February 20, 2008	Wednesday	Safar 12, 1429

LAHORE, Feb 19: Federal Law Minister Syed Afzal Haider sees many legal and constitutional complications in the removal of the president and the restoration of the pre-emergency judiciary.

Repudiating the demands in this regard made by Nawaz Sharif, Afzal Haider told Dawn on Tuesday he saw little, if not an unviable, chance of their realisation.

Despite the free and fair elections and a smooth transition to a democratic future, the electoral limerick of the PML-N continues. Hinging on the removal of Gen Musharraf and the restoration of the pre-Nov 3 judiciary, the success of the PML-N will lose its celebratory timbre unless it upholds its manifesto after occupying those much coveted seats in the provincial and national assemblies.

The law minister said: “The removal of the president and the restoration of pre-emergency judiciary are no simple matters. Since an executive order can’t restore the judiciary and annul laws endorsed by the previous parliament, they will need to be done through extremely complicated legal procedures. The parliament will need to pass laws as well as amend Article 209 of the Constitution. Let’s not get into confrontation. The reality is that the president’s election was endorsed by the previous National Assembly and the emergency was legalised by the Supreme Court. Those two should be our starting points.”

If for no other reason than the spring cleaning of its past, mildew closet, it will be difficult for the PML-N to follow the federal law minister’s advice.

“Let’s assume for a moment that the judiciary is restored, where will the present judges go? Do you know that the Nov 3 emergency was the shortest in the history of Pakistan? I held a number of meetings with President Musharraf and advised him to lift the emergency as soon as possible, hold transparent elections, helped release 5,454 lawyers and political prisoners, made sure after meeting Atizaz Ahsan and Tariq Mahmood that they should be shifted to their residences, sanctioned the judges’ pension and personally drafted the law to establish the Islamabad High Court. All of those were approved by the president along with the law to control and command nuclear assets. All that is significant and should not be twisted around for political gains,” defends Haider, who will be assuming the charge of a judge at the Federal Shariat Court next month.

The law minister feels vindicated by the results of the general election.

“The free and fair electoral transition to democracy has validated Gen Musharraf’s position as the constitutional head of this country.”

Afzal Haider explained his rationale to join the interim setup which administered polls under intense pressure from various political parties accusing the government of pre-poll rigging.

—Shehar Bano Khan