The Pakistan Update

By David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey

When U.S. President Barack Obama sharply challenged a recent Supreme Court decision in his State of the Union address, prompting a soto voce rejoinder from Justice Samuel Alito, nobody was concerned that the contretemps would spark a blood feud between the judiciary and the executive. The notion that judges could or would work to undermine a sitting U.S. president is fundamentally alien to America’s constitutional system and political culture. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Pakistan.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, the country’s erstwhile hero, is the leading culprit in an unfolding constitutional drama. It was Mr. Chaudhry’s dismissal by then-President Pervez Musharraf in 2007 that triggered street protests by lawyers and judges under the twin banners of democracy and judicial independence. This effort eventually led to Mr. Musharraf’s resignation in 2008. Yet it is now Mr. Chaudhry himself who is violating those principles, having evidently embarked on a campaign to undermine and perhaps even oust President Asif Ali Zardari. (more…)

Tags: Asif Zardari, Chief Justice, CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry, Democracy, Featured, Judiciary, Lawyers Movement, NRO, Pakistan Update, Pervaiz Musharraf, Politics, President Zardari, Supreme Court, Ziaul Haq

Posted in News | 1,649 Comments »

By Eileen M. O’Connor

On Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s recent trip to Pakistan, he was reportedly asked by one Pakistani military official, “Are you with us or against us?” to which the defense secretary replied, “Of course, we’re with you.” But who precisely did the secretary mean by “you”? For both the U.S. and Pakistan’s interests, the “you” must mean the people who support the three principles of democracy, the rule of law, and civilian control in Pakistan — and, specifically, not those who would undermine them.

Two recent developments show that these principles are in danger, and that should trouble both U.S. and Pakistani policymakers concerned about Pakistan’s security and stability.

First, the Pakistani Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Ifitkhar Chaudry, (more…)

Tags: Asif Zardari, Featured, Kerry Lugar Bill, Lawyers Movement, NRO, Pakistan Military, Robert Gates, Supreme Court of Pakistan, Taliban

Posted in News | 451 Comments »

By Raza Rumi

Many decades ago, our Governor General-President Iskander Mirza had rather contemptuously stated that democracy does not suit the genius of Pakistani people. Immediately after these words of wisdom were uttered, direct military rule not only exiled Mirza but also became a norm rather than aberration. For the last six decades or so we have not been able to overcome this political reality. The unelected institutions of the state are not willing to give up the power they inherited from the might of the colonial state. At best, they are willing to share power to a degree that they deem fit.

It is now clear that within a few months Pakistan is due for another political upheaval. Barely two years after an election took place, the political elites are back in business (more…)

Tags: Asif Zardari, Democracy, Dictatorship, Judiciary, Kerry Lugar Bill, Martial Law, Nawaz Sharif, NRO, Pervez Musharraf, PML (N), PPP, Ziaul Haq

Posted in Blog | 403 Comments »

The People, Not the Supreme Court Should Be Vigilant Defending Rights

by Muhammad Hamza

Why is it that whenever a democratically elected government comes to power the political and social temperature rise so steeply?  It seems that the entire landscape lurches into chaos and the situation on the ground is a mess. Anarchy in all walks of life is evident. By contrast, under a dictatorship everything was calm and cool. The problems were under control and any situation could be tackled if not solved completely.

There must be a reason for this dramatic dichotomy in perception.  One reason has sadly been played out repeatedly in Pakistan. As soon a political government takes power in the country, the intelligence agencies and some sections of the establishment start their maneuvering to destabilize government. (more…)

Tags: Judiciary, NRO, Pakistan, Pakistan Army, Pakistan Media, Supreme Court

Posted in Blog | 1,539 Comments »

By Sadiq Saleem

The purpose of this particular type of accountability was never to deal with the problem of corruption but to create hype about it. Hence, phrases like “Looti hui daulat qaum ko wapis kee jaye” (Return the looted wealth to the nation) are bandied about without dealing with the substantive legal issues.

The reason why former Ehtesab supremo, the notorious Saif-ur-Rehman, came up with the figure $1.5 billion as the amount “stolen” by Zardari was that it sounded good in propaganda. Otherwise his Ehtesab Bureau never really identified properties or initiated substantive cases that amounted to that value. The Supreme Court must ask the Ehtesab Bureau’s successor NAB why, if its claim of $1500 million in assets is correct, cases in international courts led to freezing of only $73 million ($60 million in Swiss courts and $13 million in the case of the Surrey Mansion in England).

