PM, army chief may meet soon to defuse tension

ISLAMABAD: A meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa is expected anytime, possibly on Wednesday, to frankly discuss the situation arising out of the recent controversial tweet of the DG ISPR.

Informed sources expect that the meeting will help resolve the issue as neither of the two sides want to further vitiate the situation. 

The DG ISPR tweet not only created serious controversy within the country by bringing the civil and military in a confrontational mode but it also gave an excuse to foreign media particularly Indian to propagate against Pakistan. Following the controversial tweet from the military spokesman, no official word has come from the Army side on these issues, which continue to make headlines in the media.

From the government side, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan within a few hours of the DG ISPR tweet had said that the tweets could be fatal for democracy and the system. He added that the institutions should not interact with each other via tweets.

The prime minister avoided speaking on this issue in public. Like most of the Leaguers, the premier is said to be upset over the tweet but does not want to give his reaction in public. Last Sunday Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif summoned a high-level meeting in Lahore to discuss the controversy surrounding the DawnLeaks notification his office issued a day earlier and its rejection by the military.

On Saturday last, the PM’s Office had issued an executive order containing approval of the prime minister and carrying directions for four federal ministries for the implementation of the recommendations of the Leaks commission.

Within a couple of hours after the media reported PM’s office order, the DG ISPR tweeted: “Notification on Dawn Leak is incomplete and not in line with the recommendations by the Inquiry Board. Notification is rejected”.

The tweet surprised many as it rejected the order of the chief executive. Since then, the issue remains the focus of the media amid serious concerns raised by many about how seriously such tensions between the civil and military could hurt Pakistan.

While some political leaders are desirous of fuelling the fire for their own petty political gains, saner elements demand of the prime minister and the army chief to meet as early as possible to defuse the tensions by agreeing to operate within their constitutional limits.