April 30, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 23, 1429

EVEN on the final day of the promised deadline for the restoration of the deposed judges, an end to the crisis that emanated from General Pervez Musharraf’s imposition of emergency rule in November last year is still not in sight.

In fact, if last-ditch efforts to save the Dubai dialogue between PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif fail, then what was supposed to be the country’s most formidable coalition may fall apart? And all this within the first 30 days of the installation of a government which, considering Pakistan’s chequered political history, had given a new hope to the people. That’s why for most members of the public, the emerging scenario is a sad statement on the performance of all pillars of the state, particularly those dominating parliament and the executive. Some would perhaps say the situation is outright shameful.

Indeed while the scenario is quite disturbing, it’s certainly not the end of the world as some colleagues in the media, or those leading the lawyers’ movement, would have us believe. But it’s a situation that demands an explanation from two of the country’s most prominent politicians — Asif Ali Zardari and Mian Nawaz Sharif. More so from Mr Zardari because being the head of the major coalition party, he is expected to fulfil the pledge made on the issue of the deposed judges.

It’s true that the agreement to restore the deposed judges within 30 days of the formation of the new government was between the leaders of two political parties, and not with the lawyers’ leaders, members of the civil society or media. But it was a pledge made before dozens of television cameras, and in a way before the public at large. So, many observers believe, unless the two leaders come up with a satisfactory answer for not honouring (or delaying) the pledge, they will be failing in the eyes of the people who elected them to power.

Mr Zardari may have a point when he says his party did not contest the election on a platform to restore the deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry or dozens of other judges of the superior courts. His bitterness about the role of the superior courts in the past, including that of the deposed CJ, is somewhat understandable, particularly when seen in the light of their role in validating successive military take-overs or dismissal of elected governments, and denying justice to political prisoners.

People who have witnessed the treatment meted out to former prime ministers like Mr Nawaz Sharif during his trial in Karachi and Attock, or the way bail applications of senior politicians like Javed Hashmi, Asif Zardari, Yusuf Raza Gilani and many others used to be turned down without any valid reason speaks volumes about the past role of our judiciary.

But can this be turned into a personal vendetta, or be used as an excuse to clip the judiciary’s wings? Do we know what the proposed constitutional package for judicial reform contain? What good it’ll do for the people of Pakistan? And what needs to be worked out over the next two weeks that could not have been in the 10 plus weeks since the February 18 election?

More importantly, these issues have not suddenly cropped up. Then why did Mr Zardari and Mr Sharif agree to the deadline for the restoration of these judges in the first

30 days of the government’s existence? Rather than indulging in a mindless debate or dubbing it a great betrayal, it’s much better to leave it to the two senior politicians to explain.

The restoration of the sacked judges is an important issue, and the quicker it is resolved the better it will be for the government and people at large. But no matter what many of our colleagues in the media, and friends amongst the lawyers and civil society would argue, this in not the only issue confronting the country and its people. Even otherwise, it’s depressing to see how circumstances have pushed some of the ardent campaigners of parliamentary democracy to “perhaps unconsciously” undermining the newly elected house by way of forcing their opinion on it.

So, at the risk of annoying many friends and colleagues, one needs to jog the memory of those who, after campaigning for the boycott of the elections, are now interpreting the results as the success of their position, i.e. the restoration of the deposed judges. The fact is that whether it was Imran Khan or Qazi Hussain Ahmed, or the top leadership of the lawyers’ fraternity, they all called and campaigned for the boycott of the polls.

It was done in the hope that a ‘mass uprising’ against General Musharraf, and in support of Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and his brother judges, would turn into a highly successful boycott. Nothing of the sort happened. The results showed that while it was certainly a vote of no-confidence in General Musharraf, by no means it could be described as a vote in support of the judges’ restoration. Except for Mr Sharif’s PML-N, which had clearly made the judges’ restoration the central plank of its election campaign, no other party had made any such promise. In fact, some of the parties which have a sizeable representation in the National Assembly have been outright opponents of the deposed judges.

There is no doubt that what the country needs is rule of law and undoing of Gen Musharraf’s unconstitutional actions. The big question is should the pro-democracy campaigners now leave it to the newly elected parliament to decide the fate of this nation, which of course includes the fate of the deposed judges, or should it continue to be the sole right of Imran Khan and others like him, or the lawyers and media campaigners? Of course, no one can take away the right from an individual to air his or her views, to protest peacefully and keep the pressure on their elected representatives, for doing the right thing. But should that pressure mean undermining parliamentary democracy?

Few would disagree that the most pressing issue for the people at the moment is the seemingly uncontrollable price hike. Those from the poor and salaried classes are finding it impossible to survive in the present circumstances. Then there are numerous social and economic issues, as well as the handling of the issue of extremism and militancy, for which the people’s eyes are focussed on the new government and their elected parliament. But in a situation where for all practical purposes we have a non-functional government, a government apparently paralysed by the restoration issue, the optimism that the February 18 elections had triggered is fast giving way to deep despair.

As many seasoned observers believe, this is where Mr Zardari and Mr Sharif need to demonstrate their statesmanship by crossing the unnecessary hurdle that has remained in the way of reviving the hopes of the people. And it is time for the forces outside parliament to show some understanding by giving the newly elected National Assembly and parliamentary democracy, a chance!