KARACHI, Dec 1: The legal community in the country and a large number of former judges of repute, including several Chief Justices, are of the view that it is imperative that judges who ceased to be so under the PCO of 2007 should be reinstated, for their removal was both unconstitutional and mala fide.

Civil society is of the same view and in so far as politicians in the opposition are concerned, the view expressed is that the absence of these judges will negate the independence of the judiciary, which is a basic feature of the 1973 Constitution and cannot be undone even by an elected parliament. Further, in the absence of an independent judiciary, free and fair elections will not be possible.

The demand is fully justified but the president appears to be unflinching on this issue and is not prepared to entertain the request. The politicians are threatening to boycott the elections if these judges are not reinstated.

What then is the solution? For it is of utmost importance that the scheduled elections should be free and fair and must also appear to be so.

Now, it is obvious that Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf is a partisan president having brought into existence the Q league and by publicly becoming its patron-in-chief. So also are the governors of the provinces, for they have been appointed by the president in his absolute discretion and being his nominees cannot possibly assume an independent role.

The suggestion therefore is that the president and the governors must go on leave for three months with immediate effect and in their place, the chairman of the Senate and the speakers of the provincial assemblies, if they are not candidates in the forthcoming elections, should assume the office of president and provincial Governors respectively.

Thereafter, the caretaker cabinet should be formed by the acting president and acting governors in consultation with the political parties and such cabinet should consist of retired bureaucrats of repute. These cabinets should be small, for their assignment will be limited to routine day-to-day work.

The Chief Election Commissioner unfortunately has given evidence of being partial and it is therefore necessary that he should be replaced by a bi-partisan commissioner after consultation with all the political parties. If this process requires additional time, the election may be postponed for a week or a fortnight at most.

What then remains is the controversial issue of reinstatement of the judges who have been forcibly removed from office under the PCO. Let this issue be resolved by the newly-elected parliament by a simple majority. In this event, it will be the decision of the duly elected representatives of the people of Pakistan.

All must rest content with this solution of a problem which is of utmost importance to the people of Pakistan.