Pakistan: General Asim Munir’s and two CMs absence from President Asif Zardari’s speech at Parliament raises eyebrows

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Aman Ali Gandapur and Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz did not attend President Asif Ali Zardari’s address to a joint session of Parliament last week. Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir and the chiefs of the Pakistan Air Force and Navy also decided to skip Zardari’s speech. On paper, Zardari is commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Zardari has been shown how little respect he commands among the men he is Commander-in-Chief of. This also shows the real pecking order of power in Pakistan, where it is General Munir’s writ that runs. Civil politicians are mere pawns that can be easily dismissed with the disdain they deserve. The top men of the armed forces obviously believe Zardari has zero value for them.

The CMs of Sindh Murad Ali Shah and Balochistan Sarfaraz Bugti, both of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), to which Zardari belongs, heard Zardari speak. It was for the first time that Zardari was addressing a joint session of the Senate and National Assembly elected on February 8. Incidentally, he made history on April 18 (Thurday) when he addressed such a session for the 7th time.

Pakistan will continue to give moral, political, and diplomatic support to people of Jammu & Kashmir, he said. Bharat must reverse all decisions regarding Article 370 and 35-A that it had taken on August 5, 2019, the Pakistani President said. However, his words rang hollow as nobody in J&K took note of what his empty rhetoric. How can Zardari’s words be taken seriously by anyone outside the hall in which he spoke when powerful people in Pakistan don’t care for him?

KP CM Gandapur had not attended Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s swearing-in either. Gandapur belongs to Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf (PTI) of Imran Khan and his showing disdain for Sharif-Zardari can be perhaps understood. More intriguing was Punjab CM Maryam’s absence who belongs to PML-N, who runs the Federal government with outside support from PPP.

She seems to doing so at her father Nawaz Sharif’s behest but that is also one way of taking pot-shots  at her uncle PM Shehbaz. The absence of two of the four CMs of Pakistan’s provinces means they care little for his constitutional position.

Incidentally, it is customary for CMs of all provinces as also the chiefs of armed forces to attend the inaugural joint session of a newly constituted Parliament. April 18 joint session addressed by Zardari was the first such session after the February 8 polls. PTI has shouted from rooftops that these polls held at national and provincial levels were heavily rigged. That they lacked legitimacy as security forces and intelligence agencies have rigged them in favour of PML-N.

If President Zardari’s position is unenviable, PM Shehbaz Sharif’s position is also shaky and unstable. He needs to look over his shoulders for dictates from General Munir as well as from his elder brother Nawaz. It is clear that people in general do not believe in many of the policies he is pursuing.

Shehbaz faced a moment of truth in Karachi, where he had gone to the Sindh capital for a day. Top businessman Arif Habib complimented Shehbaz for shaking hands with IMF chief Kristlina Georgieva in June 2023. Shehbaz blurted out sheepishly that there was no other choice. What Habib said next was what perhaps Shehbaz had not anticipated, and he was stunned into silence.

Habib said Shehbaz needs to shake two more hands, one with neighbour Bharat, and the second hand Shehbaz needed to shake was with someone who lives at Adiala jail now, Imran Khan of PTI. It seems Habib was addressing the wrong guy for on these two issues, General Munir has a veto.