Civil-Military Relationships in Pakistan

Civil-Military Relationships in Pakistan

Google images

Great nations balance their imbalanced institutions first to lead the world. America has done the same. So, it is the superpower today. Pakistan too dreamed to be the leader of the Muslim world. And no doubt, being one and only nuclear weapon country among the Muslim countries, it can do so. But its political instability due to its institutional imbalance barred it to fulfill its dream. Since its independence, military and bureaucracy have remained the most powerful institutions of this country due to their experience of government in British India. And political parties did not find any chance to produce mature and capable leadership to steer the country in the course of development. So, civil-military clashes became part of Pakistan history. 

The day of 6th September is being heralded as the start of ideal relations between the civilian and military leaders. In fact, it is a good gesture for the welfare of the country. It is the time to learn from the history which shows that civil-military relations have remained harsh due to the two reasons. First, the trust deficit between these prestigious institutes. Although, policy-making and implementation is the task of civilian government but it does not mean that the stakeholder of the security of the country (military) does not have any say in the formulation of policymaking. The perception of military opinion in the formulation of foreign policy as the intervention in civilian affairs by the political leaders shows the inflexible attitude towards institutional balance. Secondly, the weak party system and immature leadership. National interests have never been the agenda for the civilian government. It always fulfilled its own interests and supervised corruption and mismanaged the national resources which forced the military to intervene in the political affairs of the country.

Now, its time to fix up previous mistakes and not repeat in the future for the real development of the country. The mutual confidence-building measures between the triad(civil, military and judicial institutions), especially in civil-military leadership, is necessary. Both these institution work together in all security and foreign policy-making issues and benefit from each other's experience. Secondly, the civilian government should set its house in order and prefer national interests on the personal benefits of its own people. Government is for the welfare of the whole people of its country not for the protection of the family members of the leaders and political parties. The only strong and capable leadership can maintain balance among government institutions and enjoy power in their subjects.

Hence, balance in the government institutions is the first thing which makes the country great. Although, it is a very difficult job and, sometimes, well-developed countries cannot handle it effectively but it is not impossible. If all institutions, within their limits, exercise their power and civilian government make their interaction flexible in such a way that all important institutions work together to maximize the chance of acquiring national interests, it will, obviously, build trust among the institutions which provide the basis of good governance.