New LFO Ultra

Whilst extending my heartfelt gratitude to His Highness (HH) General Pervez Musharraf for delivering the genuine democracy to this unfortunate nation of ours, I wholeheartedly condemn those traitors who refuse to tender unqualified submission to him.

Ask yourself: Has HH Musharraf not fulfilled all of his grand promises of restoring democracy in the country? That too - the true one. Just a cursory glance on the chain of events since March 2002, when HH embarked upon his canvassing campaign, leaves one truly enthralled with pleasure and pride. We start with a flashback from that famous referendum.

To put it in perspective, what else, if not the sheer greatness of HH Musharraf that despite being backed by countless uniformed aides, equipped with the PCO and facilitated by a battery of legal experts like Pirzadas -- in a nutshell, no compulsion of any “tukallaff” (formality) – His Highness still considered an electoral approval imperative, for his own moral standing as well as for the deep-rooted democratic traditions of Pak Army. It must be staunch egalitarian beliefs of His Highness that compliant judiciary and thoroughly tamed bureaucracy notwithstanding HH undertook that much pain.

Therefore, we ought to be immensely grateful, extremely honoured that HH provided us an opportunity to explicitly acknowledge his services and offered us a possibility to confirm that it was only due to his godly presence, competent leadership, grand visions, political dexterity that 142 million Pakistanis along with poor Pakistan itself were still there. To be honest, 98 % endorsement acquired in the referendum -- furnished by the Election Commission, under the direct supervision of a recently retired chief justice and four serving High Court judges -- was the least HH deserved, the one who has transformed this wretched nation into a mighty superpower.

Unbelievable, there are plenty of dullards around who -- instead of appreciating his humility that he got content with only 98 % approval and mere 71 % turnout -- question the authenticity of the results and the rationality of that remarkable referendum. Ostensibly, these morons don’t realize that HH could conveniently manage even 198% of the national strength, if he only wanted to. Who could stop him? But he didn’t. What more could HH do for the democracy?

Obviously, these unthankful creatures are incapable to recognize that the heaviest mandate of our chequered political history, conferred upon HH by the masses (with or without their actual participation) has now ushered Pakistan into a golden age of eternal prosperity and sustainable democracy.

Consider. The prime minister himself under investigation of the NAB, Home minister on the ECL, defense minister a man of impeccable personal integrity and political principles, a proclaimed absconder as a governor, could it be better? Definitely not! The magnificent choice of cabinet ministers, the intellectual, political and professional honesty, being displayed by the like-minded and patriots, both at individual and collective level, is unique even by Pakistani standards.

Well, past the most transparent and fair elections of Pakistan’s dreadful electoral history, it is now up to the elected representatives to let it function. Of course, as HH recently ordered, it was the responsibility of the ruling coalition to convince the opposition on every contentious issue such as the LFO. And opposition’s duty to obediently dance to the tunes of the patriots.

Actually, with every passing day, I am getting more and more convinced of General Musharraf’s infallibility, political acumen and analytical prowess. For instance, opposition’s gratuitous hullabaloo over the supremacy of the parliament have once again unambiguously corroborated His Highness’s prophetic assertion that democracy doesn’t fit in our peculiar circumstances. Opposition’s unbecoming behaviour in the parliament bears testimony to the fact that Pakistan is better helped under totalitarian regimes.


Imagine, even after six months the elected representatives have not succeeded in creating conducive environment for the inauguration address of the army Chief. Country’s most disciplined force at the mercy of an unruly lot – a sheer tragedy. Shame on the unscrupulous, uncivilized MNAs and senators who want to deny HH unlimited interaction with military commanders, and thereby intend to jeopardize the impregnable defense of the country.

There is no doubt that the LFO has become an irrevocable part of the Constitution. Ball is in the court of politicians. Take it or leave it. But, it should be clear to them that the LFO will not be tabled in the parliament for approval – it will be bulldozed through. Hell with institutions and national cohesion. Interest of an individual [at the top of military hierarchy] must be first and foremost concern for all of us.

Mr. President, the current batch of parliamentarians has failed the test - pathetically. Send all of them home packing. Let’s start from the start. This time, we have got to introduce a set of comprehensive reforms. Therefore, for overhauling the corrupt, incompetent political structure of the country, to streamline the functioning of the official machinery, and not the least for civilizing the parliament, we beg you to impose an enhanced version of the LFO. New and Ultra. Some of the suggestions in that regard are as follows:

1. The overwhelmingly yes vote HH mustered last year must be regarded as an authorization for his life-time presidency -- not just for 5 years, as His Highness humbly suggested. In fact, why not for the continuity sake, this huge endorsement of his policies, massive appreciation of his performance, should be equated as a demand for crowning His Highness as the Emperor of Pakistan. Shehanshah Pervez Musharraf –e-Azam.

2. In spite of the accumulated presidential authority to appoint services chiefs, judges of superior courts, NAB chief and Chief Election Commissioner, sitting atop the supra-constitutional National Security Council, Mr. Musharraf steadfastly refuses to doff his uniform. It clearly illustrates that the power of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) surpasses all other posts put together. Therefore, political stability is not possible sans merging the post of president and that of the army chief. The posts of President and COAS should be fused into one. The COAS should automatically/instantly become the head of the state on his promotion and remain in office till Zia-ed. In the same fashion, provincial governorship should be a prerogative meant solely for the armed forces.

