Behind Pakistan’s civilian facade, Asim Munir’s deep-state consolidation of power

New Delhi, Oct 27 In July this year, rumours were rife that Pakistan's Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, was planning a coup to overthrow the government. However, Munir refrained from doing so, as he was aware that had he done so, there would have been international pressure on him to restore democracy.

When General Pervez Musharraf ousted Nawaz Sharif and installed himself as the President of Pakistan, there was immense pressure on him to restore democracy. Asmi Munir appears to have learnt from that and has instead decided to control the country entirely by himself, while also having a puppet Prime Minister and President in place.

The Pakistani Army Chief is gradually bringing in people from both his family and the army into the administrative division of the country. This would ensure that he gets to control the country, both on the civilian as well as the military side.

Munir first ensured that Imran Khan was removed from power and then jailed. The biggest threat that the Army Chief faced was from Imran Khan, and hence, he made sure that he was out of the way. Following this, he installed Asif Ali Zardari as the President and Shehbaz Sharif as the Prime Minister. Both are currently puppets in the hands of Asim Munir.

The second step was installing his blue-eyed boy, General Asim Malik, as the ISI chief and also handing him the additional charge of National Security Advisor. Now, Munir has transferred his nephew, Captain Syed Abu Rehman Bin Qasim, from the armed forces to the civil services. Along with his nephew, Munir also transferred nine other Pakistan army officials to the civil services. This is a clear sign that Munir wants his men in every possible department in Pakistan, so that he can control everything virtually.

An official said that this gives Munir more power to control the system, while also showing the world that Pakistan is technically a democracy. Transferring his nephew to serve in the Prime Minister's office gives Munir the scope to keep a close watch on Shehbaz Sharif.

Munir also plans to appoint his stooges in the interior ministry, high commissions and embassies. This would give him direct access to the administrative side of the country.

Intelligence Bureau officials indicate that Munir's nephew would eventually be transferred to head an embassy either in the US or India. This would also give Munir complete control over intelligence-related operations abroad. However, for Munir, having control over Intelligence operations is not the priority since the ISI chief is his stooge. These moves are just ways of asserting himself over everything that Pakistan is concerned with.

The PM or President would continue to remain in office. These would just be symbolic positions, just to show the world that a democracy still exists in Pakistan. An official explains that all these are moves being made because Munir is extremely insecure about his position. The very fact that he got Sharif to promote himself to the rank of Field Marshal despite being embarrassed during Operation Sindoor itself was a sign of his insecurity.

Further, Munir is repeatedly facing embarrassment at the hands of the Tehreek-e-Taliban, Pakistan (TTP), Balochistan Nationalist Army (BLA) and the Afghan Taliban. He fears that a military coup could upstage him as the soldiers are very unhappy with his administration. Many soldiers are already disobeying his orders, and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), they are refusing to fight against the TTP at least in the tribal belts.

These developments also come against the backdrop of tensions escalating between the GHQ and the government. These tensions arose due to the extension that Munir is seeking as the Army Chief.

The government says that he can remain Army Chief until 2027, but Munir has asserted that he wants to remain in the top position until 2030. This has made several within the army unhappy, especially those who are waiting to be elevated as the next Army Chief.

Munir has already changed some top corps commanders to ensure that there would be no seniority issues. All these developments have made Munir very shaky and insecure, and hence he is taking control over the Intelligence, Army and now the administration.

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