Largely a tussle between Military and political elite

The military got its dominating role as an institution soon after the independence because Pakistan took the shape of a security state rather than a welfare state. The reasons were the bitter dispute of Kashmir with India, our geostrategic position in the region and many other factors that followed in later years. Pakistan was surrounded by major giants like USSR, China, and India, with America being a superpower had a special interest in these countries and in the region as a whole. With partition, it was decided to divide resources according to a specific formula and with that British-Indian Army was also divided. Unlike civilian authority, the employees of which were overwhelmingly Hindu, the major chunk of Army consisted of Muslims.

This provided the Army with a solid basis compared to the Civilian authority, which was in disarray right from the start.

The 1948 War over Kashmir and unresolved issue of Kashmir in coming years strengthened the already powerful Military. On the opposite side, the dismal state of civilian authority further worsened with the death of Quaid-e-Azam and the assassination of Khan Ali Liaqat Khan because of the mediocre leadership that Pakistan had after these two leaders. Pakistan, due to this mediocre leadership, was without any constitution for almost a decade, severely weakening the already weakened position of politicians. Some of the reasons for their weakness were the non-existence of any properly functional political party and to add with that was the infighting in already existed political parties and especially in Muslim League, which was divided into factions.

In 1958, President Sikandar Mirza dissolved the political government and nominated General Ayub Khan as the chief martial law administrator, who soon dismissed the president as well and appointed himself the president. This military rule continued for a more than a decade which uprooted the fragmented political structure. The Civil War in East Pakistan proved to be a setback for the military but soon it regained its pride and ousted the elected government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (Election was controversial) in 1977. General Zia Ul Haq ruled for ten years and under his government elections were held on non-party basis, thus further aggravating the dismal situation of civilian authority. After his death, successive civilian governments were more of a showpiece than the having real power or authority.

Nawaz Sharif’s tussle with military led to another coup in 1998, with Musharraf taking over the country. After Musharraf, PPP was running the show from the front but with the backing of all-powerful Army otherwise, they would not be able to do. The completion of five years tenure by the Zardari Government and smooth transfer of power to the next government can be called a milestone in the history of Pakistan. However, APS attack, the formation of military courts and apex committees knocked down the perception that civilian authority is becoming assertive. In Pakistan, Military has an almost unparalleled role when it comes to defense, foreign relations, nuclear program and other matters of national security.

Though both the military and political authorities are responsible for this unfortunate situation. The political leaders are more responsible because military makes inroads when the country is suffering from political turmoil. Poor track record and corruption of our political elite can largely be called as responsible for what’s going on in this regard. The example of Turkey is in front of us; there civilian authority of President Erdogan is now calling the shots because of their efforts for the economic development of the country.