Pakistan is and has been for many years a dictatorship in drag. The military and intelligence establishment actually run the country but prefer to mask their control with a veneer of civilian rule.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s choice for the new chief of Pakistan’s powerful army is General Raheel Sharif (no relation), a man said to be a “soldier’s soldier” with little interest in politics. Having been ousted and then exiled for ten years by the last army chief he selected, Gen Pervez Musharraf, Sharif was keen on making a safer choice this time around.