A year after May 9 protests in Pakistan: A turning point in civil-military relations?
Why are the May 9 protests, which occurred in 2023, an important event with implications for civil-military relations in Pakistan?
Even though the military remains the final arbiter in Pakistan to determine the course of politics, the May 9 protests have made it more difficult and challenging than ever for it to manage the guided democracy. The anguish and sentiment of people against the instrumental role of the military have raised questions about its legitimacy.
The recent conference held by DG-ISPR included the agenda of reiterating the fact to PTI to apologise to primarily military and the nation for a comeback in the politics of Pakistan. Among a list of agendas, the prime was the PTI challenge in the conference to construct a narrative of PTI as an anarchical, foreign sources driven and anti-national force in Pakistan. In response, the PTI spokesperson Raoof Hassan has called it “full of contradictions, devoid of rationale”. These efforts to reestablish the military image go back to the power tussle between PTI chief Imran Khan and the military leadership in Pakistan.
It was May 9, last year, in 2023, when the Corps Commander's house in Lahore was attacked by PTI supporters protesting in response to the arrest of Imran Khan under suspicious conditions. A majority share the consensus that PTI chief Imran Khan was framed for corruption and arrested for receiving land worth millions from a business tycoon, Malik Riaz Hussain.
The protestors, in the
