ISAS Briefs

The twin marches led respectively by Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Tahirul Qadri's Pakistani Awami Tehreek will undoubtedly result in a number of unintended consequences. All of them will be negative. The first relates to the role of the military in politics. Just when it appeared that the armed forces might have finally returned to the barracks, the two long marches have brought them back to the policy making table. Second, the marches may interrupt, if not entirely halt, the slow move towards the establishment of a representative and reasonably inclusive political order. This began to happen with the elections of 2008 when a regime led by the military allowed the transfer of power to the political parties it could have otherwise influenced. This process of political change was quickened by the elections five years later.