How to confine military to its constitutional role by Mohammad Imran (PTI US)

The debate about military’s role in foreign and domestic affairs of the country has intensified in the last few weeks. There is obviously a huge trust deficit that exists between the military and political elite.  While our political leaders consider the military leadership to be arrogant, the military views politicians to be too corrupt and incompetent to handle national affairs in an effective manner. In my view the reason for this predicament is our deeply flawed election process that produces a sub-standard leadership that results in a ineffective, corrupt and dysfunctional government which fails to live up to the aspirations of people resulting in frustration and chaos. This increases sense of insecurity in the government which in turn tries to make every institution i.e. media, judiciary subservient to its wishes. The chaos deepens and thus a void is created which is filled by military directly or in-directly. This cycle continues.
If elections are conducted based on 40% fake votes and behind the scene wheeling and dealing (i.e. NROs) with foreign powers, we will never be able to get out of this vicious cycle. So the only solution is to improve the election process. We should have a credible and independent election commission which is allowed to function without any interference and pressure by the government.  If the election process results in a credible and honest leadership, I am sure military will have no choice but to let that leader run the affairs without any interference.
We can draw a parallel with Turkey in this regard. Turkey also has a history of military coups and blatant interference in the affairs of the state. However, in recent times we have observed a change in the situation. Mr.Erdogan is a popularly elected leader who is not in good books of its military but due to the fact that he is popularly elected with an impeccable record, military has no choice but to respect his authority and confine itself to constitutional role. The result is a country with the biggest economy in the Muslim world, an important and well regarded player on the regional and global stage and a success story all around.
In Pakistan’s political landscape, the only person and only party that is capable of emulating Turkish model is Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lead by Imran Khan. In fact Imran Khan openly regards Mr. Erdogan as a role model. Imran’s track record speaks for it self. Therefore, if elections are conducted in a fair and transparent manner under an independent election commission, there is no doubt in my mind that PTI led by Imran Khan can mimic success of AK party under Mr. Erdogan.
Pakistan military is a professional entity and I am sure they will have no qualms in letting an honest and sincere leadership run the domestic and foreign policy of Pakistan. They will have no reason to doubt that a popularly elected government comprising honest individuals will compromise Pakistan’s interests. By doing so they will concentrate more on their professional affairs without any distractions. After all we live in a tough neighborhood and a strong & professional army is our need.
No doubt, we, the Pakistanis, are living in tough times but I have no doubt our best days lie ahead if we make the right decisions now.


Mohammad Imran  
Information secretary
PTI- Pennsylvania chapter, USA