Adil Najam
Today (Monday) was supposed to be the big showdown between the Supreme Court and the Government on the question of the legality of the 18th Amendment. The date for that showdown has been pushed forward to the end of the month. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is supposed to be anther big showdown between the Supreme Court and the Government; on the issue of the NRO and its beneficiaries.
Irrespective of the questions about which way either of these should or would go (or why), one looks at the news and wonders if this tension and tussle between the Supreme Judiciary and the Government has gone too far. We thought we should ask you: is this good, bad, or outright ugly?
More importantly, what might be the impacts of these developments on the institutional structures and precedents in Pakistan. Is this a sign of a maturing institutional landscape where a new balance of power and a system of checks and balances is emerging? Or is this a sign of impending breakdown of the institutional balance?
What do you think. Especially, what do you think about the longer-range impacts of these developments. No matter how these cases end, will they leave Pakistan’s politics stronger, or weaker? And why?
Judiciary will win this contest