PRESIDENT Zardari used his Aug 14 speech to take a swipe at the judiciary, lamenting “new forms of assault on the constitution and parliament” though stopping short of directly mentioning the Supreme Court. Given that the dogged pursuit by the court of the so-called Swiss letter directly only implicates the president himself, Mr Zardari’s comments could be seen as self-serving and partisan in the extreme. But that is a view likely to only be shared by the staunchest supporters of the Supreme Court’s incredible judicial activism. Set aside the debate on who is to be blamed for the impasse between the judiciary and the PPP for a minute and examine the knock-on effect of politics in a state of suspended animation as the country waits for the wheels of justice to trample another prime minister. A government that at the best of times has been clumsy and indifferent to governance has since January — when the NRO implementation case once again cast its shadow over politics — essentially operated with the head of government having an uncertain lease of political life. Since neither Yousuf Raza Gilani nor Raja Pervez Ashraf will be remembered by history as great administrators or policymakers, it’s not hard to imagine the impact of leaving them under the political guillotine for months on end.

The argument can and has been made that were it not for the government’s stubbornness, the matter of the Swiss letter would have been settled a long time ago and the government could have turned its attention to strengthening institutions and serving the public — which is what the democratic project is supposed to deliver here in Pakistan. The sins of commission and omission of the present government are well known. They definitely do bear repeating — but within a political framework and at the time of an election. Quite simply, the continuity and strengthening of the democratic project in Pakistan ought to be the lens through which the actions of all institutions should be judged. Have the Supreme Court’s actions strengthened the principle and practice of democracy? Unhappily, the jury may not have to deliberate that question very long today.