Adil Najam
ATP has closely followed, what is now called the “Judicial Crisis”, carefully and with grave concern from its very beginning. We have been sad when things went wrong, been elated when they things went right, and rejoiced at the democratic sentiment that has often been expressed through this movement. In all cases, we have struggled to find the deeper meaning in all of this for the future of politics in Pakistan.
We have remained quiet on this in recent days, not because we have lost interest - far from it, we have been glued to the news on this - but because it has not at all been clear what is really happening and where things are really going on this issue. There is too much “noise’ and not enough “signal” in what is being said or heard about the issue.
The news today seems unambiguous. But one is really not sure if it is. Supposedly, the PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif has proclaimed that a resolution will be tabled on May 12 for the restoration of the judges who were removed and an agreement to this effect has been reached with the PPP and the other coalition partners. We certainly hope it is so.
But details on exactly how the restoration will happen and what the “package” will be, remain sketchy. To be fair, that has to be so at this stage. But, also to be fair, given the roller coaster ride we have all been through, we are going to hold our breath on this for just a little longer. At least till May 12. To find out clearly and in detail what this means, for whom, and how. We hope for the best for the country. But we will keep our fingers crossed. At least for now.
According to The News, this is the situation:
The resolution in connection with judges’s restoration will be presented in the Parliament on May 12, said PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif here on Friday. Addressing a meeting of Central Working Committee, Nawaz Sharif said agreement with Pakistan People’s Party Co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari has been reached on judges reinstatement and the deposed judges will be restored on May 12 through a resolution to November 2 position. Nawaz Sharif said he tried to convince Asif Zardari during Dubai talks that they should stay united to keep the military away from politics. “I also made it clear that if judges are not restored the PML-N would no longer by part of the cabinet,” he added. He proposed to PPP Co-chairman to strike down seventeenth amendment of the Constitution and to impeach the President Pervez Musharraf. He said a 5-member committee comprising Aitezaz Ahsan, Khawaja Haris, Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim, Hafeez Pirzada and Mian Raza Rabbani will give final shape to the draft resolution for judges’ restoration. The committee will complete its working on constitutional package in the next four to five days, Nawaz Sharif informed.
The Associated Press, however, starts its story a little differently:
Pakistan’s leaders have set May 12 as the date to restore judges ousted by President Pervez Musharraf, a top official said Friday, further threatening Musharraf’s already diminished grip on power. Restoring the judges has been a top priority for the two main parties in Pakistan’s month-old government, but disputes over how to bring the judges back had threatened to break up the ruling coalition. After marathon talks in Dubai this week, coalition officials finally came to a deal.
It does seem that the Associated Press is showing more hesitancy than Nawaz Sharif actually did. Maybe, because they also quote some others who are less sanguine about what may or may not happen on May 12:
Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, a former minister and prominent Musharraf ally, predicted the coalition’s plan would run into legal problems. A constitutional amendment was required to reverse Musharraf’s purge of the courts, he said. “Forget the judges. Even a low-ranking official cannot be restored by such a resolution,” Ahmad said.
… Bringing the judges back bodes ill for the unpopular president, who seized power from Sharif in a 1999 military coup. The judges could also revisit Musharraf’s disputed re-election. Even if they don’t, some argue the humiliation of the judges returning could prompt Musharraf to resign.
Musharraf would have to be “absolutely shameless” to continue as president if the judges come back, said Khawaja Asif, a key Sharif aide. He said Musharraf also risked impeachment. The coalition parties have been trying to turn the tables on the president since they routed his supporters in February elections on an anti-Musharraf platform.
The PPP, led by Asif Ali Zardari, the widower and political successor of Benazir Bhutto, wanted to link the restoration of the judges to a broader package of judicial reforms. But Sharif had urged the restoration be kept separate. Sharif said Friday that the package was still no more than a set of “proposals” and that the parties legal experts would continue to work on it. The reforms could crimp the tenure and powers of Chaudhry, who had shown an unusual degree of independence in the past, including probing complaints that Pakistan’s spy agencies were holding opposition activists secretly.
Musharraf had accused Chaudhry of corruption and conspiring against Pakistan’s gradual return to democracy. Zardari, meanwhile, has said Chaudhry and other judges were “playing politics” and failed to deliver justice to him during the years he spent in jail on unproven corruption charges. Sharif said he would never accept Musharraf as president even if he agreed to give up his power to dissolve the parliament — another key target of the ruling coalition. “We will not accept him even if he accepts everything,” he said. “His illegal and unconstitutional status cannot change until he gives up his office.”
