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Pak government silent on army chief's proposal

Pakistani Army chief General Jehangir Karamat's proposal to set up a national security council to associate the armed forces with the country's governance has evoked varying reactions.

Though the Opposition has by and large welcomed the proposal, some intellectuals have said the army should not interfere in politics.

But most have seen the proposal as a warning from the defence establishment to the government to get its act together.

Majid Nizami, chief editor of the daily newspapers Nawai Waqat and The Nation, opposed the proposal saying there should be no interference by the armed forces in government and politics.

He pointed out that the country was back on the rails of democracy after great hardships and it must not forget the lessons drawn from the martial law regimes of the late Field Marshal Ayub Khan and General Zia-ul Haq.

Nizami admitted that politicians had destroyed the country instead of rebuilding it, but held the army equally responsible for the present mess.

General Karamat had a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief and his younger brother Shahbaz Sharief in Murree yesterday, apparently to discuss the proposal. There was no official comment.

The only government leader who has commented on the proposal is Ellahi Baksh Soomro, speaker of the National Assembly. And he too spoke in his personal capacity.

Welcoming the proposal, he said there was no threat of dissolution of the provincial assemblies.

He said General Karamat was a balanced man and he had not commented against any person. In a democratic country, everybody has the right to give his opinion, Soomro said.

The speaker said it was wrong to presume the army was demanding a share in power. He ruled out the possibility of the imposition of martial law in the country.

UNI

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