ABSTRACT
In 2014, the anti-government protests led by PTI chief Imran Khan against the alleged fraud in the previous year’s elections1 shuttered the central artery of the capital city and, for some precarious weeks, thrust the viability of Nawaz Sharif ’s government into question. Amid the ensuing political unrest, the Pakistani army arbitrated between these duelling democratically elected representatives.2 The upshot of this confrontation was a weakened but tenable prime minister and a loss of face for the protesting leadership.3 The genuine winner from this political circus has been the military – an organization that was able to yet again position itself as the key source of stability in the country. It has since then consolidated this position by an institutionalizing role in administration through newly formed Apex Committees4 at federal and provincial levels that include the military and civilian leadership. The civilian elite, both ruling and in opposition, was also forced into setting up Military Courts through a constitutional amendment that provides the military with complete control over security affairs.5 This story of slow but steady military ascendance is as old as the country itself. For much of its nearly seven decades as a sovereign nation, Pakistan has lived under overt or covert military rule, careening between a fragile democracy and open military rule with alarming regularity. Comparative research has found that initial military coups tend to breed subsequent military coups,6 underscoring the fact that Pakistan’s political instability was critically formed by the ascendance of the military during the post-independence decade.7
