CENTRALISED decision-making, a restructured judiciary, and a military that functions as the state’s core operating system — that is the New Pakistan. Interestingly, Vietnam, Singapore, Egypt, China, Cambodia, Eritrea, Uzbekistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Syria, Venezuela, Myanmar, Jordan, Laos, the UAE and Bahrain all embody the same three design features now visible in Pakistan’s emerging model.

Same flag. Different country. Same green colour. Different operating system. Same crescent. Different commander. Same name on the map. Different ruler in the room. Same launcher. Different authority. Same drone. Different sensor suite. In the New Pakistan, the question is not the centralisation of power – the 27th Amendment settled that. In the New Pakistan, the question is the direction of the centralised power. What can go wrong? Centralised power can lose direction. Control can displace competence. Bureaucracies begin to wait for........

© Pakistan Observer