A Field General Court Martial has convicted Lt Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd) on multiple charges, including political interference, violation of the Official Secret Act and misuse of authority. The punishment awarded to the former DG ISI is not only historic; it is also exceptional. This judgement impacts three key areas: the opposition, PTI; the government, led by PML(N); and the military. No major event occurs outside a given environment, and in the context of this conviction, understanding the current political environment within which the governance system operates is crucial.

The system is being run by a hybrid regime in which elected governments operate, but the strategic lines are dictated from elsewhere. So, if I coin the phrase 'ideology of hybridism', it means power sharing between elected and unelected institutions, balancing order and democracy. Hybridism, taking root in Pakistan, is operating on an implicit belief system. The belief that the civilian governments on their own are too fragmented, unstable or even corrupt to manage national affairs, while the military is uniquely capable of providing discipline, continuity and strategic direction to the civilian government.

The military sees controlled democracy as a necessary equilibrium between order and representation, assuming an UN-like central authority role. Like the UN, it retains informal mechanisms like surveillance, veto power and intervention. This ideology is fast reshaping democracy, public expectations and institutional reforms. The political system that runs Pakistan today is a blend of democratic form and bureaucratic-military........

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