Carnegie Endowment| Zoha Waseem and Yasser Kureshi
Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, Asim Munir, has significantly consolidated military power over three years, formally entrenching its dominant role within the constitutional framework. Munir leveraged strong international ties, including gaining U.S. President Donald Trump's trust, fostering relationships with Arab and Gulf states, and mediating between Iran and the United States. Domestically, the military utilized a weak civilian government, media control, and repression to silence dissent, exemplified by the imprisonment of Imran Khan and other political opponents. The regime’s “hard state” approach, an uncompromising militarized doctrine, targets internal security and political management, expanding political prisoners and criminalizing assemblies. Critical challenges persist in Balochistan, where a separatist insurgency intensifies, threatening foreign investments like China’s CPEC and potentially triggering further India-Pakistan confrontations following the May 2025 conflict. Simultaneously, security forces battle the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, exacerbating instability. The 27th constitutional amendment further solidified Munir’s authority by creating a Chief of Defence Forces role, granting formal operational command over all services, aiming to insulate military leadership from political uncertainty.
No comments:
Post a Comment