LAHORE, Oct 21: Elaborating the hazards of martial laws, speakers at an international conference on civil-military relations on Tuesday underscored the need for giving democracy a chance to flourish and overcoming its teething troubles instead of demonising it for its weaknesses.

“The military should act according to the Constitution under which it is an institution like any other and bound to work under the command of parliament reflecting the collective will of the people through their representatives,” emerged a consensus among the speakers. They said Pakistan could tackle the genie of terrorism and other serious problems only through the public participation.

The two-day conference was organised by Pildat (Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency) at a local hotel. Its inaugural session was to be addressed by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, but he could not turn up because of his pre-occupation in Islamabad. He was represented by senior PML-N leader Sirdar Zulfikar Khosa.

The speakers included former army generals, eminent defence and political analysts from Pakistan and abroad, and politicians of the present and the Musharraf regimes. Mr Khosa said the present democratic system had emerged out of the ruins of a military dictatorship after the politicians got united and stood against the establishment. They would have to be vigilant to guard against any attempt by anti-democratic elements to wrap up the system, he said, adding that the PML-N would continue struggle for the promotion of democracy. He said the country was paying for Gen Musharraf’s follies in the NWFP and Balochistan.

The PML-N leader said there was a need to develop trust between the civil and military leaders to define their respective roles to prevent overlapping in future, making them respect constitution and the legal framework. This could happen only with an independent judiciary and media, besides involvement of people, he added.

Former chief justice of Pakistan Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui (retired) dilated upon the history of military intervention in civilian affairs in Pakistan, saying the role of armed forces had been clearly defined in the 1973 Constitution. And time had come for the government to implement this role to ensure rule of democracy. He said the changes made in the constitution needed fresh mandate from people.

Lt-Gen Talat Masood (retired) said the present army chief would not like to have a public discussion on the issue. But he had clearly said that he would like the civilian setup to give the army a policy to combat terrorism, and it would follow it. He genuinely wanted to allow democratic institutions to flourish.

Lt-Gen Moinuddin Haider (retired), who served as the interior minister under Gen Musharraf, blamed weak politicians and silent people for the successive military rules in Pakistan. “No military dictator can dare interfere in civil rule if political leaders are sincere in performing their duty,” he said.

Repeated military interventions had disallowed the development of a real democratic model and smooth transfer of power as a result in Pakistan, he conceded, but added that this happened because of weak political leadership.

“The Quaid-i-Azam did not have a good team of politicians, forcing us to make compromises in many areas. And when the political system weakened after the departure of the Quaid and Mr Liaquat Ali Khan, and because of the absence of a constitution, the military grew into a strong institution with foreign aid and the taxpayers’ money.”

He said Ayub’s martial law ended the concept of tenure in army service. He said Pakistani people had always silently watched martial laws, but every dictator had to go whenever they stood against him.

The ex-serviceman said young army officers tended to question the qualifications of politicians who could hold important ministries after reaching the age of 25 years without any training or knowledge. “Politicians should look into this factor, provide for training of their comrades, and shun hereditary politics,” he advised.

He said the army had never protected its economic interests. “We are as good a taxpayer as any other corporate body, and have built our institutions by fulfilling all legal requirements.”

Reacting to his views, eminent lawyer Dr Parvez Hassan said there had been either no civilian rule or demonisation of politicians which should be stopped. Politicians should be allowed to run democracy instead of maligning them, he pleaded.

Nisar Memon, a former information minister, said there had been martial laws and indirect military interventions in civilian affairs in Pakistan. Gen Musharraf dismissed the elected government of Nawaz Sharif, but this is now history. “We should now decide whether this country will be run by military and civil dictatorship, or people,” he said.