Meanwhile, the news in general is a welcome one. It shows progress and in the right direction. Lets all keep an eye on where things go from here.What is clear, however, is that the saga is far from completed. ATP - like the rest of Pakistan - will keep watching with interest.
ATP Friends,
I think that on the surface we can hope. However I must stress that the Doggar Court must die otherwise its all a waste of time. I know that a great game of deceit is at play and have a read on this new perspective available below:
http://www.otherpakistan.org/the-judiciary.html
Please pass news of the deceit on so the nation resists such evil.
Feimanallah
Wasim
Pakistan is the land of pure where no one is sincere with himself too. I dont think Nawaz and Asif will resolve this issue permanantly.
Is there any country in the world where you find ambassodors of others counteries visiting every city and meeting nazims & politicians and above all governing all issues and politics? I feel this is mockery of our independence and we are being ruled by others by using white faces in Islamabad.
Point is this that actual rulers / colonists are not intersted in restoration of Judiciary. So you will find one or other reason of delay by all these pawns till the issue will be dead or it will be inaffective even it is restored.
A very timely post on a very serious issue that is taking everything hostage for the last many months. Even the new government cannot function unless this scary uncertainty continues. However, one gets dismayed at some of the un-serious comments posted here. May be most of the commentators are giving it a ‘birds eye view’ e.g watching country’s events from a distance. But, for those who are facing it’s consequances right here can be the genuine analysts.
The fact is, that one party who has been a major beneficiary of NRO, a foreign brokered agreement that absolved it of many court cases, cannot afford to restore the pre-Nov 3 judiciary and is understandably trying its best to wriggle out of the ‘Murree declaration’ (MD) though they vehemently deny this.
The other party, on the other hand, is fruitlessly trying to save the coalition by showing flexibility on MD. I hope that May 12 will be a true date but if it doesn’t then the only option for this party will be: to quit. Even if May 12 becomes reality, a larger crisis is surely in the waiting steered by none other then the aggrieved party, the ‘camp office’.
Besides, the fact is that a free and independent judiciary is in no party’s favor. It will require many years for our rulers, civil or ‘un-civil’ to come to terms with the idea. Until, such times it will be seen nothing but sloganeering. Points are being scored rather than establishing ‘rule of law’.
Another slogan making rounds these days is ‘independent media’ how sincere are the official utterances, can be seen in Ansar Abbasi’s article in today’s The News at www.thenews.com.pk.
No denying the fact that economic crisis country is currently facing requires urgent attention. But, can the new govt. struggling badly to survive, honestly be blamed for it. Expecting them to clean the mess, created by the ‘runaway economic wizard’ of the past under the self made holder of ‘continuty’, overnight is unfair.
In all fairness, we all kept listening to their false rhetorics about the ’shining economy’ and did nothing and now we are asking the new one’s to put everything right as if they are holding a ‘magic wand’.
So, the situation demands more serious efforts from the stakeholders mainly, the people of Pakistan.
I think the May 12 date has been given so that Zardari can buy more time, otherwise they could have restored the judges right away.
Some things to note are
1. The NRO benifits the PPP and the PCO judges ruled Musharraf’s presidency legal. So both have a convergence of interest.
2. Zardari is insisting on retaining the PCO judges, including the ones appointed after Nov 3. The PPP-Mush deal was made even before Nov 3 and BB was fully aware of Mush’s plans to impose the martial law. The new judges appointed after Nov 3 must have been approved by the PPP too. So naturally, the PPP wants those judges to remain.
3. Zardari dislikes CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry and likes Dogar. The constitutional package must therefore include provisions to reduce the tenure of CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry and make way for Dogar to become the CJ after him as soon as possible. The package will also dilute the powers of the CJ in constituting benches, and again, this will make Dogar more influencial.
4. The presidency is considering going to the Dogar court for a petition to stop the resolution for the reinstatement of the non-PCO judges.
5. Zardari has indicated that he is willing to work with PML-Q if if it is led by someone other than Ch Shujat or Pervez Elahi. There is now talk of making Pir Pagara the chief of a united PML.