3. The renowned 58-2(b) needs to be upgraded. Dismissal of parliaments by Chief of Army Staff draws not only unwarranted flack from abroad but also result in collateral damage of axing those who have been slavishly obeying orders of the concerned quarters. Getting these like-minded nalaiks re-elected is yet another problem. A better option would be to empower the COAS to revoke membership of insubordinate legislatures individually. It implies, COAS enjoying an overlapping authority to dismiss an individual or group of the member(s) of parliament, the prime minister, the cabinet or packing up of entire enterprise, as and when HH deems fit.

4. The constitutional requirement of inauguration of the parliament by President’s address to a joint session is disparaging to the rank of a four-star general. It must be done away with, immediately. Instead of the existing old-fashioned custom the elected representatives should be required to line up outside the Army house for getting their membership registered and parliament inaugurated after every bout of elections and thereafter once a year. Failure to this ritual should be tantamount to resignation from the assembly of the said member(s).

5. In addition to the technocrats’ seats, 35 % of seats in the national assembly should be reserved for senior serving military officers and further 25 % seats should be kept aside for the retired military personnel.

6. Instead of plain graduation, graduation from the PMA should be made mandatory for contesting elections to provincial assemblies upwards. Likewise, partly to preserve the unity of command and partly to reward the services of junior officers, beside accommodating superseded officers (2nd Lt – Colonel), district governments should be exclusively retained for them.

7. It would be profoundly unjust to make military officials bear expenses of their election drives on their own. Meager dividends of military career cannot be depleted for such a nuisance. In supreme national interest, taxpayers must shoulder these fiscal obligations. Thus the modus operandi adopted for the presidential referendum needs to be translated into a permanent constitutional feature for all aspiring soldiers. Sustainable democracy doesn’t come cheap anyway.

8. For bringing parliamentary discipline on par with the formation commanders’ conference and civilizing the rowdy civilians, a bout of drilling at some regimental center must be made mandatory for all elected legislators before oath taking.

9. Although, judicial courts have hitherto never dared to decide any case against the standing recommendations of the GHQ, a befitting step would be to appoint a serving three star general to head the judiciary. The Chief Justice of Pakistan Supreme Court in smart starched army uniform with plenty of medals on his chest would not only look much more impressing than the conventional old, frail judges but will also greatly contribute to Pakistan’s international eminence. Equally pertinent detail to keep in mind is that sitting civilian prime ministers had been summoned to the Supreme Court in past and reprimanded, at times sentenced to death. For avoiding a lethal replay of the sort towards presidents in khaki, credibility of the superior judiciary must be kept at bare minimum.

10. While declaring dissent to the guardians of our ideological and geographical frontiers, in all its forms and manifestations, a capital offence, configuration of the proposed anti-terrorism courts should be altered to two army officers and a “munshi” from the judiciary for draping verdicts in judicial terms. Disposing of civilians totally would create unnecessary clerical job for the military officers on the bench, hence not advisable. Moreover, it can lead to nasty litigation form unpatriotic lawyers.

11. In political fragmentation lies the key to prosperity. Healthy, well-groomed, stable political culture constitutes a grave threat to the dominion of the military. To avert such a disastrous scenario, defiant mindset should never be allowed to take root in the first place. Divide and rule. Counter offensive already in progress under the auspices of the ISI, like trying to split the MMA by using Azam Tariq of banned sectarian extremist organization SS, is a highly commendable move. Political, sectarian, ethnic harmony in the country must be resisted and discouraged to the maximum.

12. Perfectly right, to make these features irreversible, NSC would appropriately work as a safety valve. Civilians should only be blessed with responsibilities, never authority. Nawaz Sharif and Junejo have demonstrated, loyalty of civvies can never be taken as granted.

Then, by the way, why shouldn’t we dispense with that crap called constitution altogether? Heavens want HH to lead the land of the pure. His Highness is the people; HH is the constitution. Mr President, your orders ought to be the ultimate instrument of government, that’s all.

As HH has perceptively described his U-turns – there are a good number of them -- that with changed circumstances you have to modify your strategy. There is no need to have some old-fashioned rigid approach towards the statute book either. It’s time to have a Pragmatic Floating Constitution (PFC).

Daily summaries emanating from the COAS office or the Army House should be considered as “Constitution” till further orders. Subsequent directives would replace, amend, or add to the statute book as per requirements or wish and will of the competent authority, i.e., the Chief of Army Staff.

Eliminating fundamental differences in approach, perceptive and emphasis between corrupt politicians and honourable generals, is almost next to impossible. Prime ministers and like-minded politicians plainly admitting that the army chief is their boss cannot be recycled again and again. Modifications proposed above will therefore serve as a reliable hedge against losing more ground to civilians and mitigate the political unpredictability in the country.

Tailpiece: Foreign Office should do its utmost to get His Majesty Musharraf nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in Political Sciences and uprightness, as an official homage to the mammoth services HH has rendered to the nation. This will confer international acclamation on His Highness on one hand and hopefully, at least for some time, thwart attempts to herd HH together with other contemporary referendum-elected leaders like Saddam Hussein, on the other.

General Pervez Musharraf Zinda Abad
Pak Army Painda Abad