It weakens the institution of the army if one general is leader for life, especially in peacetime. Look at the vigor and purpose new leaders come in with, and within a few years the momentum slows down and its is about codifying their rule.
It also weakens the discipline and fighting ability of the army, as junior generals and even more junior officers don’t get the opportunities to train in different areas. Will the Pakistan army become a “Palace Army” like those of the Arabs, great for the parade grounds but moth-eaten within.
It weakens the relationship with the public, as predictability goes out the window, in all things, including hope for accountability. It makes the public feel desperate to do mass popular movements rather than go through governmental procedures. Discontent and not working with the system all stays simmering below the surface. It’s a deterrent to FDI, and makes it easier for foreign adversaries to find a few malcontents to use against the state. The story of so many MENA and Eastern European dictatorships.
Only when the economy is booming and when justice and accountability at all lower levels are there, could such a dictatorship work. Look at Lee Kwan Yu of Singapore or Singman Ree of South Korea. To be fair, Rapid economic growth is the only thing that would make this palatable for most of the public, and only for as long as the economic growth (8+% annually at least) lasts. Look at the growing discontent amongst many youth in China, now that growth has slowed. Not regime ending, not even by a long shot, but it leads to non-cooperation by the youth; lie flat and let it rot. Look at the youth in South Korea and Japan, not looking to be as ambitious because growth is limited. Look at what the Indian people tolerated done by Modi, just because he got the economy going, and now enough voted against him because the economy slowed. People are people, everywhere in the world, and human nature is the same the world over.
With the rise of the internet, smartphones, and social media, the public knows their lives can be so much better and won’t have the same patience or tolerance for this kind of “inefficiency”, as they once did when they didn’t know better. Pakistanis are watching Bangladesh on social media, and the powers that be don’t think that will have an impact. It was literally a matter of the removal of one or a few people that made the difference. Those that can will flee, like the 1.6 million (16 Lakh) Pakistanis that fled Pakistan last year, and those that can’t will drop out of society, avoid taxes, and become non-cooperative as much as possible (people may not be able or want to leave, but their money will leave).
In the late Soviet period, there was a saying, “they pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work”. If the state refuses to work, don’t be surprised the consent of the governed will go away in ways big and small.
