Without the reformation of the Establishment, there can be no change in Pakistan.

[V. Makarov]

The culprit of the "flawed system" of Pakistan, as discussed by Bilal Khan of Quwa in this post, is the Establishment. The Establishment will block every move that will take them away from the status quo, and they will fight to stay in their comfort zone. The result? The country is stuck in history, unable to move, unable to lead, and unable to assert. Their relationship with the "electables" has led Pakistan into a situation where the civilian institutions have become a liability, and are easily exploited by foreign and local powers.

Senior PDF member Bilal Khan notes: "If we live in a world where the likes of PPP or PML can always "come back" we know something's fundamentally wrong."

Well, the establishment is "passively" involved in the current political fiasco, and the return of the "electables". This is how it works out:

1) Establishment thinks the "electables" are destined to come back to rule Pakistan. Hence, they think it is better to always have a conciliatory attitude with them, and be very forgiving. Therefore, ignore all NAB cases, and pressurize the supreme court into giving unlimited bails, and eventually dropping cases. This allows the establishment to have a bargaining chip in the future, and force them to give incentives to the establishment which involve a variety of favours.

2) Hence, the "electables" survive to see another day, and continue with their everyday feudal politics. Then, they exploit the "flawed system" to collude with foreign powers, to undermine state institutions, judiciary, army and anti corruption bureaucracy, to get an advantageous position.

3) That advantageous position then leads to the "electables" again coming into power, and continue to sustain the exact "flawed system" in which the establishment will keep forgiving them, and they will keep coming into power.

The biggest problem is that, the Establishment is working on the assumption that the "familiar" political parties have somehow earned a right to be always supported in the face of political hardships. The biggest hardship the current "electables" face is in the form of Imran Khan, who has the potential to uproot 70 years of Pakistani politics. But the establishment still wants to sustain the "electables" for the future, which is an abstract which the establishment wants to keep believing in. The result is that, the cycle of "electables" coming to power continues, while the ordinary man is just looking at the flawed system, helpless.

You have already heard the news, that the National Security Council has endorsed the letter in the presence of the three service chiefs. But do you still remember when Establishment pawns, like Shahzain Bugti left the government on flimsy grounds? Or when the Aleem Khan group decided to move towards PDM even when govt. capitulated and agreed to Pervaiz Elahi for the CM spot? It seems they never wanted Buzdar out in the first place. There was something else going on.

However, Imran Khan has forced the establishment to side with him in this political fiasco, especially after the National Security Council meeting. This could be the start of a reformation process of a flawed system. But as history tells us, the establishment cannot side with Imran Khan completely, because if even there is a 0.1% chance that the "electables" come back to power, they will damage all the little fantasies and dreams the establishment has constructed for itself over the last 70 years. If a superpower like the USA can help the establishment distance itself from a powerful civilian leader like Imran Khan, they will be more than happy about it. And the last few days show that they were VERY happy about it.

This is why, without the positive reformation of the Establishment, there can be no big change in Pakistan.

My opinion on how to get out of this very serious political turmoil:

1) Make Moeed Yusuf the Chief Martial Law Administrator.
2) Constitute a Joint Investigation team to analyse the extent of foreign involvement in the no confidence motion.
3) Initiate the procedure of punishment for ALL involved in the conspiracy against the state, even if some politicians try to play the provincial card. (for e.g. Zardari saying that this is a plan against Sindh)
4) Prepare for a national election within 6-8 months.
5) The new government must rewrite the National Security Policy, but this time, the involvement of the establishment in the politics should also be looked at through the lens of national security. The service chiefs, should be answerable to the parliament like how US Army chief testifies in front of the senate.
6) The new government should then start its journey of strengthening its own institutions, and work with regional powers to realize the dream of regional connectivity and geoeconomics.

 

[blain2]

That is an overly simplistic understanding of this so-called "Establishment". You state things like "Establishment thinks the "electables" are destined to come back to rule Pakistan. Hence, they think it is better to always have a conciliatory attitude with them, and be very forgiving."

