Kayani’s legacy Outgoing COAS General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, in what could be his last appearance in uniform in the public space, delivered what some consider a delineation of his legacy in a speech to the passing out parade at the Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul. General Kayani’s remarks revolve around three main themes. First, General Kayani underlined the need for civilian-military relations to overcome the trust deficit. Second, in a parallel thesis, General Kayani spoke of the need for state institutions to continue the process of confidence building that has been started on his watch. Third, General Kayani weighed in on the issue of talks with the Taliban by reiterating that the army would be more than happy to see peace restored through dialogue. However, he went on to underline that this should not be interpreted, as some are wont to do, that the option of dialogue was being resorted to because of the failure of military operations against the terrorists. The COAS reminded his audience of the successes the military had achieved against the militants in Swat, South Waziristan and other FATA Agencies. The army, he said, was more than prepared to take on the task of combating the terrorists should the dialogue option fail. While the use of force was described by him as the last resort, he felt the talks must proceed within the ambit of the constitution and help to unite, not divide the country. Last but not least, the COAS asserted that the “painful history” of military interventions had been left behind. On this last point, on the same day, while addressing the Daska Bar Association, the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry expressed his optimism that an awake lawyers community, civil and political society would ensure that no dictator in future would be able to abrogate the constitution and derail democracy. Interestingly, in this context it is worth noting that amidst the to and fro developments in the cases against former president Musharraf, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar has stated categorically in a press conference that the probe into the treason case against the former military strongman under Article 6 regarding the imposition of emergency on November 3, 2007 would be completed within six weeks, implying that he would then be proceeded against, having been placed on the exit control list, where his name remains. On the one hand, it is a matter worth celebrating that a consensus now reigns supreme over the opposition to military adventurism, the “painful history” the COAS referred to. General Kayani, having served for six years as the COAS, is lauded for his support to the civilian elected governments of the past five years and the new government that is barely four months old. Based on this track record, General Kayani has advised his successor/s to continue on the path of supporting democracy, which he described as the foundational principle and zeitgeist of the creation of Pakistan, and the guarantee of its healthy development in the future. That having been said, experience suggests Pakistanis should not rest sanguine about the imbalance in power and influence between the civilian and military sides of state structures. The challenges before any government, the present one or future ones, are huge, and may be boiled down to three intertwined issues: terrorism, energy, and the economy. The body language of the new elected leadership presents a startling contrast with their confident demeanour and tall claims of a quick fix to these three areas of governance. After coming into office, the PML-N leadership appears to have been considerably sobered by the real gravity and seriousness of the crisis facing the country. While they still seem to be floundering between talks or the use of force against the terrorists, their tall claims during the election campaign of overcoming load shedding and the energy crisis within months have sunk without a trace and their economic management so far seems predicated on passing the burden of the crisis onto the already stooping shoulders of the masses, without any attempt to balance the painful medicine required to be administered to get the economy going with softening the blow for the people. On the other hand, true to public perception, it seems the new government is treading the familiar path of concessions to and reliance on the business community to pull Pakistan’s chestnuts out of the fire. The worrying thought is that if the PPP arguably stands relegated to a provincial party and Imran Khan is still considered a tyro in governance, if the present dispensation also fails over its tenure of the next five years to rescue Pakistan’s state and society from the morass of problems, once again a vacuum of leadership at the heart of Pakistani politics may open up, with serious repercussions for democracy and the political advances associated with its restoration.