The process of giving shape to the new government, which is turning out to be a unique experience in Pakistan's 52-year history, started on Thursday night with the appointments of governors of the four provinces of the country with three of them being retired armed forces personnel and one a retired judge.

By appointing non-controversial persons and men of clean records with experience in running the administration General Musharraf has tried to give a better look to his government but media reports here said that these governors would merely act as figureheads and it would be corps commanders in respective provinces who will call the shots.

English daily The News in a front page report claimed that under a policy decision at the armyheadquarters, the administration in Punjab province would be controlled by the Lt Gen Muhammad Aziz, chief of general staff at the GHQ while Lt Gen Muzaffar Usmani, Lt Gen Saeedus Zafar and Lt Gen Muhammad Mushtaq would, in effect, act as provincial chief executives.

General Musharraf, on Thursday night, appointed four governors Lt Gen (Retd) Mohammad Safdar (Punjab), Air Marshal (Retd) Mohammed Azim Daudpota (Sindh), Lt Gen (Retd) Mohammad Shafiq (NWFP) and Justice (Retd) Amirul Mulk Mengal (Baluchistan).

According to the daily, the chief of general staff based at the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and the corp commanders at Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta would retain the law and order portfolios and the police and law enforcing agencies including federal services would report to them.

Even the intelligence agencies, both military and civilian like the military intelligence, corps intelligence, ISI and the intelligence bureau, would operate under the corps commanders, the report said.

The commanderswould also keep control over the services and general administration department that is responsible for transfers and postings of the provincial civil servants thus bringing the entire civilian administration under the direct control of the army.

There would be some appointments of technocrats to look after areas like finance, excise, irrigation, local bodies, town planning and revenue but even these important postings and transfers would have to be routed through the respective chief secretaries who would be under control of the army.