On a visit to Pakistan in November Mr Ghani broke with protocol by calling on the all-powerful army chief, General Raheel Sharif, as well as on the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif (who is no relation).
The National Assembly, stuffed with members of the ruling party, hurriedly changed the constitution, and four generals from the all-powerful army announced that one of Eyadéma's many children, Faure Gnassingbé, had replaced his father as head of state.In this section Should the West always be worried if Islamists win elections?
Crucially, the all-powerful army, which cancelled the election that the FIS was on the point of winning in 1991, and shoe-horned Mr Bouteflika into the presidency in 1999 after all the other candidates withdrew, has now officially declared its neutrality.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which published the video, claimed, "It's clear that the all-powerful army — once quarantined from food shortages and famine — is starting to go hungry," and The Atlantic's Web site concluded, "North Korea is nearing a hunger epidemic".
"A decision has been made by the army to act against these elements who have been always attached to the army in the past," he said, crediting the policy change to Raheel Sharif, the general who took command of Pakistan's all-powerful army in 2013.
There is however no direct indication of what exactly the all-powerful army desires.
He doubts the prospect of better relations with Islamabad, warning that "major breakthroughs are unlikely amid the current political flux within Pakistan and Sharif's deteriorating relations with the all-powerful army".
It has returned the once all-powerful army -- four coups in as many decades -- to the barracks, shifted power away from Istanbul elites to central and eastern Turkey, eased up on domestic repression, and even begun coming to terms with its large Kurdish minority.
He has visited several military sites and been seen mixing with top brass in what analysts say is a move designed to win the all-powerful army's backing for the succession process.
We will have not only a powerful army but also a powerful air force and a powerful navy".
Indonesia does not have a tradition of coups, but it does have a powerful army.
