ISLAMABAD: The country’s major opposition parties on Tuesday termed the special court’s verdict in the high treason case against former military dictator retired Gen Pervez Musharraf a “historic one”, terming it a good omen for democracy and supremacy of the Constitution.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, while talking to reporters in Ghotki, Sindh, termed it a “democratic verdict”, expressing the hope that the country’s courts would now onward continue to issue democratic rulings.

“In the past, our institutions always stood with non-democratic forces. After this verdict, we can hope that our courts will side with justice and democracy for all days to come,” the PPP chairman said while commenting on the verdict of the special court against the former military dictator for imposing emergency in the country in November 2007.

Asked if the politicians who had supported Gen Musharraf’s actions should also receive punishment, the PPP chairman said: “There is a lot of debate as to the scope of the treason law and whether it should [have included] the 1999 incident [coup] or the 2007 incident. But we should talk about what is in front of us [...] It is a historic decision.”

PPP chief hopes courts will always side with justice, democracy; PML-N spokesperson says decision will be milestone in establishing constitutional importance of parliament

Mr Bhutto-Zardari said that several cases, including the murder case of his mother and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, were still pending before courts and these cases should also be decided.

PPP secretary general Farhatullah Babar said in a statement that history would record that for the first time on a cold December day in 2019, almost coinciding with the anniversary of ignominious surrender in the then East Pakistan, a former dictator/army general was sentenced to death for committing high treason by subverting the Constitution.

“The doors of subverting Constitution may not have been shut permanently by the verdict, but it will put on notice all tinpot dictators, future Bonapartes and adventurers to think multiple times before adventurism. This is a great day, a milestone on the journey towards triumph of the Constitution over dictatorship,” Mr Babar said.

He said the judges, who had delivered this verdict, upheld the supremacy of the Constitution and joined the ranks of nation’s heroes. “As for Musharraf, let him live and even strut around. As long this badge of ignominy and dishonour hangs around his neck, the purpose of the verdict would have been more than served,” he went on saying.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) information secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a statement that the court’s decision to give death penalty to Gen Musharraf had written a new chapter in the country’s history. With this “momentous verdict”, she said, the court had blocked any future attempts to abrogate the Constitution and trample the constitutional rights of the people.

Ms Aurangzeb said the verdict had set the direction of the country’s future. “A new era of the people’s right to self-governance and supremacy of the Constitution will ensue after this decision.”

Ms Aurangzeb, who had served as information minister in the previous PML-N government and has recently returned from London after consultative meetings with the party leadership, said this decision against a military dictator stood out as the most unique verdict in the country’s judicial history.

She said the court had reached the decision in the light of all available evidence and witnesses and set a new precedence with regards to Article 6 of the Constitution while ruling in the light of the past judicial precedence.

“This decision will also serve as a milestone in establishing the constitutional importance of parliament, its members elected by the people of Pakistan and the truly elected prime ministers of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” she concluded.

Awami National Party (ANP) president Asfandyar Wali Khan, in a statement issued from Wali Bagh in Charsadda, said the special court’s verdict against the former military ruler was a “good omen for supremacy of democracy and parliament”. He criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government for allegedly favouring the former dictator.

The ANP chief said that on the one hand the ruling party talked about the rule of law and, on the other, it was supporting a person who had abrogated the Constitution. He said Gen Musharraf had violated the Constitution and used different tactics to delay the case proceedings. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan should clarify his previous statements if his government challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court.

The ANP chief said the families of the victims of the May 12, 2007 incident in Karachi were also waiting for justice.

National Party’s Punjab president Ayub Malik also “welcomed” the decision. In a statement, he said those nations which allowed abrogation of their constitutions were considered to be “failed states”. In Pakistan, he said, the Constitution had been subverted many a times by the dictators and the judiciary in the past had always validated these subversions on flimsy pretexts.

Mr Malik said the decision was given against an individual and not against an institution so there should be no anguish and pain over it.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2019