6. NS is in a difficult situation. If he continues with his stance in favour of the real judges, he has to quit the government, leaving PPP, PML-Q and MQM in power. If he tries to stay in power and agrees to a compromise on the judges issue, then he loses the credibility that he has recently gained and this is bound to affect his party’s vote bank in its strongholds.
strongholds.
Conclusion:
Zardari will do something fishy before May 12 to avoid restoring the judges, delay the matter further, or in case all else fails, restore the judges in a way that the juddiciary is totally ineffective (CJ Iftikhar’s powers and tenure reduced and Dogar and other PCO judges there to protect the NRO and Zardari’s corruption).
@Mian ji, kisi makhmasy mein,
Sheron mulkon mein, jo yeh Mir kahata hay mian,
Dideni hay, pa bohat kam nazar atta hay mian
Qismat us bazm mein l’ai, keh jahan ka saqqi,
dey hay mée sab ko, hamien zehar pilata hay mian
Ustad Mir
We dont understand that this is just a smoke on the mirror for personal gains, lets knock some senses in ourselves to figure out how to put the poor slobs of the country on a right track.
Instead of discussing who is going to be on top and who is a bottom these two bozos (my apology again) could have discussed how to burn atleasst cow pies in villages to produce some freakin electricity because people are suffering as we speak makes me mad!
1. Everybody talk about 12th May….but no one talk about following
-Liaquat assassinated; high level inquiry promised
October 16 1951, Rawalpindi. Liaquat Ali Khan was shot dead today by one Said Akber, only moments after he rose to address a huge public meeting at Company Bagh, Rawalpindi.
Following the radio broadcast of the news, all public and commercial activities are shut down, as the nation prepares to mourn the death of its first PM.
said.jpg (2737 bytes)
Assassin Said Akbar, killed on the spot.
Some observers are concerned about the identity of those who might really have backed Said Akber (seen dead here), who was killed by the \’angry crowd\’ just after he had fired the bullets. Anxieties also lurk about the contents of the PM\’s last speech which he could never deliver, and which has not been released to the press.
Riots in Karachi
January 4 1965. Ethnic riots erupt in Karachi as citizens protest against violation of Section 144 by President’s son and Pukhtoon transporters, who took out a procession to celebrate election victory. Aggressors raid colonies in the night. Bloody massacres are witnessed, yet official sources claim only six dead.
Anti- corruption or systematic dismissal of Urdu Speaking people from Civil Service 1972
March Around 2000 government servants have been dismissed during the last three months as part of Bhutto’s campaign to \”root out corruption.\”
Ethnic riots in Sindh
July 8 1972 Following the passage of the Sindhi Language Bill yesterday, terrible ethnic riots errupt in Sindh, dividing the province along ethnic lines with Urdu-speakers and those who speak Sindhi pitted against each other.
Clean-up mess
Karachi, December 13 1986 The operation launched yesterday in Sohrab Goth, aimed at ridding the area of drugs and weapons, ends in failure. Only 65 kilos of heroin, one Kalashnikov and 2,000 rounds of ammunition are recovered from what is considered to be one of the most important transit posts in the international heroin trade. A high-level leak is suspected to be the cause for the failure.
Orangi killings
Karachi, December 14 1986 An unprecedented massacre of innocent citizens takes place in Qasba Colony, Aligarh Colony and Sector 1-D of Orangi in the early hours of the morning as several hundred marauders open fire on residents with Kalashnikovs and 7mm rifles, setting fire to homes in the area. The police refuse to intervene in what is viewed as a revenge attack by Pakhtuns on a largely mohajir locality. The carnage continues until around 4 pm, when the army is finally called in. The official death toll is 49, and several hundred more are injured.
Sindh succumbs to violence
Sep 30 1988 Unknown snipers in Hyderabad kill 120 in a brutal massacre; army called in to restore order and curfew imposed
Massacre in Hyderabad
May 27 1990 More than 60, including women and children, die in Hyderabad Pucca Qila area during a police operation, heightening the growing tension between the MQM and the PPP
These are the extracts of News paper death toll of Urdu speaking people are way beyond from the above figures as ll of them were Gov Press releases.
After all that you people remember only 12 May??
Allah have mercy on this city in coming time.
Both Sharif and Zardari have unnecessarily been festinating and procrastinating the judiciary issue respectively. But still there are lot of hiccups and hurdles to resolve it. Thanks to Musharraf and his constitutional gurus (Pirzarada & Malik) for besmearing our Constitution.