Who Has The Final Say - Pakistan Defence Minister Or Army Chief Asim Munir? Khwaja Asif Reveals

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Pakistan's Defence Minister Khwaja Asif attempted to defend the 'hybrid model' of governance that his country follows, where unlike any other country the civilian government and Army stand together to run the State.

Asif's defence comes despite Pakistan continues to be one of the world's worst performers when it comes to democracy, and holding up a failing record of human rights violations.

In an interview with British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan, Khwaja Asi attempted to brush off claims that Pakistan is essentially run by the military.

During the interview, Hasan asked how the hybrid model in Pakistan works, and if Asim Munir is a more powerful person than him.

“It's a strange system you have in Pakistan. I think you've called it a hybrid model- where the military and civilian leaders effectively share power. But the military leaders are really the ones in charge, are they not? In most countries, the head of the army answers to the defence minister. In your country you, the defence minister, answer to the head of the army, don't you? Asim Munir is a more powerful person than you are,” he asked.

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Khwaja Asif retorted saying that he is a political worker.

“No, it's not like that... I'm a political appointee, I'm a political worker, you know.”

Hasan earned a sour retort from the Pakistan Defence Minister when he provided an example, saying how in the US, Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War, has the power to fire American generals, but the same cannot be said for Pakistan.

“They (US) have a different model over here. It's called deep state,” Asif defended sourly.

“In your country (Pakistan) the deep state's in charge. That's what the accusation is,” Hasan said further.

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To this, Asif retorted,“You can say that because of our military rulers-it is more visible.”

On being further probed as to where the power lies in Pakistan, Asif retorted by calling it "hybrid".

When asked by Hasan about power-sharing further, "So it's equal? You and Asim Munir disagree on something, who gets the last word? Let's say you want to go left and he wants to go right. Who wins that argument?"

The Pakistan Defence Minister responded by calling the decision-making process to be based on consensus. "It's not equal... We can agree to disagree. It is by consensus, whatever is taking place..."

Pakistan's hybrid model

Earlier this year, Khwaja Asif, had spoken in glowing terms about the 'hybrid regime' that currently runs the country, Dawn reported.

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As per Dawn, the term is used to describe the informal power-sharing arrangement, whereby the military holds a significant influence on the civilian leadership, and has an important voice in the way the affairs of the state are managed.

According to Dawn, in an interview to Arab News, Asif had described the hybrid system of despite not being an ideal democratic government, yet "doing wonders", calling it a "practical necessity" until Pakistan's economic and governance problems are resolved.

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