The Pakistan Update

By Ansar Abbasi

Pakistan has lost an unbelievably high amount, more than Rs8,500 billion (Rs8.5 trillion or US$94 billion), in corruption, tax evasion and bad governance during the last four years of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s tenure, Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) claims.

The TIP advisor, Adil Gillani, told The News that the real impact of corruption in the country’s economy is far more than what is generally estimated or what is formally uncovered. He believes that Pakistan does not need even a single penny from the outside world if it effectively checks the menace of corruption and ensures good governance.

It is generally believed that the four years of the present regime under Gilani had been the worst in terms of corruption and bad governance in the country’s history. Past records of corruption were broken and Pakistan started rising in the ranks of the most corrupt nations of the world.

There has been no check on corruption as the anti-corruption institutions like the National Accountability Bureau and Federal Investigation Agency instead of checking corruption have been siding with the corrupt.

These institutions have been helping the corrupt to get off the hook by distorting and mutilating the evidence in favour of the influential accused.

Adil Gillani, the TIP representative, who too has been haunted by the government during these years for producing corruption reports, explained that the TIP pointed out corruption of Rs390 billion in 2008, Rs450 billion in 2009, Rs825 billion in 2010 and Rs1,100 billion in 2011 under the present regime. The total of these identified cases of corruption is Rs2,765 billion.

In addition to this, he explained the following:

The minister of finance of the present regime himself confirmed corruption in FBR of over Rs500 billon per year, which makes the total Rs2,000 billion; Auditor General of Pakistan pointed out Rs315 billion corruption in 2010; Public Accounts Committee recovered Rs115 billion in 30 months till 2011; circular debt is Rs190 million; KESC was given Rs55 billion illegal benefits per annum since 2008; state-owned enterprises like PSO, PIA, Pakistan Steel, Railways, SSGC, SNGC are eating away Rs150-300 billion per annum; tax to GDP ratio in 2008 was 11%, which in 2011 has reduced to 9.1% instead of being increased.

Gillani explained that Pakistan’s Gross Domestic Product is worth US$175 billion and in the light of this the drop of 1.9% in the tax GDP means annual loss of US$ 3.3 billion. This confirms that FBR is losing Rs300 million per annum, which is annual additional loss since 2008 and stands at Rs1,200 billon in four years

The TIP adviser added that India’s tax-GDP ratio is 18%, and at that rate, Pakistan’s tax evasion/corruption in FBR is 9% of $175 billion, which is US$15.5 billion per year, i.e. Rs1,400 billion per year.

It is worth mentioning here that it is not only the Transparency International but there have been different international bodies including the World Bank and world capitals, which have been showing their concern over rising trend of corruption in Pakistan under the Gilani’s regime. It was mounting corruption and extremely bad governance, which even dithered the outside world to offer cash to Pakistan during 2010 and 2011 floods, which devastated different parts of Pakistan and affected millions of people.

At home the corruption became a fashion in such a shameless manner that even the cabinet ministers started openly pointing fingers at each other and even at the highest levels including the prime minister. Some even approached the Supreme Court but despite all this, corruption remained the hallmark of the present regime, which instead of curbing it started defending it in the name of democracy.

Originally appeared in the news international.

Tags: corruption, federal Investigation Agency, National Accountability Bureau, Yousaf Raza Gilani

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President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Pakistan will continue to express complete solidarity with the Kashmiris and extend fullest political, moral and diplomatic support to their just cause.

The president, in a message on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day observed on Sunday, said the government and the people of Pakistan observe the day by renewing their unswerving support for the just struggle of the Kashmiri people for the realisation of their fundamental and inalienable rights. He said Pakistan seeks a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute.

President Zardari said the Kashmiris had rendered countless sacrifices for over six decades to uphold their dignity and freedom, pleading for equity and justice and for fulfilment of the promise for the effective exercise of their right to self-determination, as envisaged in the relevant UN resolutions.

