Need stressed for arrangement between army, civil society
By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, May 29: To save the country from disaster, an arrangement between the army and the civil society will have to be worked out, speakers told a seminar here.
Speaking on “Judicial Crisis and the Future of Democratic Reform in Pakistan” at Washington’s Heritage Foundation, speakers warned that the country was going through a crisis that could threaten its very existence if not resolved soon.
According to them, the government does not want to enforce martial law to end the judicial crisis as it would do great harm to the country and will be bad for the army as well.
But the government wants to resolve this crisis on its own conditions, which includes: continuation of the judicial system as it existed before March 9 when Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was suspended, and the president retaining his uniform. President Gen Pervez Musharraf also wants to seek re-election from the current parliament in two months, hold the elections and win them to stay in power.
A deal with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is possible if the government withdraw the corruption cases against her. While Gen Musharraf is willing to put the cases aside, he does not want to withdraw them.
Another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, according to the speakers, wants no deal and is not interested in the elections either. He wants Gen Musharraf to step down.
If the elections were held as scheduled, no political party will have an overwhelming majority.
Judicial crisis: The government does not want to restore the Chief Justice. It wants to prolong the case, which may get into next year.
The government fears that if the Chief Justice is restored, Gen Musharraf may not get what he wants.
