Days Before October 1999 Coup Anniversary, Pakistan Army Shows US It’s Still The Ringleader | World News

Every few years, Pakistan goes through its democratic ritual with rallies, votes and prime ministers being sworn in with promises of reform. And every few years this illusion disappears. Power, as always, lies elsewhere: in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, where the army writes the true script of the state.

The latest evidence of this comes via the Financial Times, which reports that Pakistani officials have suggested that the United States help build a port in Pasni, a fishing town on the Arabian Sea. The plan to turn this place into an export hub for critical minerals seems like an economic project, but the real message is revealed by who the message is. It was not the civilian government that made the offer, but the advisors of Pakistan’s powerful Army Commander, Marshal Asim Munir.

For those who have followed Pakistani politics long enough, this is hardly news. The nation’s generals have spent decades stepping in when elected leaders stumble, reshaping constitutions and reminding everyone who really rules.

Military Mentality

The military’s dominance predates Pakistan’s democracy. The new nation, emerging from the chaos of Partition and defined by its first conflict with India over Kashmir, saw insecurity not as a challenge to be overcome but as an organizing principle. The army became the most trusted, disciplined and best-funded institution of the state, and soon the most political institution.

Meanwhile, civilian politics was fragmented into personality cults and patronage networks. Bureaucracies have decayed, trials have been delayed, and parties have splintered along ethnic lines. The army, disciplined and united, began to see itself as the only competent protector of the country and made intervention a habit.

By 1958, General Ayub Khan had already normalized coups. His successors, Yahya Khan, Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf, justified their takeovers as a patriotic duty. Each rewrote the constitution, leaving behind a system in which civilian rule was temporary and the military permanent.

State within the State

Unlike most armies, the Pakistani armed forces do not just drain the national budget; they also own a significant portion of it. Through the Fauji Foundation, Bahria Foundation and Army Welfare Foundation, the institution controls businesses in everything from cement and banking to real estate and fertiliser. Academic Ayesha Siddiqa once estimated that these assets account for more than seven percent of GDP.

Privileges are reflected on budget pages. In 2024-25, Pakistan spent around 1.7 trillion rupees on defence; this was almost twice as much as it spent on health and education. This imbalance means a lot in a country where the World Bank says 40 percent of its citizens live below the poverty line.

Hybrid Habit

Far from overthrowing the government, Pervez Musharraf’s coup on October 12, 1999, created the political formula of so-called “controlled democracy” in which elected civilians serve under military supervision. This has become Pakistan’s default setting.

Twenty years later, this model is still intact. Imran Khan’s rise in 2018 carried the military’s tacit approval; His fall four years later bore its unmistakable shadow. Judicial decisions and parliamentary votes provided the theatre. However, the script was written by the military.

Currently, the choreography continues under the management of Marshal Asım Münir. The military influences economic decisions, security operations and foreign aid. The Pasni port offer is just the final reminder. This reflects Musharraf’s post-9/11 attempt to court Washington, exchanging strategic cooperation for dollars and diplomatic favors.

Democracy on a Short Leash

The civilian cost of this regulation is visible everywhere. No prime minister in Pakistan has ever completed a five-year term. Cabinets change, alliances crumble, and elected leaders submit to unelected authority. Those who resist, from Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to Imran Khan, are discovering how quickly they can turn the machinery of the establishment against them.

The consequences go beyond politics. Development is stagnating, debt bubbles and social spending remain an afterthought. A system that rewards military rule inevitably starves the civilian state.

The generals present themselves as saviors of a nation they have never allowed to truly govern itself. Field Marshal Munir, like Musharraf before him, wants Western participation to manage the economic crisis and reassert the indispensability of the army. The playbook hasn’t changed; There is only vocabulary. “Security”, “order” and “recovery” were replaced by “reform”, “stability” and “investment”, but the logic remained the same.

Until power truly shifts from the canton to the parliament, Pakistan will continue to live under the same unwritten constitution where generals rule and civilians serve at their pleasure.