“It is indeed imperative that the noble principles and values, that underpin the just Kashmiri cause, are upheld and supported by all justice and freedom loving peoples across the world,” he said, stressing the need for respecting and promoting the fundamental human rights of the people. The president said the peaceful struggle of the people of Kashmir had gained strength and intensity in recent years, and that the new generation “continues to wage a heroic struggle” for the realisation of their fundamental rights. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said a peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people was a must to ensure peace and prosperity in the region. He said the government and the people of Pakistan would continue to extend their full moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris for the realisation of their fundamental rights and legitimate aspirations. He said Kashmiris had proven to the world that they would never compromise their dignity and honour, nor forfeit their fundamental rights. In her message, National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza also said that a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue was imperative for peace and development of the region. “Kashmir Solidarity Day serves us an opportunity to recognise the countless sacrifices of the brave people of Kashmir who have remained resolute and steadfast against oppression,” she said, adding that Pakistan remained firmly committed to finding a just and peaceful solution to the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiris.

She assured the Kashmiris of Pakistan’s continued moral, political and diplomatic support at all regional and international forums until the realisation of their objective.

Originally appeared in the daily times.

Tags: Dr. Fehmida Mirza, Kashmir Issue, President Asif Ali Zardari, UN resolution, Yousaf Raza Gilani

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Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani is travelling to Qatar where officials indicate he will discuss peace efforts in Afghanistan.

The government has described the official agenda of his three-day visit as an opportunity to boost trade ties.

But officials have also confirmed that US efforts to establish a dialogue with the Taliban, hosted by the Qataris, will be discussed.

Analysts say his trip raises questions about Pakistan’s role in future talks.

The BBC’s Jill McGivering says that it is not clear what position Mr Gilani will take. He says his country wants a stable Afghanistan and will support any Afghan-led peace process

“He will meet among others the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani,” foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit is quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

He added that the visit would seek to open up opportunities for co-operation between the countries.

But analysts say the issue of talks with the Taliban will also be considered important.

Our correspondent says that there is a sense that Pakistan, like the Afghan government, has felt excluded from the talks process – and takes that exclusion as a diplomatic snub.

The Taliban confirmed last month that they planned to set up a political office in Qatar ahead of possible talks with the US.

Pakistan has stressed recently in public that it is now being briefed by the Americans on those talks.

The Qatar talks are now being challenged by President Karzai’s initiative to instigate separate direct talks involving the Taliban and the Afghan government, hosted by the Saudis.

The Taliban’s support for the rival process is far from certain and it is not clear which set of talks, if any, will be backed by Pakistan.

Given its influence with the Taliban, Islamabad’s choice may be crucial. The difficulty for the US, our correspondent says, is that Pakistan’s proximity to the Taliban is what makes it both part of a possible solution and also part of the problem.

Pakistan has been accused in the past of playing a double game when it comes to the Taliban. If both the Americans and the Afghan government are now eager for its help, its loyalties could once again be tested.

Officials say that Mr Gilani will meet the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani and Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani.

Originally appeared on bbc news.

Tags: Afghanistan, hamad bin jassim bin jabr al-thani, Taliban, US, Yousaf Raza Gilani

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A United Nations report blaming a record loss of Afghan civilian lives last year on insurgents and the Taliban was dismissed as “untrue” by a Taliban spokesman Saturday.

Meanwhile, a commander of the International Security Assistance Force was encouraged by the report’s findings that coalition forces were not to blame for the increased casualties, but agreed that civilian deaths must drop. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said 3,021 civilians were killed last year, up from 2,790 the prior year.

In an e-mail sent to CNN, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid “strongly” disputed the U.N. mission’s report as “untrue.”

“It has been 10 years since UNAMA has started blaming our Mujahideen with such numbers and untrue figures while the invading forces are using tons of explosives every day in our country, conducting raids on civilian houses and they are killing our innocent people,” Mujahid said in the e-mail.

“Unfortunately I should say that UNAMA, which is operating under the umbrella of the U.N. as a propaganda tool for the invading forces, is trying to blame Mujahideen for the majority of the killings happening in Afghanistan,” Mujahid wrote.

“It is unfortunate that UNAMA is supporting oppressor Americans and other invading forces and is undermining its international reputation,” Mujahid stated.

