Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, during an interview with Arab News on Friday, said that Pakistan’s hybrid model is "doing wonders".

 

The defence czar described the country’s governance as a “hybrid model” in which military and civilian leaders share power and accepted that the government system is “not ideal democratic”, adding that "This arrangement, the hybrid arrangement, is doing wonders”.

 

He opined that if “this sort of [hybrid] model” was adopted way back in the 90s, “things could have been much, much better”. 

 

Asif later said that owing to the confrontation between the establishment and political government, the progress of democracy in Pakistan has been retarded.

 

When asked whether it has been accepted that the only way to avoid the confrontation between the establishment and the political governance is to have a hybrid model, Asif responded, “There is a hybrid model till we are out of the woods, as far [as] our economic, governance problems are concerned. It’s not constitutionally formalised. However, it is a de facto formalisation of the situation.”

When asked whether in this hybrid model, the establishment has more power, Asif replied, "not correct”.

 

Rather, he defined the hybrid model as “mutual” understanding between the establishment and political leadership, explaining, “We have the co-ownership of the power structure.”

 

Asif maintained that military leadership "very genuinely" listens to the political leadership, adding, “There is no superimposed system or superimposed organisation on [PM] Shehbaz Sharif, which dictates [to] him and he acts accordingly. Shehbaz Sharif is making his decisions independently and in regular consultation with the establishment on all levels.”

 

Ruling out the existence of differences of opinion between the military leadership and political leadership, Asif said that there was no moment when the decisions were not made unanimously with total agreement.

 

Meanwhile, the defense minister, in a post on X on Thursday, linked the country's achievements on global, regional, and economic fronts to the “current hybrid model of governance”, referring to the recent Islamabad-New Delhi standoff and improvement in the Pakistan-US ties.

 

Terming the meeting of the army chief with the US president a “significant milestone”, Asif wrote on X, “There has never before been an example of a US president inviting and meeting a Pakistani army chief.”

 

He added that this is the most significant turning point in the 78-year history of Pakistan-US relations, stressing that the revival of the national economy and India’s defeat became possible due to Premier Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Munir.