OPINION: Politics, As Well As Economy, Of Pakistan In Army's Grip

Elections scheduled in Pakistan few months later have come under cloud as the army has surreptitiously succeeded in controlling the political system and economic policy as well. The planning of the elections has been designed in the fashion proposed by the army. Even the appointment of interim Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar, a Pashtun from Balochistan has also been on the direction of the army. It is widely known that Kakar was responsible for launching a new political party Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) in 2015 with the support of the army.

All the powers for policy making have been vested in the interim Prime Minister keeping in view the deteriorating economic conditions of the country, and here the army can play a major role to goad Anwar ul Haq Kakar comfortably. Senator Anwar ul Haq Kakar was chosen as the caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan after the National Assembly was dissolved by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Aug 9, 2023.

In his farewell speech, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif candidly accepted that his government could not have run without the support of the powerful army. While giving an interview with a private news channel in Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif said that no government of Pakistan can run without the cooperation of the army. When Imran Khan became the Prime Minister, he had the support of the army, although later Imran made some allegations. It is an admitted fact that even when there was an elected government, the Pakistan army played an important role from behind the scenes.

Whether the elections in Pakistan will be held on a stipulated date or not is a big question mark. The general elections are scheduled to be held in Pakistan less than 90 days after the dissolution of the National Assembly, which was prematurely dissolved on August 10, 2023 by President Arif Alvi on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

This means that the election must be held no later than November 8, 2023. But after the approval of the results of the 2023 digital census by the Council of Common Interest (CCI) headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on August 5, 2023, elections may be delayed for several months due to new delimitations becoming necessary.

The 336 members of the National Assembly consist of 266 general seats elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies, 60 seats reserved for women elected by proportional representation based on the number of general seats won by each party in each province, and ten seats reserved for non-Muslims elected through proportional representation based on the number of overall general seats won by each party.

Intriguingly, the PTI-led government had earlier passed a bill that required the next general elections to be held using EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines). This was aimed at bringing an end to the allegations of rigging that plagued previous elections in Pakistan, but the opposition's concern was that it would make it extremely easy for PTI to rig the elections in its favour through security loopholes.

In 2022 when the PTI-led government was ousted through a successful vote of no-confidence in the National Assembly, the 11 opposition parties, some of them being long-time rivals, formed a new government and passed the Elections Amendment Bill, which nullified the proposed use of EVMs in the general elections. Hence, EVMs will not be used in the next general elections.

Shehbaz Sharif has boldly declared that there was no restriction on the PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif's right to contest the election as he had completed his five-year disqualification period. "As far as Nawaz Sharif is concerned, the law is in the field now under which the maximum disqualification period is five years. There is no restriction on Nawaz Sharif as he has completed his five-year disqualification."

The new law promulgated by parliament had overwritten the previous law, the PM said, while referring to an amendment to the Elections Act, 2017, passed by the parliament earlier this year, limiting the disqualification of lawmakers to five years with retrospective effect. But in Shehbaz's statement, there is still a slip between cup and lip.

Pakistan army, instead of taking confrontation with the political establishment, systematically managed to control economic interests. Chief of the Army Staff General Asim Munir, along with former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, attending the high-level meetings with foreign dignitaries, indicate the importance of the army in political and economic affairs.

So much so that the caretaker government of Punjab signed a joint venture agreement on March 8 to hand over at least 45,267 acres of land in three districts, Bhakkar, Khushab, and Sahiwal to the Pakistan Army for 'Corporate Agriculture Farming'.

According to informed sources, the Joint Venture has been signed between the military, the Punjab government, and private firms dealing with corporate farming. As per the agreement, at least 40 per cent of the revenue generated from the cultivation will go to the Punjab government, 20 percent will be spent on modern research and development in the agriculture sector, while the remaining will be used for the succeeding crops and expansion of the project.

Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan's economy because nearly 60 percent of Pakistan's income is directly related to agriculture. Over 60 percent of the country's population lives in villages. Due to this, it can be easily guessed why agriculture, the backbone of Pakistan's economy, has been systematically being taken over by its army.

The Pakistan Army's economic interests have expanded and they want more. The army's lust for money increased when it got involved in the projects such as the construction and expansion of the Karakoram highway, Cleaning of Canals, WAPDA duties, security of the election, and other sectors.

In July 2023 the civil-military-run Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) approved the hiring of consultants to reduce shareholdings of Pakistan and Canada's Barrick Gold equally in favour of Saudi Arabia in the Reko Diq gold and copper mine project. Former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the apex committee meeting which was also attended by Chief of the Army Staff General Asim Munir.

The SIFC has given a December 25, 2023 deadline for concluding the transaction, including the signing of bidding documents, according to the Ministry of Energy officials. The SIFC also decided that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) - the military's media wing would jointly build the positive narrative for the work being done by the council.

(R C Ganjoo is a senior journalist and columnist having more than 30 years experience of covering issues concerning national security, particularly Kashmir. He has worked with several prominent media groups and his articles have been published in many national and international publications.)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of OneIndia and OneIndia does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.