A total of 11,864 civilians have been killed in the Afghanistan conflict since 2007, the U.N. mission said.

“Afghan children, women and men continue to be killed in this war in ever-increasing numbers,” Jan Kubis, the U.N. special representative for the secretary-general, said in a statement. “For much too long Afghan civilians have paid the highest price of war. Parties to the conflict must greatly increase their efforts to protect civilians to prevent yet another increase in civilian deaths and injuries in 2012.”

General John R. Allen, ISAF commander, said the report showed a reduction in coalition-related civilian casualties.

“Every citizen of Afghanistan must know ISAF will continue to do all we can to reduce casualties that affect the Afghan civilian population. This data is promising but there is more work to be done,” Allen said in a statement.

“The most striking — and obvious — component of the report is the increasing number of civilian casualties attributed to insurgents,” said Allen. “IEDs are now responsible for roughly one out of three civilian casualties according to UNAMA. The death toll from insurgent attacks is much too high and deserves Mullah Omar’s direct attention and action.”

The U.N. report said last year’s deaths are 8% more than in 2010, and double the number in 2007.

The vast majority of 2011 civilian casualties — 77%, according to the U.N. report — were caused by anti-government forces. The number of deaths attributable to the Afghan army and international forces declined year-over-year by 4%, to 410.

The report concludes that the higher number of casualties was due to changing tactics on the part of insurgents, including greater use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), deadlier suicide attacks and more targeted assassinations.

IEDs alone killed 967 Afghan men, women and children in 2011. Many of the 495 victims of targeted killings were provincial and district governors, peace council members and tribal elders.

Among the most disturbing statistics: in the second half of 2011, the number of women and children killed grew by 29 and 51% respectively, compared to 2010. That is in part due to the growing use of the pressure-plate IEDs, which are indiscriminate — such that a van carrying civilians is just as likely to set off the explosive as a Humvee.

“A piece of shrapnel had gone through his head. My son is dead, and his loss is killing me and my wife. He was the only son I had,” said a man in Mazar-e Sharif, who was quoted in the report.

“My daughter is nine years old, and every day before I leave for work, she cries: ‘Mama, don’t go to work, I don’t need to eat,’ “a police officer in Herat was quoted as saying.

The U.N. report says several statements from Taliban leaders in 2011 pledging greater efforts to avoid civilian casualties “neither resulted in improved protection of civilians nor minimized civilian casualties.”

While NATO can take comfort from the fact that its forces — and its allies in the Afghan National Army — caused fewer civilian casualties last year, it is clear that overall security for civilians has not improved. This is despite the deployment of well over 100,000 international troops across Afghanistan in 2011.

In addition to casualties, the number of Afghan civilians displaced by conflict soared last year. According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, conflict and insecurity displaced some 185,000 people in Afghanistan, a jump of 41% compared to 2010.

The U.N. report suggests that there has been a significant geographic shift in casualties. As NATO and Afghan Army units focused on the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, the number of civilian casualties fell sharply in the second half of 2011.

But elsewhere — in southeastern, eastern and northern Afghanistan — incidents rose. The number of civilians killed in Kabul province, including in the capital itself, more than tripled largely because of several devastating suicide bombings.

The figures show that the number of casualties caused by NATO and allied night operations dropped sharply, despite the much greater intensity and frequency of such operations. That suggests better intelligence and tactics among pro-government forces. But the number of civilian killed in NATO airstrikes — a source of friction with the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai — rose 9%.

Increasingly, as the transition to Afghan leadership gets underway, local security duties are being assigned to a relatively new force: the Afghan Local Police. The U.N. says it has received “mixed reports” about this entity’s overall performance. While most suggested that it had improved security, there were also accounts of human rights abuses and corruption.

Altogether, the U.N. Assistance Mission concludes that “the unremitting toll of civilian casualties coupled with pervasive intimidation affected many civilians directly, and many more indirectly, by fueling uncertainty, tension and fear.”

The report’s authors welcome “ideas that could contribute toward peace negotiations,” adding their value will be measured by reduced civilian casualties and improved security

Originally appeared on cnn.

