Backroom deal ensures second term to General Bajwa
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Pakistan’s National Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed the controversial bill amending the Army Act, for the tenure extension of the army chief. Both the main opposition parties, PML-N and PPP, supported the new legislation despite their reservations.
Although the passage of the bill has come as a sigh of relief to the government, the entire episode has dealt a serious blow to the opposition parties claiming to uphold civilian supremacy.
It looked all sewn up when the government last week announced to present the bill in a hurriedly called session of both houses of the parliament. Initially, the PML-N had declared its unconditional support for the bill. But intense criticism within the ranks and allegations of ‘selling out’ forced the party to press for parliamentary debate before the bill was passed.
The PPP has also taken the same position. The government has accepted the opposition’s demand for the debate that seemed just a formality. There has been widespread speculation about a deal between the security establishment and the opposition parties.
It is extremely hard for the party leaders to convince their supporters that there has not been a backroom deal. The decision to support the bill was apparently taken with the approval of jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of the PML-N, who was released on bail in October last year and allowed to go to London for medical treatment. Many analysts believe that Sharif’s leaving the country and release on bail of former president Asif Ali Zardari is part of the bargain.
Surely, General Bajwa is a professional soldier. But the extension is now being seen as part of a political power game.
Zahid Hussain
This was the first time in the country’s history that the issue of the army chief’s extension, which had previously been accepted as the norm (in many cases, the army chiefs themselves prolonged their stay), became so controversial. The government had announced its decision to extend the services of General Bajwa for another three year term months before his retirement date.
The government said the decision was taken in view of the regional security environment. The security situation may surely be a factor, but there appeared to have been other, perhaps more pressing, political reasons behind the decision.
Myths are often woven around army chiefs in Pakistan. So it was not surprising to see a concerted move to project General Bajwa as a great visionary. The virtues ascribed to him made him appear head and shoulders above his predecessors. There has been a lot of talk about a ‘Bajwa doctrine.’ If one were to go by this so-called doctrine, it would seem that the army chief had a grand vision about everything — from critical political problems to the economy and foreign policy.
General Bajwa has largely been instrumental in building a close relationship with Imran Khan’s government. A fledgling administration certainly needed the establishment’s support that could provide it some breathing space. That has perhaps been the major reason for granting an extension to General Bajwa. Notwithstanding some murmuring, there was no opposition from the political parties.
But the Supreme Court ruling last month asking the government to legislate the terms of the extension to services chief put a spanner in the executive order. A three-member bench led by the then chief justice gave six months to the parliament to streamline the law. The ruling also put pressure on General Bajwa as he was granted only a six-month extension. The bill could not be passed without the support of the opposition that controls the Senate.
Surely, General Bajwa is a professional soldier. But the extension is now being seen as part of a political power game. Added to this, creeping authoritarianism in the country has reinforced a perception of the military’s role in suppressing democratic rights. This legacy does not bode well for an army chief granted a second term in office.
Given the PTI government’s increasing reliance on the military, it is not surprising to see the security establishment becoming more powerful. Perhaps the continuity of the military command gives the government a sense of security.
It is apparent that the army chief is now a part of the ruling diarchy. It is true that every army chief maintains a high public profile, yet General Bajwa has assumed an even greater presence than his recent predecessors.
A second term for the army chief is likely to tilt the balance of power. Indeed, the country requires close cooperation between the civilian government and military leadership. But that should be more institutional than based on personal relationships.
*Zahid Hussain is an award-winning journalist and author. He is a former scholar at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and a visiting fellow at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, and at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC. He is author of “Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam” and “The Scorpion’s Tail: The Relentless Rise of Islamic Militants in Pakistan.” “Frontline Pakistan” was the Wall Street Journal’s book of the year in 2007.