(more…)

Tags: Accountability Court, Asif Zardari, National Accountability Bureau, NRO, Pakistan, PPP, Supreme Court

Posted in Blog | 1,544 Comments »

By Bilal Qureshi

Here is a brilliant idea for Pakistan’s Chief Justice, who is crazy about Suo Moto Action – initiate Suo Moto action against the perpetrators of orchestrating an attack on Pakistan’s Supreme Court at a time when Nawaz Sharif was about to be disqualified for public office. And, fortunately, Chaudhry Iftikhar has plenty of people who are willing to volunteer to assist him. After all, Iftikhar Chaudhry is (supposedly) fighting for free and independent judiciary. Right?
If the issue of NRO, which is insignificant given Pakistan’s other challenges, can be tried and decided rather quickly, why can’t the issue of attacking the most respectable institution in Pakistan, that is the attack on the Supreme Court be examined? Isn’t it time that Chief Justice (R) Sajad Ali Shah get justice? Otherwise, people would argue that people from smaller provinces, especially from Sindh are being targeted.

(more…)

Tags: Asif Zardari, Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, Judiciary, NRO, Pakistan, PML (N), PML (Q), President of Pakistan, Supreme Court

Posted in Blog | 1,306 Comments »

The Guardian Editorial

There was jubilation among Pakistan‘s lawyers about the decision by the country’s supreme court to strike down an amnesty which allowed the late Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari to return from exile. Lawyers called the decision a landmark judgment. One former president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, Anwar Kamal, said that the supreme court had closed the door on corruption in the country for all time to come. We shall see, but on one thing we should be clear. This was not purely a judicial act. The judgment reeked of politics, designed to unseat an unpopular president halfway through his term.

Any independent court worth its name would have struck down the national reconciliation ordinance (NRO), the selective amnesty that the former president Pervez Musharraf concocted in 2007 as part of a power-sharing deal with Ms Bhutto brokered by the US and Britain. But the supreme court went far beyond this. By turning the clock back to the date when the ordinance was issued, the court ordered that all cases and investigations frozen by the amnesty be revived.

(more…)

Tags: Judiciary, Nawaz Sharif, NRO, Pakistan, President of Pakistan, Supreme Court, Zardari

Posted in News | 1,025 Comments »

By Ahmed Naeem

The Supreme Court verdict on the National Reconciliation Ordinance — commonly known as NRO — was not unexpected, yet the media hype created a sense of chaos in the country, sparking fears of military coup.

Notwithstanding that military as well as civil bureaucracies have never been happy with the liberal and centre-left ruling Pakistan Peoples Party and have always tried to destabilise and overthrow its governments, in the present situation it seems unlikely that the military might be able to take power.

But the situation is not as unstable as it appears to be and the dust will settle in the coming days if the players do not cross over their limits.

The steps taken by the Supreme Court after its ruling on the NRO, which stepped on the turf of the administrative and legislative branches of the state, made it seem that the country is heading towards a judicial dictatorship. Formation of different judicial committee and sub-committees to monitor the performance of different state institutions will limit the authority of the government eroding its control over the administration.

(more…)

Tags: Chief Justice, Judiciary, NRO, Pakistan, PPP, President of Pakistan, Supreme Court, Zardari

Posted in Blog | 1,122 Comments »

By Tarek Fatah

On Thursday morning as Pakistan’s Defence Minister was preparing to board a flight to China for an official visit, he was detained by Pakistani security officials and was told he had been barred from leaving the country. An altercation ensued, but the country’s top civilian defence official was told by the police and soldiers that they take orders from senior generals and judges, not government ministers.

Minister Ahmad Mukhtar was told by the security officials that they were acting on instructions from the National Accountability Bureau, an arm of Pakistan’s intelligence service created by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to harass political opponents with corruption charges. The Defence Minister was told his name was on an ‘Exit Control List’ even though he has never been convicted of a crime. Clearly, Pakistan has entered a decisive stage. Imagine the U.S. Defence Secretary being detained by U.S. marshals at JFK airport or the RCMP telling Peter MacKay, he cannot leave the country.

(more…)

Tags: Army, Husain Haqqani, Judiciary, Military Coup, NRO, Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, PPP, Supreme Court, Terrorism, US, Zardari

Posted in Blog | 920 Comments »