Why would the Establishment do that? I have stated this in another thread, the Establishment cares about Pakistan first and foremost. This may be lost on many people but the institute that we are discussing here is not wedded to a political party. It is wedded to Pakistan. It is also extremely weary of being brought onto the precipice of a civil war when the political temperatures get too high and it would get asked to put boots on the ground to keep things settled or prevent things from becoming worse on the streets (a red line in the eyes of the Establishment) thus the backchannel advice and pushing all of the political actors to step back.

So the Establishment will do what it always does, which is to tell the political parties to reconcile or reset. The last thing the establishment wants to see itself doing is putting down the political supporters of one party at the orders of another party (which may be ruling at the time). This is a firm no-go after the 1971 debacle.

This establishment is not going to get in the way of a vote of no confidence. That is enshrined in the constitution of Pakistan.
Similarly, last elections, it was one of the fairest elections in the history of Pakistan and the PTI dominated. All that the establishment did was to align with the new government and worked with them. This was seen as partiality by the opposition which resulted in that bakvas about "selected PM" when the opposition knows, yet won't admit, that it lost and lost bad to IK/PTI fair and square. But these sore loser politics are common in Pakistan, nothing will change this except time and some basic decency in politics.

Now the situation is at a point where the incumbent government has not been able to garner sufficient support from its allies, so what is the establishment to do? They are stepping back and letting the process play out.

As far as the letter goes, Pakistan has lodged a formal demarche with the US. The Establishment has supported this step by the sitting government of Pakistan. What more do we expect this establishment to do?

 

[tkmd]

One would expect the establishment to actually think about the future of the nation. What will they do when our economy is completely destroyed by these thieves and they are being confronted by an aggressive confident India, internal economic unrest and a clown show political leadership?

 

[Arsalan345]

The establishment should stay away from politics. It's very easy to pretend that someone else is in charge while they handle everything from behind the scenes. Pakistan is a democratic country that believes in democracy. Either abolish the constitution or allow politicians to make their own decisions. Have we ever heard of interference from the establishment in some other country? Pakistan should stand up. What happened to Erdogan in Turkey? Some freak living in the United States tried to overthrow him. Even the military helped him but half of the Turkish military helped Erdogan. Brave Turkish people came on roads to fight against injustice. This is what happens when an enemy infiltrates your system. The United States is inside our system. Our people are for sale. Pakistan isn't Turkey. People here are not serious. They just want more and more money.

A foreign country interfering in Pakistani politics is a clear sign of weakness. Imran Khan is an honest man. The constitution needs changes. Interference from the establishment has reached a critical point now. It's time for the establishment to think about Pakistan because without Pakistan, there will be no establishment. Pakistan is in deep trouble. India has her eyes set on Pakistan. The establishment should also do a press conference and tell the public everything about that letter. The public wants to know.

 

[SaadH]

One would expect the establishment to actually think about the future of the nation. What will they do when our economy is completely destroyed by these thieves and they are being confronted by an aggressive confident India, internal economic unrest and a clown show political leadership?

Nothing beats plots in DHA, little Johnny studying and interning abroad in the West, passive income rolling in from multiple fast food franchises and for the really lucky ones, cushy and lucrative jobs in Western think tanks and Academia...

The hell with the country, just keep the chaos inside borders and on the periphery bubbling and not do anything to counter these threats for a permanent resolution and dumb awam and compromised politicians will continue to fork out billions each year for shiny toys that are only good for Mar. 23rd parades...

 

[Vapnope]

I love how people blame the establishment (Well they should be blamed) only but shy away from criticizing political parties who continue to buy people when it suits them, side with criminals when there is a need and play into the hands of establishment.

I am gonna say it here out loud that there is no organic political party in Pakistan and hence it would always be like that for decades to come.

You take in MQM, PMLq, select Aamir Liaquat, JT and Aleem khan and then they do what they do best and you act surprised. Isn't it fault in your own thinking and your selection? Also we think common people are simple and fair and they vote people based on merit which is not true. Everyone is busy in buying and selling right from the grassroot level.

If political parties and the people really want to change a thing about Pakistan they should walk away from this politics of electable. They need to say no to king makers and fight their own wars.

 

[flameboard]

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