Tags: Afghan Taliban, Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, NATO, United Nations, zabiullah mujahid

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By AFP

Pakistani investigators and lawyers will visit India next month to gather more evidence for the prosecution of seven suspects linked to the 2008 Mumbai attacks, they said Monday.

Pakistan indicted seven alleged perpetrators over the attacks but says that its own commission needs to gather more evidence in India.

Delhi has called for “decisive” action from Pakistan against the perpetrators of the attacks and accuses its efforts so far of being a “facade”, saying it has already handed over enough evidence to convict the accused men.

“If all goes well, the visit will take place between February 4 to February 10,” senior public prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali told AFP.

Both sides, he said, agreed that the Pakistani commission could visit India between February 1 to February 10 to cross examine witnesses of the carnage in which 166 people were killed.

But Ali said there is a “possibility that the visit may be delayed” by the death of the lawyer representing alleged mastermind, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.

The deceased’s son, Khwaja Harris Ahmad, has applied to replace his father and the issue would be taken up by the court on February 4, Ali said.

The commission is made up of two senior prosecutors, a director from the Federal Investigation Agency and five lawyers representing the suspects.

“We can proceed to India before February 10 if our authorities address all the legal requirements,” Ahmad told AFP.

Pakistan had wanted Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunman from the Mumbai attacks, to testify.

But Ahmad said Kasab, who has appealed a death sentence in India, was not included on the list of witnesses whom the panel wish to cross-examine.

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By Wajid Ali Syed

Pakistan’s newly appointed Ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman has said that Pakistan today speaks as one united government and will have one united policy towards the United States. “The elected government will stand firm in its resolve to protect our military, when our soldiers are martyred in the line of duty, as they were on the border post of Salala, which has triggered a review in our relationship.”

Speaking at her first public event since assuming office last month, Ambassador Sherry Rehman said the message she carried from Islamabad is loud and clear: “We want to remain friends with the United States and we want a strong relationship that is equal, sovereign, based on mutual respect and shared values.”

In the 64 years history of Pakistan the relationship between the United States and Pakistan has not been as important yet the tensions have not been this grave, she said, adding that the mutual respect and trust between the two countries have been undermined in the last few months, hence “a comprehensive Parliamentary review is under way to establish new principles for this relationship. The review will reflect a multi-partisan parliamentary consensus and the support of the Pakistani people,” she said. The ambassador stated that this is an opportunity “to reset this relationship in a transparent, consistent and predictable manner.”

She said the review is likely to be completed in the next few weeks and will represent a multiparty trilateral consensus: “Both countries can use this opportunity to reset our relationship for more consistent, transparent and predictable pattern.”

Speaking about democracy in Pakistan, she said that this was the first time in 30 years that a democratically elected civilian government in Pakistan is nearing completion of its constitutionally mandated term — a “remarkable achievement.” “The government is committed to pluralism in Pakistan, but faces daunting obstacles, many of which have to do with the tide of extremism roiling the region.”

The ambassador also announced that she has not come to the US to bring a grievance narrative, and said that Pakistan’s expectation is to become economic and political partner of the United States and not just battlefield allies.

She said that her vision to change the relationship from aid to trade between the two countries was shared by the political government. “Our friends in the United States must know that our sacrifices in the war on terror far outnumber those of any other international or Nato coalition partner in Afghanistan.”

The event, which was attended by over 200 representatives of the Pakistani-American community, was organized at the Embassy in an effort to reach out to the Pakistani diasporas. The ambassador also sought the Pakistani community’s help, saying that “as Pakistani-Americans, I want you to know that I will rely heavily on you as the extended arm of this Embassy and its consulates in getting our message delivered to the American public. Every one of you is our mouthpiece. Every one of you is our lobbyist.”

One of her priorities, the ambassador said, would be the formation of a Pakistan-American leadership caucus, which would serve as the main vehicle for strategic interventions to build a new relationship with the US, and to promote the new Pakistan. She would also initiate a new cultural outreach programme to showcase the “real Pakistan”, one which is quite different from perceptions in the West.

