Adil Najam
As our ongoing ATP Poll on what should happen after the NRO decision by by the Supreme Court shows, there are many options but little clarity on what will happen nexts. Ministers are being stopped at airports. Summons are supposedly being sent to Ministers. PPP leaders are coming to the defense of their colleagues. And the PPP is vowing to go back to the courts to clear their name. In short, uncertainty rules Pakistan politics, again.
This is clearly a challenging political moment for Pakistan. But it can also be a precedent-setting moment. A moment where the process of democracy and rule of law reconcile with each other without offending the basic principles of either. Uncertainty must not be allowed to morph into chaos, but the rule of law must also be maintained. If. Mr. Zardari and the PPP show political maturity in this moment, they could come out with more support than they had a week ago. But will they?
This editorial from Dawn seems to sum up many of the issues quite well.
In the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court’s judgment on the NRO, the ever-churning political waters in the country have been stirred to a frenzy. Uncertainty, if not panic, is detectable in the ranks of the PPP brain trust as the judicial wheels have swiftly started turning with unknown consequences. Meanwhile, sections of the media have gone into overdrive against ‘tainted’ and ‘immoral’ NRO beneficiaries, regardless of whether the cases had resulted in convictions or not.
Panic, glee, consternation, joy — amid the welter of emotions, few have thought to step back from the cacophony and find a way to protect the system and the transition to democracy. The post-NRO political landscape need not degenerate into a zero-sum game where the fate of individuals is elevated in importance above the fate of the system.
First things first, the judicial process unfolding to take the 8,000-odd beneficiaries of the NRO to their pre-Oct 5, 2007 status must be conducted with deliberateness and thoughtfulness. It is a process with no precedent in the country and it should be guided by the experts, unaffected by the political polemicists with barely concealed agendas. At the moment, it seems anyone who may or may not have ever seen a legal textbook or may or may not know the difference between civil and criminal proceedings is expounding on the effects of the NRO judgment. Such ‘expertise,’ whether well-intentioned or not, is certainly undesirable. It is imperative that the judiciary in consultation with the relevant parts of the executive be allowed to develop a road map based on the Supreme Court’s judgment to restore the pre-Oct 5, 2007 position of the NRO beneficiaries — undoing an illegality, however blatant, must be done along legal principles, not political expediencies.
Next, the political forces on both sides must proceed with caution. The PPP-led government at the centre must resist the urge, if any, to ‘respond’ to its detractors. Instead, it must demonstrate a genuine will to implement the Supreme Court’s order and allow the law to run its course. After years, if not a decade, of claiming that ‘political persecution’ was behind the cases registered against its member, now is truly an opportunity for them to clear their names and get a fresh start. The opposition, meanwhile, needs to be mindful that any short-term ‘gains’ to be had by rocking the system can morph into long-term damage if it creates space for extra-constitutional forces to create mischief. The democratic system can emerge stronger from this watershed event, but only if everyone keeps one eye on weeding out corruption and the other on protecting the democratic system.
Meanwhile, our ATP Poll on what should happen next is still open; if you have not voted yet, please do.
PPP is a non democratic, family run business which happens to be politics. I remember Zulfiqar Bhutto threating then leaders of West Pakistan to break their legs to reconcile with East Pakistan. In my opinion ppp is not going to deliver as the history tells us, you cannot shame the shameless.
Imran Khan is the ONLY solution for Pakistan.
It is no secret that the perception of the people of Pakistan is that the President is corrupt. If this is not so, let the court appoint an independent prosecutor to handle all such cases. Once and for ever this misconception will be cleared off peoples minds. This can only happen if the accused are sincere in clearing their name as they have done no wrong.
Independent prosecutors were appointed in the Watergate case for Nixon and in the Lewinsky case for Clinton. I consider Zardari innocent till proven guilty.
Let there be rule of law in Pakistan and in future the accusers should be aware that that there is an authority that can expose them, and the same will stand for the accused.
The current govt has been democratically elected by the people, and should complete its term. The PPP needs to resist this judicial coup, disguised as “justice”.
I am no fan of Asif Zardari but even I recognize that the man spent 10 years in prison without a single conviction. That is enormous injustice delivered by the corrupt, shameless and compromised courts of Pakistan.
This a moment in history when in Pakistan democracry and rule of law can be truly established. Once again, PPP are being given this opportunity to do the right thing for the nation. We hope that this time they will truly rise to the occassion and not let the country go towards anarchy, division or yet another military take over. In my opinion, all ministers and officials in power who are among 278 names affected by NRO must resign, Governemnt should establsih additional courts and try all those on NRO list, exonerate them or punish them as required by the law and furthermore, those who brought these false charges or political charges should also be held accountable and should either be sent to jail or pay large fines or both