Will Musharraf keep his word?
Soon we’ll see if Musharraf is a man of his word
The President of Pakistan has promised true democracy
Musharraf’s anger is understandable in the context of Pakistan’s history, under which previous military regimes have always been able to rely on the courts for legal cover for their actions. The so-called ‘doctrine of necessity’ dates back to 1954, with Pakistan’s first dismissal of an elected government. The then chief justice Munir ruled that to preserve the country the constitution had to be abandoned.
Since then this ruling has become the basis for every military takeover. In 1958 when General Ayub Khan imposed martial law and dissolved Parliament, the Supreme Court held that the coup was legal in accordance with the doctrine of necessity. Again in 1977, when General Zia-ul-Haq dissolved parliament and abrogated the constitution, dismissing Benazir’s father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the court supported the general’s action, once again citing the doctrine of necessity.
Not surprisingly Musharraf expected similar compliance. Nasir Aslam Zahid, a recently retired judge, told Pakistan’s Geo TV that when he and other Supreme Court judges were summoned by Musharraf to take their new oath of office in January 2000, shortly after the coup, they were presented with blank pieces of paper. They took their oaths without seeing any text.
But over the last year the Supreme Court has suddenly discovered its independence. Its unlikely inspiration has been the chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, a solemn man with a black moustache and ponderous speaking style.
As is clear from his recently published memoir, Musharraf is not a man to admit mistakes readily. But when he looks back he must surely concede that it was an enormous blunder in March trying to oust Chaudhry, who had ruled against the government on a series of corruption cases. Musharraf accused him of misconduct such as demanding an expensive Mercedes -Benz as his official car.
Demonstrations by lawyers for Chaudhry to be reinstated turned into a nationwide movement with huge rallies and people openly calling for Musharraf to step down. Eventually the President reinstated him in July in a humiliating climbdown.
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sumant rawat
November 14th, 2007 3:53amI agree with the previous comment but have a slightly different take.Pakistan has a divide that its populace brushes under the rug and those unfamiliar with the subcontinent cannot see.It is the divide between the inherently tribal,xenophobic and medieval Pashtun mindset and the more liberal mindset with roots in the pagan culture of the subcontinent.The most obvious sign is that 60 years after independence the areas that are predominantly Pashtun are the 'Northwest Frontier Province and Federally Administered Tribal Area' not Pakhtunistan.Among the many reasons for the failure of democracy to take root is the cultural divide between the Pashtuns and non Pashtuns.The Taliban is merely a name the Pashtuns have adopted to militantly pursue what they have since the days Ahmad Shah Abdali an escape from the relentless change imposed by the outside world.
Geoff
November 18th, 2007 2:56pmMusharraf is Pakistans only hope. Bhutto et al will destroy any hope of democracy in their rush for money and islamic control. Most Pakistanis are quietly staying out of this and getting on with their lives - much improved since the military took charge. All of the politicians and media in the UK exercising their adolescent student views of what democracy can be in those kind of countries need to wake up before they hand the nuclear bombs over to the Pashtuns.
Jay Wilson
November 30th, 2007 8:41amI have to wonder where Christina Lamb gets her 'inside' information and suspect that it is from the Bhutto camp. Of course she neglects to mention that the former Supreme Court handed the Red Mosque right back to the family of its former extremist mullahs. Geoff and Sumant have some useful things to say in the other comments.