Monday, January 16, 2012

PML-N gravely concerned over army’s public response

By Tanveer Ahmed

ISLAMABAD: Publicly at odds with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government, the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in closed-door meetings thinks the public response of army over Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s statement over the replies of armed forces’ leadership to be a matter of “blatant concern”.

It was not an appropriate step to go public over the prime minister’s statement by issuing a press release to show the concern of Army, the PML-N leadership believed when they held the party’s Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Islamabad few days back. During the closed-door meeting of its CWC, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif was the first to take up this issue when he expressed his concern over the Army’s press release against the statement of the prime inister given to a Chinese newspaper, Daily Times learnt through reliable sources.

Army high command reacted strongly some days back when Inter-Services Public Relation (ISPR) issued a strongly-worded statement by terming the interview of the prime minister in which he dubbed the replies of COAS and DG ISI submitted in Supreme Court unconstitutional and illegal, which later triggered a storm in the country with even Gilani going a step forward to sack the Defence Secretary Lt Gen (r) Naeem Khalid Lodhi for bypassing the competent authority to file the replies of army top brass in the court over the memo case.

According to sources, PML-N leadership, apart from the discussing the political situation in the country, also took up the issue of memo case with special reference to Army’s public reaction to Gilani’s statement, and believed that Army didn’t follow the required Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to express their concern, if they had any against the statement of the chief executive of the country.

Though, Nawaz Sharif showed his concern over the public response of the Army, there was also a broader consensus in the ranks of the party that such public response was of a serious nature.

“If the prime minister didn’t follow the right forum to express his apprehensions, the Army has also no right to go public in such a way over any step or statement of the civilian government”, the sources confided to this scribe.

The party also expressed serious concern over the wording of the ISPR, which mentioned serious ramifications with potentially grievous consequences, as it believed such kind of words were objectionable and posed more serious concern when made public. The party noted that Army was not a political institution that should go public in such a way to communicate its concerns, as there was a mechanism available to convey its apprehensions to the government quietly. “They have got no right to express themselves publicly in such a way and instead should have adopted the proper channel in this regard”, the party thought.

However, there was also a broader feeling in the ranks of the party leadership during the meeting that fault also lied with the government, which had given the opportunity to the armed forces to take their concerns to the public, as when it indulged itself in bypassing the rules of business, the other state institutions could easily violate the rules of business.

For instance, party cadres noted that the statement of the prime minister that he had requested the COAS and the DG ISI to take extension in their services was a mockery of the civilian authority, but to appease the army leadership, Gilani went for making such statements despite the fact that he had the discretionary powers to give extension, if he believed it to be needed.

 

Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk

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