• Home
• /
• Opinion

Another Crisis in Pakistan

It will not be presumptuous to say that politics in Pakistan has now entered a decisive phase. An unsettling prospect, especially since the country needs inner stability to meet its onerous challenges on the security front.

The latest confrontation is centred round the issue of judicial appointments. A rapidly escalating situation has now seen opposition parties coming out in the open against President Asif Ali Zardari’s recent orders issued against Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry’s recommendations. Luckily, the country was saved from the imposition of an emergency even as tempers soared and the Court struck down 
presidential orders.

The situation is far from defused despite Prime Minister Yousaf Reza Gillani’s attempts to downplay the crisis. Gillani’s previous efforts to appease an increasingly disgruntled Nawaz Sharif, who heads the second largest political party, PML-N are not likely to bear results this 
time around.

Sharif has apparently decided to strike the iron while it is hot. Tired of having been played the fool repeatedly by Zardari, Sharif has vowed unflinching support for an independent judiciary. He has gone so far as to call the president the ‘biggest threat to democracy”. Interestingly, Sharif has linked his struggle against Zardari’s judicial machinations — widely perceived as attempts to control future judicial decisions by selective appointments — to following up on the Court’s ruling on the infamous National Reconciliation Ordinance, whose biggest beneficiary is the president himself. Surprisingly, after the NRO verdict last December, Sharif had displayed unusual reticence in pursuing the matter, leaving it to his party stalwarts in lashing out occasionally against the government.

President Zardari’s ill-advised actions, in violation of the constitution, have only landed him in a humiliating position. Moreover, it has strengthened the perception that the presidency is on a warpath with the judiciary. The current situation is reminiscent of former President Pervez Musharraf’s fight against Chief Justice Chaudhry, who was reinstated by popular will last March, much to the chagrin of Zardari. How that fared for Musharraf is well-known. Stigmatised by corruption, Zardari faces a far graver predicament. With the PML-N and opposition baying for his blood and demanding a reversal to the 1973 Constitution — that automatically removes the extra powers vested in the president — he stands to lose both authority and possible criminal prosecution, in case his immunity gets challenged.

It is surprising that the government, while crying hoarse about upholding the constitution and law, embarks on a totally divergent course of action. The whole scenario portends instability, as protests by lawyers and PPP supporters could turn violent. It is hoped that better counsel prevails among all the state institutions and they can resolve their differences amicably. The public mood is all for supporting an independent judiciary, one that is above working for the personal interests of whoever is in power.