A special in-camera session of the National Assembly got under way on Friday afternoon, with senior military and government officials in attendance.
Sources said that the army chief spoke at the beginning and the end of the briefing and answered questions from parliamentarians as well.
General Munir reportedly told the meeting that the debate between ‘old and new Pakistan’ should end and ‘our Pakistan’ should be spoken about.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that peace had been achieved after the sacrifices of 80,000 lives, but the ‘last four years had put the gains to waste’.
Army chief General Asim Munir said that the people of Pakistan are the ‘centre of gravity’ of the country and their elected representatives are the ones to exercise powers given by the Constitution.
The session had been called for a briefing on ‘current issues of national security’. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and senior ministers participated in the session as well as Army Chief General Asim Munir and DG ISI Lt. General Nadeem Anjum. Chief ministers of Punjab and Sindh are also part of the meeting.
The topic of national security was already being discussed due to the latest layer of terror attacks in the country, when it became intertwined with elections as well.
When the Election Commission of Pakistan tried to begin preparations for elections to the dissolved assemblies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, authorities said security could not be provided due to the census as well as operations against terrorists.
The first-ever digital census is being organised across Pakistan and each census team is accompanied by security officials. Authorities told the ECP that since the census is already underway, the officials cannot be spared for another major event such as elections throughout two provinces.
However, operations against terrorists were also cited as a major reason why army officials could not be spared election duties.
While intelligence-based operations are continuing across KP and Balochistan, terrorist attacks have continued in both provinces and have often targeted security officials.
The Ministry of Interior told the court that anti-terror operations would take months to complete. The court had even remarked that officials from the Air Force and Navy could be appointed to secure polling booths on election day. Eventually, the court ruled that the government must provide everything the ECP needs for elections including funding and security.
The court has already taken a more proactive approach towards getting the funding to the commission by instructing the State Bank of Pakistan on Friday to send funds to the election commission directly.
However, the in-camera session comes at a time when the question of whether secure elections can be conducted and if yes, then who will provide security, is still up in the air.
