Pak Judicial Coup : Politics behind

--Anil Narendra    

 

Military coup is nothing new to Pakistan, but this is for the first time that it is facing a judicial coup. A new type of tussle is being witnessed there, these days. Pak Judiciary and the elected government (democracy) are on war path. It is interesting to note that both the sides are advocating their causes in the name of democracy. In this latest development, Pakistan, where Army has always been overshadowing the democratic governments, is witnessing an entirely new phenomenon. Pakistan Supreme Court disqualified Pak Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani as member of Parliament and ruled that with this he ceased to be the Prime Minister of the country. It is interesting to note that while dismissing Gilani's Parliament membership, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, in its decision referred to the Indian Judiciary. It referred to the Indian Supreme Court's rulings on two political matters of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. These matters are: Rajendra Singh Rana vs Swami Prasad Maurya (UP 2003) and Jagjit Singh vs State of Haryana. Acting on Supreme Court's decision, President Asif Ali Zardari accepted Gilani's resignation. New Prime Minister may be (has already been) nominated on Friday. It is reported that ruling Party has nominated Makhdoom Shahabuddin as its candidate for the post of the Prime Minister. At present, Makhdoom is Textile Minister and he had been very close to Benazir Bhutto. Why and how the matter reached to such a pass that the country was forced to elect a new PM? In fact, Pak Supreme Court and the Government were on a war path for last 30 months. Gilani has been accused of not obeying Court's order. He did not write to the Swiss authorities to reopen old corruption cases against Zardari. While, Gilani was of the view that so long Zardari is occupying the post of the President, no case can be instituted against him. The Supreme Court considered it as contempt of the Court. Gilani was also sentenced for 30 seconds detention on 26^th April. In fact, this story began in 2003, when a Swiss Judge convicted the present President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, his late wife, Benazir Bhutto and her mother, Nusrat Bhutto in $ 12 million graft case, which was taken as commission during the Benazir's tenure as the Prime Minister (90s). The then President of Pakistan, Parvez Musharraf issued an NRO in 2007. Under this amnesty law, corruption cases registered against almost eight thousand persons were thrown out. This facilitated the return of Benazir and Zardari to Pakistan. This led to confrontation between Musharraf and the SC and he not only dismissed the Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary from his post, but he along with a number of judges was also detained. This irritated Chief Justice Ifikhar Chaudhary to the extent that he decided to take revenge on the political system. This is an open secret that the Pak Army is a big power centre in Pakistan. When Zardari, in a clever move, came to power as a President of Pakistan, the Army was not happy and since then, Pak Army is opposing Zardari-Gilani. Meanwhile, Gilani also never tried to hide his contempt for the Army. In fact, Gilani had, a few days back, expressed his fears that the Pak Army may stage a coup. It appears that there is some sort of connivance between Pak Supreme Court and Pakistan Army. Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary is getting full support of the Army. In the meantime, the Pak Supreme Court ruled the National Reconciliation Order illegal in December 2009 and directed the Government to reopen all the cases involving the President and other persons. The Apex Court asked Gilani to contact Swiss Banks for bringing the alleged money back to Pakistan. Meanwhile, the Swiss Government closed the graft cases against Zardari involving $ 60 million on the appeal of the Pakistan Government. Gilani's stand in the matter was that since the Pak Senate had already adopted the NRO, he cannot take any action in this matter. For refusing to obey Court's orders, Gilani was sentenced for a few minutes and now he has been disqualified for PM's post. The Apex Court refused to accept his argument that the President has the privilege of amnesty under the Special Powers given to him. Gilani had contested General Elections, 2008 for the NA 157 Multan4 constituency and was declared elected. The question doing rounds in various circles these days, is can the Supreme Court declare an elected Prime Minister and Member of Parliament unqualified? A Prime Minister has been removed, but how can one be sure that the new Prime Minister would follow Court's directions? If he also maintains the same stand, then what will happen? The fat of the matter is that the ultimate target of the Supreme Court is Zardari, but Gilani has become an unnecessary scapegoat. It is clear that there is some sort of politics being played behind the scenes. These developments have pushed Pakistan towards a constitutional uncertainty, as the Cabinet got dismissed with immediate effect. Unfortunately, the Court has taken a very harsh stand. It could have referred the matter to the Election Commission of Pakistan, if it so desired, which would have taken three months' time to dispose off the matter, but the Supreme Court chose not to adopt such a course. The Government is not going to be dismissed as a result of the Court verdict, as the ruling PPP has necessary majority in the House. A section of people is of the view that in this confrontation between politicians and judiciary, both sides have opened their own fronts and are waiting for the appropriate moment to make their moves. This decision may also postpone the General Elections slated for next year. Zardari may also announce elections to the National Assembly by the year end. But, the Pakistani people are sandwiched between both these pillars of governance. The Army, too, is playing its own game. Terrorist and militant organizations are also busy in their game plans. Considering these developments, it can be said that Pakistan has entered a phase of uncertainty and insecurity.