With a compliant government cleverly put in place by Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir last year, passing of the contentious 27th constitutional amendment was as simple as cutting butter with a hot knife. While incarceration of key members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf [PTI] party including its chief former Prime Minister Imran Khan ensured there were hardly any protests against these sweeping amendments that has legalised authoritarianism, this development found only perfunctory mention in the media.

However, even though it’s an internal matter of Pakistan, the dangers that these amendments portend are so grave that they didn’t escape notice of the otherwise traditionally reticent United Nations.

Noting that “Pakistan’s hastily adopted [27th] constitutional amendments seriously undermine judicial independence, and raise grave concerns about military accountability and respect for the rule of law,” [Emphasis added], UN Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has rightly opined that “These changes, taken together, risk subjugating the judiciary to political interference and executive control.” Such a serious indictment by the UN is unprecedented in recent times and being an independent and unbiased observation, highlights the potential dangers of military authoritarianism.

Even a novice would unhesitatingly tell you that the 27th constitutional amendment is the brainchild of Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, as it’s he who gains most from it. So, it transpires that just three months after he told Daily Jang newspaper senior editor Suhail Warraich that “God has made me protector of the country; I do not desire any position other than that,” the Field Marshal has exacted his pound of flesh from the Shehbaz Sharif run coalition government he installed by ensuring that he becomes Pakistan’s unchallenged Tsar.

With the 27th constitutional amendment formalising the “hybrid” system of civil-military governance that Field Marshal Munir enforced in 2018 and thereafter........

© Eurasia Review