Making A Difference

Cracking Pillars

The judiciary and executive join the mighty churn in Pakistan

Advertisement

Cracking Pillars
info_icon

In this prolonged season of discontent and pessimism, brought about by unprecedented floods, poor governance, and a dismal security scenario, the people of Pakistan have turned their ire against one man who isn’t to blame for their sorrows—Chief Justice Iftikhar M. Chaudhry. He isn’t responsible for governance, nor does he oversee security agencies. But such is the price of judicial activism, of taking to the streets in protest, as he did against former president Pervez Musharraf, of wearing the mantle of saviour. Expectations are stoked to a peak where disappointment reigns.

It’s this sentiment that school teacher Manzoor Alam articulates as he says, “Arrey bhai, ek bun-kabab ke dukan to khali nahin kar sakta, to ye chief justice kis kam ka?” (If you can’t get a bun-kabab shop to leave its premises, then what’s the use of being the chief justice.) The bun-kabab shop refers to a McDonald outlet against which chief justice Chaudhry had ruled that it couldn’t operate from a public park. Really, can you blame the chief justice whose orders only the administration can implement?

Advertisement

In disregarding the judicial order, the administration has taken its cue from President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who haven’t dithered from displaying their disdain for the Supreme Court. And so when Chaudhry asked the government to write to the Swiss government to reopen the corruption cases against Zardari, he was told his order couldn’t be executed because the president enjoys legal immunity. The court’s response to this plea of the government could come next week. Chaudhry has also been accused of attempting to usurp the role of the executive to embarrass Zardari and his PM. For instance, Chaudhry recently issued suo motu orders to control the price of sugar and petroleum products and cancelled the promotion of senior bureaucrats. These orders were simply ignored.

Advertisement

The government’s disdain springs from its perception of Chaudhry—that he is seeking vendetta against Zardari who was reluctant to reinstate him in the months following Musharraf’s ouster. He was ultimately brought back under pressure from the street and the army. This history of conflict has prompted people to ask: has Chaudhry decided to wreak vengeance on his bete noire, and create conditions for his ouster? Or is he a man who in his zeal for judicial activism refuses to take into account the political consequences of his orders?

Such questions apart, there’s no denying that Chaudhry’s judicial activism, however innocent, threatens to derail democracy. As journalist Imtiaz Alam told Outlook, “He’s trying to become an ayatollah but is really a bull in the china shop of fragile democracy. What was  feared is becoming imminent, the democratic system is crumbling under its own weight, this time not at the behest of the garrison but due to a power struggle between the executive and judiciary.”

The tussle between the judiciary and executive has inflicted collateral damage. Gilani had to sack his defence production minister, Abdul Qayyum Jatoi, who publicly accused the chief justice of being corrupt. Also, the battle between the judiciary and executive has led to mutual recriminations, considered all around to be inimical to democracy. Federal minister Khursheed Shah publicly lit into the Supreme Court, saying, “We want to strengthen the judiciary but it is overstepping its mandate and interfering in administrative decisions, from fixing the price of sugar to validating the promotion of civil servants.” The Supreme Court countered by saying it was its duty to give relief to the common man.

info_icon


Dark Clouds: If Zardari’s party walks out, Gen Ashfaq Kayani will be the ‘arbiter’ (Photograph by AFP, From Outlook, October 18, 2010)

But the court’s argument doesn’t impress Ayaz Amir, the journalist-turned-politician whose party, the Pakistan the Muslim League (N), had taken to the streets to have Chaudhry reinstated. As Amir told Outlook, “The Supreme Court spends the whole day on suo motu issues while also giving observations which make headlines. Really, what jurisdiction does the chief justice have in matters of petroleum and promotion of senior bureaucrats?”

This judicial overreach has led people to perceive a hidden political agenda in the Supreme Court’s recent orders. As political analyst Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi says, “There is a strong impression in the political circles that the Supreme Court has overstretched the judicial boundaries to constrain the role of the elected parliament and the elected executive. If the president’s constitutional immunity is disregarded, Pakistan will be the first country in the world whose superior judiciary wants the sitting president to be prosecuted abroad.”

Advertisement

Should judicial activism lead to the ouster of Zardari and destabilise the government, democracy is bound to suffer. His departure is liable to roil the political waters—it is possible Zardari’s party will walk out of the government, and another political formation cobbling together a new coalition seems unlikely. The ensuing political vacuum could see the army step in. As Imtiaz Alam warns, “The court may emerge as an arbiter against the executive but will erode the very democratic foundation on which its majestic building stands. The chief justice will not be the ultimate arbiter; it will be Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, even if he is disinterested.”

Advertisement

So then, is Chaudhry playing the game at the army’s behest? This question has acquired a new salience as there are many who point to Chaudhry’s curious disinterest in a clutch of petitions filed by the relatives of those who had disappeared mysteriously during the Musharraf regime. Chaudhry had earlier defied the army to entertain these petitions, much to the admiration of people. His seeming indifference has now goaded grieving relatives to protest and demand to know, “Why isn’t he displaying the same courage as he had during the Musharraf rule? Is it because he wants to protect the army?”

Advertisement

Unfortunately for Pakistan, the judiciary is now getting listed among those who have compounded the woes of people. As political analyst Dr Farukh Saleem notes, “President Zardari, PM Gilani, Mian Nawaz Sharif, our media, the army and judiciary have all contributed to the instability, insecurity and uncertainty we call Pakistan.”

Tags

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement