Inside view: It’s a new normal in Pakistan

Following a day of high drama and hostile retaliation by the country’s civilian and military leadership, sanity seems to have finally prevailed in Pakistan.

At least for now. The rumours of a possible military coup have seemingly been averted.

If you were wondering how the last 24 hours came to be as riveting as the headlines suggested, you’d perhaps find some clarification in the media frenzy that was whipped up by the new players in Pakistani politics — ubiquitous news channels, hyper-imaginative TV anchors and social media. It came as no surprise that the military leadership reacted strongly after the prime minister sacked the defence secretary on Wednesday (a retired lieutenant general considered close to Army Chief General Kayani) for gross misconduct and illegal action. It also didn’t take long for Pakistanis to wonder if yet another coup was imminent. But the presence of a robust judiciary and ironically that very vociferous media seems to have thankfully made such intervention unlikely.

The PPP-led federal government, though, has come to realise that all its opponents are resolute in their conviction to bring it down and oust President Asif Ali Zardari.

Rather than meekly surrender to such a fate, everyone from the prime minister down has decided to put up a brave front and fight. Fuelling this attitude of defiance is the sense that other state institutions have made it all but impossible for the government to do its business. Whether or not that perception is justifiable, it does appear to exist and the institutions in question cannot entirely rid themselves of blame.

As the political situation apparently returned to normal in Pakistan, Zardari left the country on Thursday for what was described as a one-day private visit to Dubai. Last month, President Zardari went to Dubai for medical treatment, triggering rumours that he was either being pushed out by the military or was fleeing a potential coup. Expectedly perhaps, he returned after a few weeks. The president is said to attend a wedding in Dubai and will be back in Pakistan on Friday morning.

The trip seems to have little bearing on the current crisis.
It must be noted that the army, which has ruled Pakistan for much of its six-decade existence, still sees itself as the rightful custodian of the country’s national interests. It should come as no surprise then that not one civilian government has ever been allowed to complete its full term in office ever since Pakistan came into being in 1947.

However, the Zardari government remains determined.