outgoing Pakistan’s Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s farewell speech regarding the ‘catharsis’ has ensured that he lost all hope for reinventing the wheel of his political fortunes, according to think tank Policy Research Group (POREG) POREG is an independent enterprise to look at today and tomorrow Asia and offers an Asian perspective.
On November 23, Bajwa in his farewell speech said that the army had initiated its process of “catharsis” and expected that political parties would follow suit as well and reflect on their behaviour. “This is the reality that there have been mistakes from every institution, including political parties and civil society,” according to Pakistani media website, Dawn. The COAS said that lessons should be learned from such mistakes so the nation could move forward.
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The think tank doubted if the ‘catharsis’ that Bajwa said the army had begun and wanted the civilians also to follow would be taken seriously. And notably, he was not the first Chief to play political games, and even he will be not the last one. Bajwa’s catharsis remark, at one point, stops all the door of hopes of reinventing the wheel of his political fortunes, while this statement also gives a setback to former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran khan. As Khan had publically pointed his guns at the army. With frustration writ large on his face, he has been maligning the Khakis. Carried away by emotions, and by the response to his Long March to the capital, he has been committing the blasphemy of levelling accusations against Bajwa.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan was not the first Prime Minister to turn against the Generals. There is a long list of people, who are against the Khakis during their tenure as PM, according to think tank. From the tone and tenor of Bajwa’s speech, it is clear that he is seething with anger. Observing a restraint that is unusual for a Pakistani General, he has spoken of red lines and set at rest any lingering doubts about his retirement. Much behind-the-scenes activity preceded Bajwa speak, no doubt. Even Pakistan President Arif Alvi, who is a member of Imran Khan’s party, is understood to have chipped in though primarily to ensure his own survival.
A fall-out of these developments is that Shahbaz Sharif Government will hold out against Imran Khan-led high-decibel movement for early elections. It may even proceed against him. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has already indicated such a possibility. Speaking in the National Assembly (Parliament) on Nov 22, he stated that the government would “deal with” Khan once the drill of appointing the new army chief is completed, the think tank reported. Undoubtedly, the Pakistan army has its ‘favourites’ in all political parties, many of whom have climbed the ladder to achieve political power, only to try to kick that ladder at some stage. The army cannot afford to wash its hands off a political class that it has nurtured and that is now abjectly dependent upon it. There is no force other than the army to quell and manage the dog fight this class engages in.
The Pakistani army’s role in domestic and foreign affairs cannot be reversed. Pakistan’s army still takes decisions on issues important to the US, like the nuclear programme, and counter-terrorism. The army has perpetuated what is no more than a ‘hybrid democracy’ in Pakistan, as some American experts like Lisa Curtis aver. A politically toothless army is a pipedream even in the near term. Because the successors of Gen Bajwa in the Islamised Army may dump his catharsis! (ANI)
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