Reins in civilian hands: Nawaz Sharif's remarks

POLICY is set by the elected government, it is to be followed by the army. In an election dominated by talk of voters’ immediate needs, corruption and change, it has fallen to Nawaz Sharif to underline what is perhaps the most fundamental of all fault lines in Pakistan: the civil-military divide. That Mr Sharif has been the first to speak out on the need for civilian control this election season is unsurprising given his history with the army leadership over the past decade and a half — first suffering at the hands of Gen Musharraf and then accusing the Gen Pasha-led ISI of supporting the PTI in a quest to undermine the PML-N. Just because the history is personal, however, does not detract from the legiti-macy of what Mr Sharif said on Sunday in an interview with an Indian TV channel.