Adil Najam

The stream of disturbing images from Islamabad continues. It has left one dumbfounded. But one must never be silent in the face of injustice. Of the many disturbing reports and images that have been floating in, there is probably none more poignantly disturbing than this one from ARY:

Saleem S. Rizvi

By cleverly tiptoeing around the land mine of constitutional issues relating to General Musharraf’s electability in uniform and his second term as president, the majority of the nine- judge bench of the apex court has rendered a decision purely wrapped in legal technicalities.

In simple words, the majority of the bench has said something to the effect that the legal questions pertaining to General Musharraf’s right to simultaneously retain the office of president and army chiefs, the constitutionality of his running for the second term, and whether he can be elected by outgoing assemblies is simply not our headache.

In other words, the Bench seems to be saying that the current political mess was created by the politicians in the first place, and it ought to be sorted out in political institutions not in the Supreme Court: This monster is not our creation.

Guest Post by Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa

Pakistan’s political situation today raises more questions about the future of politics and democratic rule in the country than it did in the past. Clearly, democratic rule cannot be engendered through covert deals. Secret agreements made in the name of transition to democracy exacerbate the problem, because any political leader who comes to power using such methods would not want to be exposed to the norms of transparency and accountability.

We get into the old cycle of the military using such leaders who employ questionable methods for coming to power, and then dumping them soon afterwards on the pretext of national security or curbing corruption. It is a game of cat and mouse which has been played for the past 60 years and will continue to be played as long as our leaders are driven by short-term gains and shy away from focusing on long-term objectives.