Originally appeared in the news international

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India and Pakistan on Wednesday announced several initiatives to accelerate cooperation in the oil and gas sector, as the two energy-starved nuclear-armed neighbors try to mend economic ties despite political differences.

Energy ministers from India and Pakistan said the two nations may jointly take part in developing a gas field in Turkmenistan.

In addition, India has proposed to export petroleum products to its South Asian neighbor, said Oil Minister Jaipal Reddy, while addressing a joint briefing with his Pakistani counterpart, Asim Hussain.
Mr. Hussain is in New Delhi for talks on a proposed 1,680-kilometer pipeline that will transport gas from Turkmenistan’s Yolotan-Osman field to India and Pakistan through Afghanistan.

“We intend to have a joint strategy on the upstream sector where Turkmenistan is to develop its gas field,” Mr. Hussain said.

“We will have to wait for the response of the Turkmenistan government,” Mr. Reddy said. “Since everything is progressing smoothly, we are optimistic about it.”

An agreement to build a Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline will help both India and Pakistan secure gas supplies and also benefit Turkmenistan, which has the world’s fourth-largest gas reserves, including the Yolotan-Osman Gas field with estimated reserves of as much as 13 trillion cubic meters.

The $7.6 billion proposed pipeline could carry about 90 million standard cubic meters of gas per day. According to the plan, Afghanistan would get 14 million cubic meters of the gas, while India and Pakistan would equally share the balance.

Discussions on the pipeline have been continuing for about two decades and the project has U.S. backing as it will provide millions of dollars to Afghanistan in the form of transit fees and also job opportunities. The pipeline will also reduce South Asia’s dependence on Iran, which has been seeking to supply gas to India and Pakistan through another proposed pipeline.

About 1,535 kilometers of the Turkmenistan pipeline will pass through Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the Kandahar province that has high Taliban presence, and tribal areas, posing a security challenge to the project.

Mr. Hussain said Pakistan is separately going ahead with a multibillion-dollar gas-pipeline project with Iran. “The gas-supply purchase agreement has been signed with Iran. We are meeting all schedules on time.”

India, which was part of the project initially, isn’t actively pursuing it as the talks stalled on security and pricing issues. Mr. Reddy declined to comment on India’s participation.

Pakistan’s comments come as the U.S. and the European Union push toward banning or discouraging Iranian oil trade as part of efforts to force Tehran into suspending its alleged nuclear-weapons program.

Mr. Reddy said India has offered to export gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and fuel oil besides sulfur, polyethylene and polypropylene to Pakistan, according to an Indian government statement.

It said Pakistan will save freight costs as several Indian refineries are located close to the border between the countries.

Indian refiners will study the feasibility of product pipelines to Pakistan provided they receive long-term guarantees for product purchases, Mr. Reddy added.

Tags: Afghanistan, Pak India Dialogue, Pak-India Relations, turkmenistan

Posted in India, News | 8 Comments »

The Crisis in US relations with Pakistan has been overtaken, in Pakistan itself, by a power struggle among three competing authorities: the civilian government, the military and the judiciary. Its outcome could determine whether Pakistan will seek to repair its alliance with the United States or become a more open adversary in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Not coincidentally, it will also show whether the country’s powerful military and intelligence service can be checked by civil institutions. Though history would suggest that the generals are bound to win, so far the result has been a stalemate.

At the center of the furor is Pakistan’s former ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, a highly capable representative of the government of President Asif Ali Zardari and a longtime advocate of democracy and civilian rule. Mr. Haqqani was forced to resign his post in November and now is under investigation by Pakistan’s Supreme Court. A Pakistani businessman claimed that Mr. Haqqani helped craft an appeal to the Obama administration to protect the civilian government from a possible military coup; this is being treated as an act of treason. Mr. Haqqani, who denies the story, has taken refuge in the home of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. He has good reason to fear he will be targeted for assassination, like other liberal politicians slain in the last year.
Besides the military and Mr. Zardari’s government, the third party to the dispute is the court, which seems to have embraced the generals’ cause of ousting the civilian government. Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry has had outsize political ambitions ever since he helped depose former president Pervez Musharraf. He has sought since 2009 to prosecute Mr. Zardari for corruption, even though he enjoys immunity as president. In addition to investigating Mr. Haqqani, the court is threatening to hold Mr. Gilani in contempt for failing to ask Switzerland to reopen a financial investigation of Mr. Zardari.

