Islamabad, April 17(ANI): Quoting Indian Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's statement that "a country does not have to be fit for democracy; rather it has to become fit through democracy," Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has said that military interventions in Pakistan's political process have always weakened the democratic institutions and adversely impacted the constitutional and legal development in the country.
Chaudhry pointed out that the 1973 Constitution introduced a new chapter for the armed forces for the first time, containing provisions pertaining to their command and functions and an oath by every soldier to "bear true faith and allegiance to Pakistan and uphold the Constitution and that he should not engage himself in any political activities whatsoever".
"Let me tell you that the role of armed forces has been clearly defined in Article 245 of the Constitution, which envisages that the armed forces shall, under the directions of the federal government, defend Pakistan against external aggression or threat of war, and, subject to law, act in aid of civil power when called upon to do so," the Dawn quoted the Pakistan Chief Justice, as saying while addressing a delegation of officers of the Command and Staff College, Quetta, at the Supreme Court building in Islamabad.
He said he was persuaded to point towards the oath of the armed forces that called for true allegiance to Pakistan by upholding the Constitution and by keeping away from political activities, because "during my talks with one or two very high-ranking officers, I discovered that they did not know the implications of the oath taken by the troops of Pakistan."
Chaudhry told the officers that the Supreme Court had also held through different judgments that the solider and the citizen stand alike under the law, therefore both must obey the command of the Constitution and show obedience to its mandate.
However, he recalled the "recurring conflict between the under-developed political system and well-organised army" in the country's history, when he said that political crises were followed by military intervention and military rule.
"Thus, there emerged a vicious circle of brief political dispensation followed by prolonged military rule - a state of affairs that brought many setbacks and hampered the process of evolution of constitutionalism and democratic system of governance," he added.
Chaudhry regretted that Pakistan's democratically elected governments "never truly consolidated democratic institutions" and that "neither they were able to enforce good governance, economic progress or the culture of rule of law in the country."
The primacy of unelected institutions over representative organs left parliament weak and subservient to the executive, he rued, noting that Pakistan did not have a popularly or directly elected legislature from 1947 to 1970, and that this situation also retarded the political development of the state.
Chaudhry emphasised that since Pakistan was being governed by a written constitution, all powers and duties of armed forces must flow from the provisions of that charter, that a heavy responsibility lay upon the shoulders of their officers to adopt patriotism and highest moral and professional standards.
"Only then you will be able to defend your country from extraneous threats," he pointed out. (ANI)
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