Pakistan's defence minister, Khawaja Asif , has once again defended his country's "hybrid model" of governance, insisting that the military and civilian leadership work "by consensus" in managing state affairs. Speaking to British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan, Asif dismissed suggestions that the army dominates Pakistan's politics, while controversially describing US democracy as a "deep state." When asked whether Pakistan's generals hold more power than elected ministers, Asif retorted, "No, it's not like that. I'm a political appointee, I’m a political worker." Pressed further with comparisons to the United States, where civilian leaders have the authority to dismiss top generals, he claimed, "They (the US) have a different model over here. It's called deep state." Hasan

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