The good news in this complex struggle is that the case against Mr. Haqqani appears to be crumbling — as it should be — for lack of evidence. Mr. Gilani has pushed back against the military, by firing the defense secretary. And Mr. Chaudhry’s overweening actions have divided a legal community that once supported him overwhelmingly. With luck, Mr. Zardari’s government will survive until an election in March for the upper house of parliament, which the ruling party is likely to win; that could provide more leverage against the generals.

The Obama administration has been outwardly supportive of Pakistan’s civilian government but has often bypassed it, dealing directly with the chiefs of the army and intelligence agency on matters such as Afghanistan. While there is a certain pragmatic logic to this, what the past two years have demonstrated — again — is that an enduring partnership between Pakistan and the United States will be possible only if moderate civilians establish control over the military and dismantle its toxic nationalist agenda, which is founded on enmity toward India and rejects an independent and stable Afghanistan. There may not be much the Obama administration can do to tip the ongoing power struggle in Islamabad, and any overt attempt to intervene would probably backfire. But the administration should be hoping that Mr. Haqqani’s side wins — or at least survives.

Tags: CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry, Husain Haqqani, Pak US relations, President Asif Ali Zardari, Yusuf Raza Gilani

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By Declan Walsh

Once they were heroes, cloaked justices at the vanguard of a powerful revolt against military rule in Pakistan, buoyed by pugnacious lawyers and an adoring public. But now Pakistan’s Supreme Court is waging a campaign of judicial activism that has pitted it against an elected civilian government, in a legal fight that many Pakistanis fear could damage their fragile democracy and open the door to a fresh military intervention.

From an imposing, marble-clad court on a hill over Islamabad, and led by an iron-willed chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the judges have since 2009 issued numerous rulings that have propelled them into areas traditionally dominated by government here. The court has dictated the price of sugar and fuel, championed the rights of transsexuals, and, quite literally, directed the traffic in the coastal megalopolis of Karachi.

But in recent weeks the court has taken interventionism to a new level, inserting itself as the third player in a bruising confrontation between military and civilian leaders at a time when Pakistan — and the United States — urgently needs stability in Islamabad to face a dizzying array of threats.

Judges say their expanded mandate comes from the people, dating back to the struggle against the military rule of Gen. Pervez Musharraf that began in 2007, eventually helping to pry him from power. Memories linger of those heady days, when bloodied lawyers clashed with riot police officers, and judges were garlanded and paraded as virtual saints.

In recent months, however, the Supreme Court has ventured deep into political peril in two different cases. Last week, as part of a high-stakes corruption case, it summoned Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to testify in court under threat of contempt charges that, if carried to conviction, could leave him jailed and ejected from office.

The court has also begun an inquiry into a scandal known here as Memogate, a shadowy affair with touches of soap-opera drama that has engulfed the political system since November. It has claimed the job of Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States and now threatens other senior figures in the civilian government, under accusations that officials sought American help to head off a potential military coup.

Propelled by accounts of secret letters, text messages and military plots, the scandal has in recent days focused on a music video featuring bikini-clad female wrestlers that is likely to be entered as evidence of immorality on the part of the central protagonist, Mansoor Ijaz, an American businessman of Pakistani origin.

Hearings resume Tuesday when Mr. Ijaz is due to give evidence. The fact that the courts have become the arena for such lurid political theater has reignited criticism, some from once-staunch allies, that the Supreme Court is worryingly overstepping its mark.

“In the long run this is a very dangerous trend,” said Muneer A. Malik, a former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association who campaigned for Justice Chaudhry in 2007. “The judges are not elected representatives of the people and they are arrogating power to themselves as if they are the only sanctimonious institution in the country. All dictators fall prey to this psyche — that only we are clean, and capable of doing the right thing.”

