LAHORE: What had previously only been a term coined by analysts to describe the unique system of governance currently in vogue, is now apparently being worn as a badge of honour.

Khawaja Asif, a key member of the federal cabinet, has recently spoken in glowing terms about the ‘hybrid regime’ that currently runs the country.

The term is used to describe the informal power-sharing arrangement, whereby the country’s military holds a great deal of influence on the incumbent civilian setup, and has a big say in the way the affairs of the state are managed.

In a tweet on Thursday, the defence minister had termed Field Marshal Asim Munir’s lunch meeting with US President Donald Trump a success of the “existing hybrid model of governance”.

“The revival of the economy, India’s defeat, improvement in ties with the US, all these revolutionary changes were made possible by the cooperation between PM Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir and the excellent relations be­­tween Islamabad and Ra­­walpindi,” he wrote on X.

The social media post quickly became a talking point, with many observers questioning what the minister meant by this. More importantly, some asked, does such glee behove someone who claims to be of a democratic dispensation, and belongs to a party which has previously campaigned on the slogan of civilian supremacy.

In a subsequent interview with Arab News —published on Friday — the minister expanded on his words, candidly admitting to the presence of a “hy­­brid regime” in Pakistan.

Describing the civil-military hybrid system as a system of co-ownership — of sorts — Mr Asif said that even though this was not an ideal democratic government, it was “doing wonders”.

“This system is a practical necessity until Pakistan is out of the woods as far as economic and governance problems are concerned,” he said.

The politician from Sialkot, known for not mincing his words, even mused that had such a model been adopted back in the 1990s — which saw two Nawaz Sharif premierships — things would have been much better.

A confrontation betw­een the military establishment and the political government retards the progress of democracy, he noted.

Talking to Dawn, analyst Dr Rasul Bakhsh Rais said the current setup was, in fact, the third “hybrid regime” since the ouster of Imran Khan.

“The difference is that while Gen Zia and Gen Musharraf created political fronts by cannibalising major parties, this time around the two major parties have willingly served as political facade.”

Dr Rais pointed out two reasons for this: an effort to get all those pesky corruption cases quashed, and using the cover of the establishment to stay politically afloat in the face of a rising PTI.

By handing victory to the PML-N and PPP in the previous elections, the establishment has “reduced them to the status of an appendage in the hybrid order”, he noted.

The academic pointed out that the political capital of the PML-N and PPP was buried alongside their anti-establishment narrative.

At the moment, the priority of the Sharifs and Zardaris, as well as the establishment, is to neutralise the third force — which is perceived as a danger for all of them,“ he said, pointing to the Imran Khan-led PTI.

Referring to Field Mar­shal Munir’s historic meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House earlier this week, he said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s absence from the picture was raising questions about the latter’s role, Dr Rais noted.

“This meeting has lif­t­­ed the thin veneer of ‘ele­cted’. What the world has known quite for a while, i.e. where is the centre of power and who is in control … the political allies in power have presented themselves as the ‘government’,” he concluded.

But in the words of another political observer, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, Mr Asif is hardly the first one to admit to the existence of the “hybrid model”.

“Imran Khan repeatedly acknowledged the role of military in key decisions like the appointment of the chief election commissioner and the passage of the budget,” the head of the Pakistan Ins­t­i­tute of Legislative Deve­lopment and Transparency (Pildat) told Dawn.

“No one should forget that we have a Constitution and any deviation [from it] will have grave consequences. I, however, believe that both politicians and military have to sit in our National Security Committee and find a way to ensure rule of law in the medium and long term.”

Mr Mehboob was of the view that the defence minister was speaking on the basis of his party and leadership’s “past experiences”.

“He thinks that the only realistic option for them is to compromise. All major parties including PPP — and arguably even the PTI — believe in this.”

“No one tried to exert the PM’s legitimate auth­ority as much as Nawaz Sharif did; he even tried to make peace in the Sub­continent … but the elder Sharif has been repeated­ly made an example [for others],” Mr Mehboob noted.

In the same breath, however, he noted that the PML-N had been struggling against this phenomenon the longest, and had also suffered greatly for their efforts. “They are pro­­bably very tired by now, and I don’t blame them,” said the Pildat chief.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2025