Most countries have an army. In Pakistan, it’s the army that has a country
Photo by Muhammad Masood on Unsplash
Almost unnoticed, Pakistan has flipped into military rule.
There are no tanks on the streets and two civilians remain in the offices of president and prime minister.
Pakistan’s parliament appears to be functional, or at least as much as it ever is. On November 12, the lower house passed a constitutional amendment to expand the powers of the army chief and grant him lifelong legal immunity.
One might wonder what Field Marshal Asim Munir needs legal immunity for, but I guess it’s for the usual purposes – to prevent prosecution should he order anything unconstitutional.
Why he would need to order anything unconstitutional boggles the mind unless it’s because he’s thinking ahead and considering the unpredictability of man.
Parliament also limited the independence of the supreme court, an act that critics have been calling a “funeral for democracy”.
Do they mean democracy was already dead in Pakistan and is only now being buried?
Certainly, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif serves because the Field Marshal wants it that way. So does President Asif Zardari.
As they say, most countries have an army. In Pakistan, it is the army that has a country.
