ISLAMABAD - PCNS Chairman Raza Rabbani Saturday underscored the need of continuing consultations between the army and the parliament on important security issues, but said the final decision should rest with the parliament.
The parliament took a good initiative, army too responded positively; this beginning should not end now, the head of Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) was quoted as saying by media reports.
Addressing the 5th session of the Youth Parliament here, Senator Rabbani stressed the need for civilian ascendancy for strengthening the democratic order in the country, saying that the army should be in complete subordination to the parliament.
The interactive session mainly focusing on civil-military relations discussed at length various dimensions of the civil-military relations since the creation of the country. Rabbani said that the civil-military bureaucracy had cropped up soon after the creation of Pakistan and it has been holding hostage all the governments. He however said our country could not survive without the federation.
Senator Rabbani though appreciated the role of the Army in the national security but he was a bit critical the way politically elected governments were toppled by Army and said that such acts on part of Army must be abhorred and discouraged. He said that the army has an important role, but those raiding in the night could not be supported.
Strongly opposing the institution of National Security Council as legacy of dictator, Senator Rabbani called for strengthening the Defence Committee of the Cabinet for bringing further improvements in the civil-military relations and to adequately address to the growing demands of the national security.
Referring to the role of judiciary he said that incumbent judiciary was first in the country’s history, which had rejected the dictates of a dictator and brought to an end the doctrine of necessity. On the current ‘conducive’ government-military relations, Rabbani said that the credit of removing mistrust between the government and military goes to the present democratically-elected government and stressed that such interaction should continue for the overall betterment of the country.
The senator was of the opinion that gap between the federation and its units would be bridged with the implementation of the 18th amendment and that the credit of promulgating 1973 constitution goes to the PPP government. He further said that the violent incidents on the occasion of Youm-e-Ishq-e-Rasool (PBUH) actually hurt its noble purpose.