The court’s supporters counter that it is reinforcing democracy in the face of President Asif Ali Zardari’s corrupt and inept government. On Saturday, Justice Chaudhry pushed back against the critics.

The court’s goal was to “buttress democratic and parliamentary norms,” he told a gathering of lawyers in Karachi. Deep-rooted corruption was curtailing justice in Pakistan, he added.

“Destiny of our institution is in our own hands,” he said.

Mr. Chaudhry was appointed to the Supreme Court under General Musharraf in 2000. Two years later he wrote a judgment that absolved the military ruler for his 1999 coup. But Mr. Chaudhry shocked his patron and his country seven years later with decrees that challenged General Musharraf’s pre-eminence. Senior security officials were ordered to track down individuals being illegally held by the military intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, or ISI, in some cases working with the F.B.I. and C.I.A. The privatization of state companies came under sharp scrutiny.
Then, on March 9, 2007, General Musharraf tried to fire Justice Chaudhry and placed him under house arrest. Protesting lawyers rushed into the streets in support of the chief justice. New cable television channels broadcast images of the tumult across the country. Power drained from General Musharraf, who resigned 18 months later.
The euphoria was soon tempered, however, by growing tensions with the new government. Mr. Zardari hesitated to reinstate Mr. Chaudhry, believing that he was too close to his political rivals and the military.

The standoff led to fresh street protests in 2009, led by the opposition leader Nawaz Sharif. That March, amid dramatic scenes that included a threatened march on the capital, Mr. Zardari relented and Justice Chaudhry returned to the bench.

Within months, the Supreme Court had cleared the way for the possible prosecution of Mr. Zardari in a Swiss corruption case dating to the 1990s. The government cited Mr. Zardari’s presidential immunity, and argued, along with some international analyst groups, that the court was specifically targeting the president.

But among the wider public, the court was winning broad support. It engaged in a series of muscular interventions to champion the cause of ordinary Pakistanis, some of which broke new ground. Judges expanded the civil rights of hijras, transgendered people who traditionally suffered discrimination, called senior bureaucrats and police officials to account, halted business ventures that contravened planning laws, including a McDonald’s restaurant in Islamabad and a German supermarket in Karachi, and issued a decree against the destruction of trees along a major road in Lahore.

The court’s populist bent has infuriated the government but won cheers from urban, middle-class Pakistanis — the same people who had supported the lawyers’ drive against General Musharraf. Largely young, frustrated by traditional politics and angered by official graft, they constitute a political class that has in recent months flocked to Imran Khan, the cricket star turned politician who is enjoying a sudden surge in popularity, and is a strong defender of the judiciary.

But the court’s activism has also taken many erratic turns. Justice Chaudhry has fought trenchant battles to win control of judicial appointments, a process traditionally in the government’s purview. While the judiciary has vigorously pursued Mr. Zardari, it absolved Mr. Sharif of his alleged crimes. And critics accuse Mr. Chaudhry of failing to reform the chaotic lower courts, which remain plagued by long backlogs. “Three years after the restitution of the chief justice, the delivery of justice remains as poor as it has ever been,” said Ali Dayan Hasan, of Human Rights Watch.

The gravest charges, though, swirl around the memo scandal. Mr. Ijaz claims to hold an unsigned memorandum showing that Mr. Zardari’s government sought covert United States government help to avert a military coup in the poisonous aftermath of the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May.

But the memo’s provenance is unclear and Mr. Ijaz’s credibility has come under assault in the news media. Last week a music video that went viral on the Internet showed Mr. Ijaz acting as the ringside commentator in a wrestling contest between two bikini-clad women and that, in one version, featured full nudity — a shocking sight in conservative Pakistan.

The furor, which made front-page news, injected a fresh sense of absurdity into proceedings that already were under question, and that many here insist would never have started without military intervention: the Supreme Court ordered the inquiry on Dec. 30 at the direct request of the army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and the ISI director general, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, who harbor little love for Mr. Zardari. Also, the court ignored other claims by Mr. Ijaz that the army secretly sheltered Bin Laden, and sought outside support to mount a coup — acts that, if proven, could be equally treasonous.

