The my man syndrome
By Mir Adnan Aziz

The year 2013 has seen and shall see a number of powerful figures pass, some grudgingly, into the realm of unavoidable retirement. Finding replacements for pivotal slots is never an easy task, more so when the only deciding factor is unflinching loyalty to the one making the choice. This my man syndrome’ has been the hallmark of our governance rather than the untried yet fool-proof method of merit.

In the Gen Musharraf years, we saw the army bear the brunt of this convoluted yet addictive mindset. To perpetuate his power, Musharraf elevated officers on family, ethnic and personal ties. Artillery, his military arm, saw a surge in senior positions totally disproportionate with Infantry and other arms. More so, is servile submission to Washington – akss of death –ruined the very character and image of the institution whose uniform was a second skin to him. Nowhere is this reality more starkly felt than within the rank and file of the Pakistan Army.

Granted a reprieve by Musharraf’s NRO, Zardari tried to neutralise the army’s influence in civilian matters. This is a noble thought for a democracy that is vying for the betterment of the country. Ironically, Zardari was dictated by Washington and its allies, once an ardent Msharraf fan club. To achieve this end we saw the notification to put ISI under civilian control, Memogate and the issuance of visas to CIA spooks by our ‘American’ ambassador in Washington. Conditions in the original Lugar Bill would have Washington control the promotion of our senior military officers.

Ironically, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif too is besotted with his belief to dilute the army’s control. His last tenure saw him obsessed with doing away with anybody he envisaged a potential threat. General Jehangir Karamat chose to resign when his idea of forming a National Security Councilwas perceived a threat. The Supreme Court was stormed, Chief Justice Sajjad Shah was ‘deposed’, divisions within the SC judges were manoeuvred and both the slots were given to individuals deemed to be, if nothing else, loyal to the throne.

General Musharraf too was a by-product of this mindset; how that eventually played out is history, maybe tailor-made for just one pupil – Nawaz Sharif. Yet the recent election of President Mamnoon poved Mian Sahib a poor one. Stalwarts within the PML-N say Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Sardar Attaullah Mengal and Senator Sartaj Aziz were front-runners. The first two lost to the imperative ‘my man’ standard, Sartaj Aziz on playing it safe after the Musharraf take-over. Manhandled by police and sitting on a footpath outside the court where a deposed Nawaz Sharif’s trial was being held was ultimately President Mamnoon’s coup de grace for the other presidential contenders.

What could be the mother of all decisions than appointing the new chief of army staff? General Kayani, in his six years, managed to inculcate professionalism and merit-based promotions in the army; six long years to do away with the disastrous servile, family-and-friend affair that Musharraf had made of the institution. In a speech just before the May election, General Kayani said a ‘bad democracy was better than a dictatorship’; a debatable premise given the conduct of our democracies, masters at exacting much more than revenge.

This politically hands off transformation of the army as an institution is lauded across the political divide. The PML-N is vocal in its praise, however, the PM’s retention of the defence and foreign portfolios, wanting to bring cantonments under civilian control and prevalent murmurings that he plans to nominate a navy/air force officer as the chairman joint staff committee (CJSC), epitomise the politicos’ inherent suspicions about the men in khaki. The defence minister has to chair the defence committee of the cabinet, (DCC) an apex political body to oversee everything relating to defence policy and national security. With PM Nawaz Sharif’s numerous responsibilities and foreign forays, one wonders the efficacy of an extremely important yet headless body.

The CJSC position, dubbed a ceremonial one, heads a military body comprising all three (army, navy and air force) chiefs of staff. The National Command Authority (NCA) oversees the command and control structure for our strategic (nuclear and missile) programmes. The Strategic Plans Division (SPD), Secretariat of the NCA, is housed in the HQ Joint Staff Committee. Given the hostile focus on our strategic assets, wanting to rotate it to the air force or navy may be reckoned a step at diluting the army’s control but shall prove detrimental to the extremely sensitive workings regarding our strategic assets.

The replacement of Gen Wynne shall act as a preamble for things to come.It will also indicate if PM Nawaz Sharif realises his mantra of disengaging (an already disengaged) army from politics. These are, as have perpetually been, testing times and a forerunner for the future. We had yet another series of tragic attacks in Peshawar adding to the already foreboding feeling of living in a dystopia. If this was not enough, we have had repeated border skirmishes with India andAfghanistan.

It is said that Shahbaz Sharif and Chaudhry Nisar were instrumental in elevating Gen Musharraf on the premise that he lacked following within the army. Pakistan is still paying for that naiveté. This makes it all the more imperative that appointments of CJSC and COAS should beon an absolute standard of merit-based professionalism.

As October sets in, the crunching price hike has set the pace for things to come. If, in making key appointments, national interest takes a back seat to the unipolar ‘my man syndrome’ yet again, one eerily has “a feeling of autumn coming to last a million years; there would be no spring”.

The writer is a freelance contributor. Email: miradnanaziz@gmail.com