Pakistan’s defence minister, Khawaja Asif, on Saturday, attempted to gloss over the country’s army’s influence on governance, claiming the nation is being governed under what he called a “hybrid model”. This is the second time this week that Asif, a prominent member of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet, admitted to the so-called hybrid model.
Since Pakistan’s inception, the army has dominated the politics, foreign policy, and economy of Pakistan, with many generals becoming the head of state.
Asif, known for his embarrassing admission of Pakistan’s involvement in fostering terrorism at the behest of Western powers, made the remark during an interview with Arab News.
His comments are being considered as an admission that the Sharifs’ Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has the blessings of the powerful military establishment in Pakistan.
Speaking about the military’s involvement in power, he said: “This is a hybrid model. It’s not an ideal democratic government. So, this hybrid arrangement, I think it is doing wonders. This system is a practical necessity until Pakistan is out of the woods as far as economic and governance problems are concerned.”
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The minister claimed that “the only realistic option” for the PML-N and the Sharifs is “to compromise with the military.”
The Pakistani government has been erroneously praising the military of late, claiming it had an upper hand in the recent conflict with India. The claims were made even as the Indian military crippled Pakistan’s strategic air bases with precision strikes.
After losing face in the conflict, Pakistani army chief Asim Munir was promoted to the post of the field marshal of Pakistan.
On Thursday, a day after Asim Munir met US President Donald Trump at the White House, Asif described the meeting as “the most important turning point in the 78-year history of relations.”
‘Not mixed, fixed government’
“Khawaja Asif and others now have to seek some legitimacy to praise the merits of the hybrid model, which doesn’t mean a mixed but a fixed government to serve subsidiary interests,” said senior analyst Dr Rasul Bakhsh Rais.
He said the current setup is, in fact, the third “hybrid regime” since the ouster of Imran Khan in 2022.
“Today the difference is that while Gen Ziaul Haq and Gen Pervez Musharraf created political fronts by cannibalising major parties, this time around the two major parties – PMLN and PPP – have willingly served as political facade,” he said, referring to the past two army generals who later became presidents.
Senior journalist Matiullah Jan described his remark as a “fall from grace”
“What a fall from grace for a politician. This defence minister takes oath to defend the constitution, which makes no mention of the so-called hybrid form of government,” he wrote on X.
With inputs from PTI