Suspicions about the court’s impartiality were renewed last Friday, when Mr. Chaudhry ordered the government to disclose whether it intended to fire General Kayani or General Pasha — even though such decisions are normally the government’s prerogative.

The titanic three-way struggle among generals, judges and politicians comes at a time when Pakistan has become increasingly chaotic. Taliban insurgents continue to roam the northwest, the economy is in dire straits and urgently needed reforms in education, health and other social sectors have been largely ignored.

From the standpoint of the United States, the deadlock has diverted the spotlight from military airstrikes that killed 26 Pakistani soldiers in November and brought the two countries’ troubled relationship to a new low. But it has also drawn attention away from a pressing priority of the United States in Pakistan: engaging cooperation here to help negotiate a peace settlement with the Afghan Taliban as a major troop withdrawal slated for 2014 draws near.

“In the midst of this institutional wrangling, nobody has a clear plan as to how politics or foreign policy are going to move forward, said Dr. Paula Newberg of Georgetown University, who has written a book about Pakistani constitutional politics. “Pakistan could easily have a much brighter future. But it gets itself worn down by these incessant disputes about where power lies.”

Originally appeared in the New York Times

Tags: Afghan Taliban, Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, General Kiyani, Iftikhar Chaudhry, mansoor ijaz, pakistan supreme court, Pervez Musharraf, President Asif Ali Zardari

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In what appears to be a step towards easing the tensions in Islamabad-Washington relations, Pakistan may invite US military trainers back ‘as early as April or May’ but it has ruled out allowing CIA drones into the country again, a conservative American news channel reported Friday.

Drones ‘can never return’, FOX News channel said, quoting an unnamed senior Pakistan official. “They will never be allowed back, at Shamsi or anywhere else,” the official added, referring to the base in Balochistan from which many of the unmanned aerial vehicles were deployed until the NATO strikes on Pakistani border posts in November that killed 26 soldiers.

Pakistan’s parliament is currently reviewing the nature of its relationship with the United States after that incident, which led Pakistan to close its border crossings used by NATO to supply its troops in Afghanistan.

FOX said the main stipulations in the review will include no covert CIA or military operations on the ground in Pakistan, nor unauthorized incursions into its airspace.

In return, it said Pakistan would allow back US military trainers, including special forces teams, and a resumption of close cooperation with the CIA in targeting militants who use the Pakistani side of the tribal belt as a safe haven and breeding ground for extremism.

It would also reopen next month the Torkham and Chaman border crossings with Afghanistan, which have remained closed to NATO supply convoys as punishment to the coalition since the NATO attack.

Islamabad would also open its doors to high level US diplomats again after an embarrassing snub this week for President Barack Obama’s special envoy to the region, Marc Grossman, who was denied his request to visit Pakistan in the middle of his tour of South Asia.

“We understand the Government of Pakistan is still working on its review of US-Pakistan relations, and we have not yet received a formal report from the government. Decisions about the level of Pakistani commitment to our military relationship are obviously theirs to make, and we respect that,” said Capt John Kirby, a spokesman for the Office of the Secretary of Defence, in an emailed statement to FOX.

Pakistan has been reeling since Osama bin Laden was killed within its borders in a US raid last May. It considers that incident, along with civilian casualties caused by drone attacks, as flagrant violations of its sovereignty by an ‘arrogant’ US government.

Foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar this week said that ties “are on hold until we start re-engaging,” but Pakistan is now motivated by the US elections to move forward swiftly in rebuilding trust between the two countries.

Islamabad fears that if the foundation is not laid now, once presidential campaigning begins in earnest by the summer, it will be mid-2013 before they can renegotiate with Washington, FOX said.

However, the senior official suggested there were benefits to waiting. “We would prefer it if there was a Republican government again. Pakistan has always done well with the Republicans. Historically, over the decades, we have always had difficulty doing business with the Democrats,” the official said.

Originally appeared in The Nation.

Tags: democrats, Drone Attacks, hina rabbani khar, NATO, Pak US relations, Republicans, US elections

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