Adil Najam
In yet another historic decision, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has decided that former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, exiled by Gen. Musharaf, can return to Pakistan. According to The News:
The Supreme Court of Pakistan in a landmark verdict on constitutional petitions of Mian Nawaz Sharif and his brother Mian Shahbaz Sharif, Thursday announced that Sharif Brothers are Pakistanis and can return home and participate in the national politics. The seven-member larger bench of the apex court, led by Chief Justice Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, in a brief judgment said that under Article-15 of the constitution, the petitioners are citizens of Pakistan and therefore their petition is hearable. According to the Supreme Court’s decision, under Article 3 of the constitution no citizen of the country can be kept outside the country and cannot be stopped from his or her return to home.
The document presented by the government on previous day has no constitutional position. Senior lawyer Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim appeared before the court in the case on behalf of Sharif Brothers. Attorney-General Malik Qayyum, Ahmed Raza Kasuri and Ibrahim Satti were the counsels of the federation. Reacting on the decision, Hamza Shahbaz, son of Nawaz Sharif, talking with Geo News said that the Supreme Court’s decision is the victory of Nawaz Sharif’s eight-year stand. During these eight years, Sharif Brothers have spent very hard time. He said that this decision is not the victory of any individual but of Pakistan.
The Pakistan Muslim League (N) has welcomed the verdict announced by the larger bench of the Supreme Court. Leader of party Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that a delegation of his party would soon go to London to determine the procedure of the Sharif Brothers’ returning home. Immediate after the decision, people seemed very enthusiast outside the Supreme Court and thousands of PML (N) workers chanted slogans.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has, once again, rendered a decision that has not just created a buzz but effectively changed the entire political landscape of Pakistan. The big news here is the potential return of Nawaz Sharif but the continuing big news is that the institutional reincarnation of the Supreme Court of Pakistan which has become which has effectively become what it was meant to be. The final arbiter of constitutional sheninigans by political forces.
This means that unless extraordinary measures are taken by the government, we could be set for a real political showdown in the next elections. What this does to PML(Q) – or for that matter to PML (N) as well as other parties – is to be seen. But heads will already be spinning about which karwatt this oont will eventually settle.
It is also interesting that while all the deal-talk went on between Benazir Bhutto and Pervaiz Musharraf, Nawaz Sharif’s political capital might actually have been expanding. Even if he had stuck to principal just because he could not do otherwise, there are many who have actually found his stand to be ‘principled’ and it is likely that between that and this decision, his political capital has in fact increased… at least in the short term. What remains to be seen is whether he and his party will be able to politically capitalize on this; and how.
Now the diminishing genre, known as the Musharraf supporters, have started calling the SC’s decisions “biased”. They didn’t find these decisions any biased when they were for Mush and not against him.
When the SC gives a verdict its not the CJP’s individual decision but the decision of more than one judges of the Supreme Court.
Also Mush supporters must realize that his government is illegal and unconstitutional and cannot stand any ground in any independent court. So if the SC has now discovered the constitution it goes to the SC’s credit and not against them. That is how Pakistan should be governed and not some arrogant General who has no regard for the law, the constitution or the people.
Let the People of Pakistan decide which leader they choose through the ballot…. Let them decide who they feel have looted the country and needs to be booted out…
Let’s not leave it to the whim on an “individual” who has the greatest stake in that decision for his own survival. The entire nation on one side demanding all leaders to return being blocked by a General who insists that the only way he’ll agree to that is if “they” – the two national leaders agree to accept HIM as the President for next 5 years!!
If the General feels that he’ll get away with this, it is wishful thinking of a dying man.. If he forces his way through extra constitutional methods, he will dig his own grave! and he knows that very well. That is why the stampede of his cronies to London to beg BB and Nawaz for some sort of a deal…
Don’t pay too much attention to bloggers views. Just look at the ground realities as they are evolving on a daily basis.
I dislike all of them, BB, NS and the Big General. CJP may, or may not , be biased against the govt for personal reasons. However, strictly on merit, I still think that SC has made the right decision. C ourts, or govt, should not have the power to keep out the citizens of Pakistan. If someone wants to stay out of their own choice, that is their personal decision.
It is an equally outrageous demand by those charged with corruption that cases against them be withdrawn. If they feel the cases are politically motivated and fake, then it is up to the a courts to decide based on evidence (or lack of it).
By all means, the military must be made accountable as well. Why don’t the politicl parties work with eac other to move the court on this issue, and to affect any constitutional amendments, if necessary? Since they want to lead the country, let them lead on such issues which are important to the ordinary citizen.
The truth is that they are all opportunistic, and their claims to to the leadership of the people of Pakistan are nothing but hollow and hypocritical.
DO YOU SEE ANY LOGIC TO THIS MADNESS? THE ENTIRE NATION MINUS A FEW WANT HIM OUT. HOWEVER THE SELF PROCLAIMED SAVIOR INSISTS OTHERWISE… “LIKE EVERY DICTATOR, HE WILL BE THE LAST MAN TO GET THE REALITY THAT IS ABOUT TO HIT HIM!!”
Nation Newspaper Report: Musharraf ready to doff uniform before re-election
Afzal khan
ISLAMABAD – President Gen Pervez Musharraf
Also, NS should return now that the courts are independent enough to rule against the government. If he has not commited any corruption, he should be willing to face the cases. The excuse that the courts are not free is no longer valid and if BB and NS still need to negotiate some kind of deal with Mush to get corruption cases dropped, then it means there must be some truth to those cases.