The Nation has Awoken

I’m writing this with urgency, not drama. We’re close to the cliff. Time is running out, and the room for smart choices is shrinking—especially for General Asim Munir. If we want Pakistan off the ledge, we need a step-by-step plan that lowers the political temperature, rebuilds trust, and lets the system breathe. No magic. Just sequencing, restraint, and grown-up decisions.

1) Admit the Clock Is Ticking

Crisis management starts with honesty. We are at the brink. The public feels it. Markets feel it. Civil service feels it. Even the most insulated power centers feel it—hence the frantic optics and midnight “meetings.” When time shrinks, wise actors simplify: fewer battles, clearer goals, cleaner lines.

2) Change the Modus Operandi—First, Remove the Fear

Let’s address the elephant marching across DHA Phase-Everything. The army elite worry that if a government they didn’t install arrives, their businesses, lands, or budget will be raided. That fear fuels political engineering and the endless “stability theater.” Here’s the straight truth: no civilian government can—or should—rip away national security resources. Pakistan has real threats. We need a strong defense and a funded one. Nobody is coming to seize cantonments or bulldoze housing societies. Calm the fear, and politics can exit the barracks.

3) From Rulers to Guardians

Guardians don’t govern. They guard. The mindset must shift from “managing” politics to protecting the republic’s foundations.

• 3a. Rule of Law, Not Rule by Leverage. Enforce law evenly. No “software updates,” no pre-written verdicts. Equal rules create predictable politics—and predictable politics lowers the temperature.
• 3b. Intelligence Out of Politics. Step back from kingmaking. In the short term, intelligence can support courts in complex crime and corruption cases—purely as technical assistance. Over time, civilian investigative bodies must take full ownership as they build capacity and credibility. The goal is simple: clean governance without invisible strings.

4) Remind the Nation What the Army Is For

When the enemy is at the gate, the whole nation rallies behind the uniform. Always has. Public support rises, not falls, when the army stays out of ballot boxes and inside battle plans. If politics is the army’s daily diet, the people lose appetite for everything else the army must do. Step back, and watch public confidence surge.

5) Sequence Matters—Mindset First, Moves Later

Nothing durable happens until senior leadership internalizes the guardian role. Once that frame is set, every other reform becomes easier. Without it, every step looks like a threat and triggers yet another “stability operation.” Choose the frame, then the steps.

6) One Last Extension—Then Close the Door

Yes, the current chief may take an extension now. But declare it the last extension any army chief will ever receive. Extensions are addictive. They distort incentives, politicize succession, and mortgage tomorrow for today. Put a constitutional deadbolt on the extension culture. The institution will breathe easier—and so will the country.

7) Release Imran Khan

This should not be controversial. One politician cannot be an existential threat to a 1-million-strong military. Keeping him locked up keeps the country locked up. Release him. Let politics be political again—no more legal gymnastics to pre-decide the scoreboard. As I said in another context: you don’t beat ideas with batons; you beat them with better ideas.

8) Free and Fair Elections—On Time

Commit publicly: credible elections at the start of 2027. Not “soon.” Not “when weather permits.” Dates discipline behavior. An election timeline forces parties to campaign, institutions to prepare, and power brokers to cool it. If ballots are the plan, bullets and backroom deals lose relevance.

9) Five Years, No Interference

Whoever wins, governs—for a full term—without military vetoes, caretaker reruns, or “minus-one” fantasies. Democracies stabilize when losers learn to wait and organize, not when winners are toppled mid-term. Let policy succeed or fail in daylight. It’s called accountability.

10) Advisory Role Only—Not a Steering Wheel

After elections, the military’s role becomes advisory through the National Security Committee. Offer assessments, not instructions. Suggest options, not outcomes. The final word rests with the elected prime minister and cabinet. When responsibility and authority align, results improve. When they’re split, chaos wins.

11) Reform the House You Lead

Turn the spotlight inward—by choice, not compulsion. Build a modern internal accountability system. Audit procurement. Rotate sensitive postings. Enforce asset declarations. Incentivize integrity. Root out rackets—because corruption isn’t a “civilian problem”; it’s an organizational cancer. The army’s credibility becomes ironclad when it cleans itself, not just others.

Why This Works (And Why It Must Start Now)

This plan doesn’t ask anyone to surrender national security. It asks power centers to surrender the illusion that politics can be managed indefinitely without cost. Every attempt to “fix” politics with force has produced the opposite: more polarization, weaker institutions, and an angry middle class that will not un-see what it has seen. Remember: repression is a tool, not a strategy. It buys days and burns years.

Yes, I’m serious—and a little sarcastic—because the current movie is absurd: a state acting like it fears one man’s rallies more than another state’s armies. We can do better. We must do better.

A Final Word to All Stakeholders

To the generals: choose legacy over leverage. To the politicians: compete on service, not on summons. To the judges: be blind to power, not to law. And to the citizens: demand process, not saviors. Nations rise not on miracles, but on habits—transparent rules, predictable timelines, and institutions that know their lane.

We are not out of time yet. But the clock is loud. Pick the guardian’s path, lock the extension door, release the political chokehold, hold elections on schedule, let the winners govern, and clean up every house—including the one with the tallest walls. Do this step by step, and the instability curve bends downward. Do it now, and the country turns the corner.