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Pakistan’s lost cause

Pakistan’s political parties are readying to turn the page on the judges’ issue. The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) appears to have backed down from its earlier position that the judges dismissed by Pervez Musharraf when he imposed emergency rule in November 2007 must be restored unconditionally to their pre-emergency positions. The party wanted this done through a resolution of parliament to underline the illegality of the dismissal. But now it has given its c onsent to a formula proposed by the Pakistan People’s Party, the senior ruling coalition partner, for the reinstatement of the dismissed judges as well as the retention of those appointed by President Musharraf to replace them. The PPP introduced the formula in an unusual way — by means of a clause in the Finance Bill providing for the expansion of the Supreme Court from 16 to 29 judges. This is meant to absorb the dismissed judges of the court — 10 in all, after excluding the retirements in this period — and provide for three new appointments while keeping the Musharraf judges. On Sunday, the PML(N) assisted in the passage of the Finance Bill, the democratic coalition’s budget for 2008-2009, through the National Assembly. It remains to be seen how the Lahore High Court’s disqualification of Nawaz Sharif from the June 26 by-election will affect the party’s new position.

The PML(N) is also yet to decide on the judiciary-related amendments to the constitution proposed by the PPP; they include a fixed tenure for the Chief Justice, which will cut short the Iftikhar Chaudhary’s term in office. What is clear however is that the lawyers’ movement for the judiciary has run its course. Their recent ‘long march’ failed to change the PPP’s mind on the judges. Bereft of PML(N) support, the lawyers have no strong political voice lobbying for their cause. Fortunately, they did not take their rally to the point of a physical confrontation with the government, or the storming of the Supreme Court and Parliament. Revolting against the dictator was one thing; it took a lot of courage but was a relatively simple decision to make. Confrontation with a democratically elected government during its early days in office will be to take on a lot more. Among the protesters were retired army generals with dubious Taliban- and jihadist-littered backgrounds, angry students from the destroyed Lal Masjid-Jamia Hafsa, and cadres of the Jamat-i-Islami and its cohorts. So what message would the ‘success’ of the rally have sent to the people of Pakistan and internationally? The defeat of what began as a progressive movement against a military ruler’s constitutional coup is poignant. The PPP’s formula for restoring the judges is self-serving — it seems solely intended to give the party leadership immunity from the reopening of dropped corruption charges — and the underlying issues will not go away. But for now, the moves on the political chessboard seem sound enough.

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