All is not well between Sharif and Sharif

In what is being billed as a ‘Sharif versus Sharif’ tussle, trouble seems to be brewing between Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the country’s Army chief General Raheel Sharif.

The two Sharifs met on Tuesday to review implementation of the ‘National Action Plan’, the country’s strategy to stamp out terrorism – conceived following the Peshawar attack in December 2014. The gun attack, which claimed the lives of 145 schoolchildren, was carried out by the home-grown Tehrik-i-Taliban, also called the Pakistani Taliban.

Following the meeting, a press statement was issued by the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the PR arm of Pakistan’s armed forces, which had General Sharif acknowledging the “full support of the nation for our ongoing operations to eliminate terrorism and extremism”. The owning up of credit by the Army was duly noted by all Pakistan observers.

The release further said that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) “however, underlined the need for matching/complimentary governance initiatives for long-term gains of operations and enduring peace across the country”. This has been interpreted as the Army telling the government “we are doing our job well, you are not”.

The Army is unhappy over what it sees as the government dragging its feet on a number of issues, such as action against terror-financing. In particular, the Army is said to be dissatisfied with the government not able to check foreign fund flow into madrassas.

It is tough for a civilian government to control the madrassas, wrote political commentator Najam Sethi, who is the Editor of Friday Times. “They (madrassas) won’t even give their bank account numbers to the government, leave alone disclose sources of funding.”

The ISPR press release had the country’s Parliament in an uproar. The Opposition used this opportunity to attack the government.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who heads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, told local reporters: “I don’t know what the military wants, but good governance is the demand of the people of entire Pakistan.” Members of the ruling party said that the ISPR press release was “unconstitutional”.

It was then that Prime Minister Sharif hit back. A government press release stressed it would continue to pursue the National Action Plan. “However, it is to be noted that the implementation of the NAP is a shared responsibility and all institutions have to play their role while remaining within the ambit of the Constitution.” The reference to the Constitution was a reprimand, asking the Army not to ‘cross the line’.

The episode has caused a flutter in Pakistan, particularly because it flies in the face of the general impression that had been around that under the two Sharifs, the Government-Army equation was good.

Next week, General Sharif is going to the United States to meet his counterparts – a meeting fixed at the Prime Minister’s request. The latter was in the US twice recently – in September to address the United Nations General Assembly and in the following month, when he met President Obama.

Observers await General Sharif’s comments in Washington, and if it is any different from the PM’s statements.

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