A civil-military dialogue is the only solution to the dilemma persisting between the need for a professional army and military influence in politics.
The best forum for this purpose is the National Security Committee (NSC), which needs to effectively function as a platform for regular dialogue and consultation. In addition, both military and civil stakeholders must commit to the Constitution, as well as people’s
welfare beyond the power dynamics.
The dilemma is that Pakistan still needs to define itself as a welfare state or security state. Striking a balance between the two is critical to ensuring a strong democratic framework in which the military’s role is subordinate to civilian rule. This was observed during a session titled ‘Civil-Military Relations in a Democratic Pakistan,’ held as part of the two-day conference titled ‘The Constitution of Pakistan: Lessons for Next 50 Years’ co-organized by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad, and the Department of Law, Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU), Rawalpindi. The conference was addressed by veteran statesmen, jurists, and constitutional experts.
The session, chaired by Lt Gen (r) Naeem Khalid Lodhi, former federal minister for national security, was addressed as keynote speaker by Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, president of Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT), while researchers from various national and international universities presented their papers related to this theme. “Civil-military relations are the most crucial aspect of the future democratic framework of Pakistan,” remarked Mehboob.
