LAME DUCK GOVT SHOULD NOT APPOINT NEW ARMY CHIEF

Lame-duck Government Must Not Appoint Next Army Chief Lt General Vijay Oberoi The Citizen http://www.thecitizen.in/lameduck-govt-must-not-appoint-next-army-chief/ Wednesday, April 23, 2014 The nation is in the middle of a General Election and one that is likely to bring in major changes. Voting has already taken place in more than half the constituencies and only three phases remain. The date of declaration of the results of the election has already been announced as May 16, i.e. merely 25 days away. That effectively makes the present government a caretaker government, which should not take major policy decisions or appoint new incumbents for holding highly important appointments. That has always been the norm and most past governments have followed it. A controversy is unfortunately being created, as reports are appearing in the media that the current government is bent on selecting and announcing the next Chief of Army Staff (COAS), without waiting for the next government to be formed. I do hope it is only speculation and the current government does not actually do it, even though the bureaucrats of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) have threatened to move the files; an ominous announcement no doubt! The present Army Chief is due to retire only on July 31 this year, so there appears to be no tearing hurry to select and announce the name of his successor before the formation of the new government. However, a debate has already started and it is likely to become somewhat contentious and raucous, as irrelevant issues may be brought up, merely to sensationalize the issue. The loser would be the army, which does not deserve this type of non-productive speculation. There is also the aspect of unnecessarily politicizing the issue. As everyone knows, our army is absolutely apolitical. Lest it be misunderstood, apolitical does not mean being ignorant of political nuances, but it signifies having no leanings towards one or the other political parties or personages, unlike the strong affiliations, bordering on obsequies loyalty that the bulk of the bureaucracy follows! I would urge the government, which is essentially a caretaker government, not to make any announcements relating to selecting the next army chief till the election results are declared and a new government takes over. The army chief is much too important a personage and the army a highly worthy instrument of the government to be dragged into this kind of controversy. Irrespective of who is selected, if such an announcement does take place prior to the formation of the next government, then it would be yet another departure from norms as well as an affront to democracy and our constitution. The usual norms for announcing the name of the next incumbent are that the person selected should get sufficient time to ‘get in the picture’, for which the usual timeframe is approximately two months. At times, it has been shorter, as well as longer, but always for an important reason. Media and others would no doubt bring out various issues, not always relevant and therefore the government should make the announcement in accordance with norms and not on account of extraneous reasons or under some form of duress. In the debate already underway, it is being said that when the last change-over was effected, following General VK Singh handing over to the present incumbent-General Bikram Singh, it was done three months in advance, but just like ‘one swallow does not the summer make’, aberrations cannot and should not become norms. At that time, the MoD had psyched itself to believe that the then Chief, General V K Singh may tender his resignation before completing his tenure, which would have adversely affected the desirable succession already worked out by it or even higher personages! It was widely speculated even at that juncture that this was an aberration on account of extraneous reasons, which must not be resorted to in future. The two month period in making the official announcement for the changeover is absolutely right for both the chief laying down his office and for his successor. An announcement earlier than about two months is not at all fair for the out-going chief, as it tends to affect his authority and standing. The reason is obvious as most subordinates start looking up to the new incumbent and in the process tend to ignore the person who is still the chief. In a hierarchical organization like the army, this must never happen. For the successor, two months is just about right as he does need that much time to get ‘au fait’ with the on-going cases and fully comprehend the strengths and limitations that would need to be tackled by him. It also gives him time to bid farewell to his command; tie up loose ends; and hand over fully to his successor. Some may argue that the recent appointment of Admiral Dhowan as the next Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) has been announced without waiting for the election process to be over, so why not that of the COAS? They need to be reminded that the two cases are entirely different. In the case of the navy, the erstwhile CNS Admiral Joshi, had demitted office nearly two months back and adverse comments were already being made regarding the dire need of appointing a new incumbent quickly. Only a few days back, even I had written a piece in your paper exhorting the government to appoint the next CNS at the earliest (See article “Headless ‘At Sea’, Failure to Appoint Naval Chief is Criminal Neglect” dated 15 April 2014). In the case of the army, the COAS is already in the saddle and is effectively commanding the Indian Army. The prerogative of the next government must therefore not be usurped by the present (lame-duck) government. The next COAS, whoever it would be, has to steer the Indian Army for the next two years or more. If selected now, he may well carry a stigma that he was an appointee of the earlier government and hence looked at with jaundiced eyes by some. This must never happen to a COAS, for that appointment is much too important to have even an iota of suspicion, however misplaced. I hate to say this but our bureaucracy being what it is would revel in this kind of skullduggery but the political leadership must not allow it. It is the security of the nation that must be paramount and not the whims and fancies of a few men of straw.