Pakistan's political woes after Supreme Court ruling
Photo: AFP
PAKISTAN'S judiciary was generally perceived as subservient to the executive, whether it was under political or military leadership. Political leaders such as the late Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto, .Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif were as arbitrary and as ruthless in imposing their will on the judiciary as Gen.Zia-ul-Haq and Gen. Musharraf were. It goes to the credit of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry that he broke from this past habit of subservience. In a landmark verdict on petitions from individual petitioners, on 16th December, the Supreme Court ruled that all the benefits given under the amnesty- National Reconcilation Ordinance, (NRO) 2007- cases withdrawn, acquittals made - are declared void. Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said in announcing the ruling of the 17-member bench. Lawyers chanted slogans in Islamabad as they celebrated after the Supreme Court of Pakistan announced its decision to strike down the amnesty that had protected President Asif Ali Zardari and some aides from corruption charges, raising the prospect of political turmoil and uncertainty. Pakistani newspapers have welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to annul the amnesty. "Zardari: an accused President," a front page headline in The News said. Observers believe that President Zardari was not surprised at the ruling as he was anticipating this turn of events. It may be recalled President Zardari was unwilling to reinstate the Supreme Court Judges sacked by President Musharraf under emergency rule in November 2007 because he knew that the NRO would be challenged at the Supreme Court and there was a possibility that it would be struck down by the Court led by Chief Justice Chaudhry. However, the Judges of the Supreme Court including the Chief Justice were reinstated last March by the government which came under severe pressure from the people's movement led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The NRO was "the most discriminatory piece of legislation. It just stood the rule of law on its head," says Maleeha Lodhi, a former ambassador to the United States. "But of course it comes at a challenging and pivotal moment for Pakistan," she continues. "A great deal will depend on what the aftermath will be." Last November, the government tabled the Ordinance in parliament but quickly withdrew it after sensing that political opposition was too strong. The Court ordered all cases of corruption to be reopened in Pakistani Courts against people who were covered by the amnesty, which was signed by former President General Pervez Musharraf to facilitate a deal between the former ruler and Benazir Bhutto, Zardari's late wife. Furthermore, the Supreme Court ordered the government to approach Swiss authorities to reopen cases of corruption against President Zardari. Some analysts say that the decision does not signify the strengthening of the democratic process and civilian institutions; rather it strengthens the armed forces and their ability to manipulate political stakeholders. There are fears that Zardari's fight for political survival could divert his government's attention from supporting President Barack Obama's new drive against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda on either side of the Afghan border. Generals ruled Pakistan for half the time since its independence in 1947. Civilians have ruled the country only for 27 years out of 62 years. Against the background, in the past whenever civilian governments wanted to bring the military establishment under their control, they fell into trouble. The first attempt was made by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto when the army lost its reputation by surrendering to the joint command of Indian army and Mukti Bahini in Dhaka on December 16, 1971. The military establishment was weak and he tried to do it through building institutional mechanisms such as the joint chiefs of staff committee and the defence ministry and putting all service chiefs under the supreme command of the prime minister. He soon was toppled by a military coup led by General Zia ul Haq who ruled from 1977 to 1988. Nawaz Sharif was the second leader to get a similar opportunity. He belonged to the most powerful ethnic group (Punjabi) and had managed to infiltrate the higher rungs of the officer cadre. The military saw a threat to their command structure controlled by civilian government and he was toppled by General Musharraf in 1999 and he ruled until 2008. Most recently, Asif Zardari also thought of undercutting the phenomenal power of the military by convincing the United States to support the civilian set-up versus the military. Although the President's party, PPP, appears to have adopted a posture of confrontation in the wake of Supreme Court's verdict against the NRO, a demand by Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf chairman Imran Khan for mid-term elections has not gained any support from major opposition parties. Almost all important parties which contested the February 2008 polls as well as those which boycotted them are of the view that mid-term polls are not a solution to the political crisis now faced by the country. Pakistan Muslim League-N spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said his party would fully support the Pakistan People's Party government to enable it to complete its constitutional term. He said the PPP leadership could help itself by realistically resolving various issues. As a first step, he suggested, it could ask the beneficiaries of the National Reconciliation Ordinance to step down and get their names cleared by courts. He said the PML-N had always rejected the NRO and decided to contest all cases against its leaders in courts. He said the PPP had failed to introduce an agreed accountability law in two years, adding that matters could get out of hands if an impartial commission was not set up soon to handle all corruption cases. Jamaat-i-Islami chief Syed Munawar Hasan said that snap polls at this juncture would only help to bring another US ally to power after ousting the government which had sided with the Americans and sacrificed national interests. 'People should rally around our 'Go America, go' campaign to force US forces to quit the region so that future elections can bring about a real change.' Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam secretary general Abdul Ghafoor Haideri said the government should ask the NRO beneficiaries to step down instead of giving an impression of confrontation with the judiciary. He said that if a change was necessary it could be brought about inside parliament, instead of through fresh polls. While President Zardari enjoys immunity, his opponents plan to argue that, with his corruption charges now restored, he was ineligible to run for office in the first place and must step down. Meanwhile, Zardari vowed to fight back to clear his name. His political lifeline may be saved if he comes to an agreement with his opponent Nawaz Sharif as relations between them have become better in recent times. Another option for Zardari is to select and appoint a new chief of army who is loyal to him when General Kayani's tenure expires in November 2010. With 30,000 soldiers battling the Taliban, Army officials may feel too busy to step in anyway. And like many Pakistanis, the military brass may not mind watching Zardari fall. While the government officials and Ministers are affected with corruption charges, including President Zardari himself, the question over whether they should morally stay there with the cloud of corruption hanging over them is not going away. It appears that Pakistan is in for a spell of struggle of power between judiciary and government and between civilian government and military establishment. The author is former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.
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