Pakistan’s chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry reinstated
Written by www.daily.pk
Monday, 16 March 2009 03:31
Two years after Iftikhar Chaudhry was first sacked by then President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan government officials said he would be reinstated as chief Justice after nationwide protest led by Pakistan’s lawyers.
It’s been a rollercoaster ride. After he was removed by Musharraf, Chaudhry was reinstated only to be sacked again and placed under house arrest along with many other lawyers when the former general declared emergency rule in November 2007. At the time, Pakistani lawyer/politician Aitzaz Ahsan wrote in an editorial in the New York Times that the leaders of the lawyers movement ”will neither be silent nor still”. But he also fretted that the lawyers’ movement would be ignored by the United States and overlooked by the forthcoming election.
Then after an election which brought President Asif Ali Zardari to power, the lawyers protested again in June last year in what they called a “Long March” - named somewhat perversely after the military retreat led by Mao Zedung in the 1930s. Their protest fizzled after failing to achieve its objective. This time around, a “Long March” to Islamabad seems to have succeeded.
“The quiet, patient man is on his third life, having been deposed twice previously by former President Pervez Musharraf. Let’s hope he serves his term completely, without obstruction, and for the public good,” wrote Arif Rafiq on the Pakistan Policy Blog. “Kudos to the lawyers movement — one of Pakistan’s most organized, disciplined, and strategically-keen social movements. Kudos to the political parties, third party groups, and street and Internet activists who stuck by their side.”
The lawyers’ movement was in some ways a triumph for civil society. It sought to find its ideological roots in the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, himself a lawyer. And given that hardline Islamism tends to flourish in places where the rule of law has broken down, it can also say it has played its part in undercutting a growing Taliban insurgency.
But after teetering on the edge of a precipice over the lawyers protest, has Pakistan really reached a turning point, or simply righted itself temporarily?
Chaudhry himself was first appointed by Musharraf after the then-general launched a military coup in 1999, so he cannot say he has always been a loyal servant of civilian democracy. And as discussed in an earlier post, the deal to reinstate Chaudhry may have been achieved as a result of prodding from the Pakistan Army, which begs the question of how well civilian democracy can flourish in Pakistan if it has to be underwritten by the country’s powerful military. His promised reinstatement — announced after days of negotiations — may carry with it a political deal whose outcome and required allegiances we are yet to discover.
Balance of power will shift to Parliament: PM Gilani
Updated at: 1110 PST, Thursday, March 19, 2009
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said he would seek to tip the balance of power back toward parliament, a move that could help restore democratic checks and balances in the country.
In an interview to US newspaper, Premier Gilani vowed to return to parliament authority that it lost in 2002 when former leader Pervez Musharraf gave sweeping powers to the presidency, including the power to dismiss parliament.
"We are committed to changing the system," Gilani said. "My main endeavor is to end the politics of confrontation."
"I am sure we can work with Nawaz Sharif in strengthening the democratic process," premier said. "We have to return to parliamentary democracy.”
Mr. Gilani said he would offer Mr. Sharif the opportunity to rejoin the governing coalition. Mr. Sharif's party was part of the coalition after the elections but he quit over disagreements with Mr. Zardari.
"I hope we will go back to our relations," Mr. Gilani said. "I can offer Nawaz Sharif to join the coalition at an appropriate time. That shows our resolve for the reconciliation."
Israel arrest 10 Hamas members in the West Bank
Updated at: 1210 PST, Thursday, March 19, 2009
RAMALLAH: Israeli security forces have arrested 10 senior leaders of the Hamas organization in the West Bank, a military spokeswoman said on Thursday.
"Ten senior Hamas terror operatives that constitute the leading members of the terror organization in Judea and Samaria, (West Bank) were arrested last night" she said.
"Among the wanted men were four Hamas legislative council members." They were arrested in a joint military and internal security operation, the spokeswoman said.
"These men have been the leaders of the ongoing effort to restore the administrative branch of the Hamas terror organization in the region, while attempting to strengthen the power and influence of Hamas," she added.
More than 40 Hamas members from the West Bank are already in Israeli jails. In the January 2006 elections, the Islamist movement won 74 of the legislative assembly's 132 seats.
