Roving Periscope: Nawaz supporter and Ex-PM Abbasi warns of a military coup in Pakistan

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said the Pakistan Army staged coups in the past in less severe circumstances, while the current political and economic crises are so critical that they may attract a military takeover anytime.

The media reported on Monday that Abbasi, a senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), told Dawn News that martial law always remained a possibility if the “system” failed or when there was a conflict between institutions and the political leadership was unable to find a way forward.

“Pakistan has had many long periods of martial law in very similar situations,” he said, adding, “In fact, I would say Pakistan has never witnessed a (more) severe economic and political situation before. In much less severe circumstances the military has taken over.”

The former PM warned of anarchy if friction within the society and institutions became too deep, and said such a situation could also see the army step in.

“It has happened in many countries when the political and constitutional system fails, extra-constitutional (measures) take place,” he added.

He, however, expressed the hope the Pakistani Army is not yet considering the option of imposing martial law. If the army takes over, it would only worsen the situation.

“A political solution is the only viable way forward,” Abbasi said, adding, “Every political party today has been in the government for at least 12 months but they have not delivered so far. It’s a really deep-rooted crisis. The visible phase is the worsening economic crisis.”

“There is also the constitutional and institutional failure, political and judicial system failure, and the failure on the part of the military establishment,” he lamented.

Abbasi said former PMs Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif, and Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, whom he called the three important players in the game, should initiate a dialogue.

“We need to start from the leadership, and then everything will flow from there,” he said, adding the only way forward would be for sanity to prevail and for the country’s interests to supersede personal agendas.

On whether the military should play an arbitrary role to resolve the political impasse, Abbasi said there was no bar on institutional heads sitting down and trying to work out a solution for the country.

“In fact, it’s a responsibility (of theirs),” he said, adding, “We have an extraordinary situation. We need to look for an extraordinary solution. There is no other solution. In most democracies, and even in Pakistan, elections did always provide the solution but unfortunately this time they won’t.”

Abbasi brushed aside the suggestion of friendly countries like the US and the UK to mediate the way they did during the Musharraf era.

“Our friendly countries definitely see what is happening,” he said, adding, “They will play their role, but they are perhaps behind the scenes. They use their influence but those are only to nudge us in the right direction and find a solution.”

The former PM emphasized that solutions would have to come from within Pakistan, but wondered how it could be done if the leadership did not understand and recognize the extent of the problem.

“It’s a leadership crisis today. If you have elections today, you can have one party win every seat in the country but will they be able to handle the issues? I don’t think so because the system doesn’t have the capacity to find a solution,” he remarked.

Abbasi said if dialogues seemed to benefit only one political party, they would defeat their purpose.

He lamented that the political discourse in Pakistan has degenerated into a blame game, and abusing each other, which he called a toxic environment.

“Our Parliament does not discuss national issues. Provincial assemblies are going the same way. Dialogue in media is all about abusing each other,” the former PM said.

Abbasi also rued the current state of the economy, saying the country could not interact with the world merely by claiming to be a nuclear power.

“Yes, we have achieved nuclear deterrence but it cannot be viewed as a menace to the world. We need to recognize that the security situation we have in the country does not have solutions either. If you are a weak economy, your capacity to be a state that has nuclear deterrence comes under stress,” he added.

Asked about his remedy for the crisis, the PML-N leader said Pakistan must acknowledge its own situation in the world, especially with regard to its expectations from the world and vice versa. “This is what we need to address and articulate clearly,” he said.

“When the situation is irrational, it is difficult to provide solutions and talk of a way forward. This is where we are today. It has become a very irrational situation,” he added.