Judiciary Versus Presidency
By Salman Mugsi • Jan 25th, 2010 • Category: Politics • 4 CommentsIt was bound to happen. The bad blood between the two institutions of Pakistan is very natural course of events. With Asif Ali Zardari as president and with Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as chief justice, the showdown between these pillars of the state is not something strange or out of context.
Asif Ali Zardari cannot get free from his past and Iftikhar Chaudhry cannot show expedience. Both are tied up with their past and they have to deliver in present to survive in the future. Asif Ali Zardari’s cases are still there in Swiss courts and 60 million dollars are a big question mark. He has got immunity right now because of his office, but then there are some moral and ethical issues and impeachment or the directive from the supreme court is not much far away.
Besides of that the key role here is of the premier Yousuf Raza Gilani. Would he be able to follow the orders of Supreme Court and ask the Swiss government on behalf of Pakistani government to reopen the cases? Does he have the mettle to act upon his own boss and against that man who has placed him in such a prestigitous position, the head of executive? That question is very very important and it is this question which will determine the fate of our nation. Yes it is so important.
And yes in the name of combating the conspiracies, the president could also follow Musharraf’s footsteps and sack the CJP.
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Quote “Asif Ali Zardari cannot get free from his past and Iftikhar Chaudhry cannot show expedience. Both are tied up with their past and they have to deliver in present to survive in the future”
Bull’s-eye! Both personalities need to show restrain and maturity for the supreme national interest. As rightly said one should put the past behind and face the challenges of the present. The supposed crisis is being overplayed by some quarters who do not wish to see democracy foster in Pakistan .Any political turmoil at this critical juncture can provide the anticipated opportunity to the extremist elements who vow to destabilize Pakistan.
It is not necessary to publish or broadcast lies but even facts can be presented in such a way that the desired results are achieved. There are dozens of examples where media was used to destabilize the governments, rebellions were engineered and election results are changed. BBC played an active part against Sokarno government in Indonesia and to block the way for socialism. Propaganda against Jamal Abdul Nasir, separation of East Timor, division of Yugoslavia and the so-called American sponsored Afghan Jihad; all are the miracles of media. To mold public opinion sometimes media highlights only some aspects while some are kept hidden. And even those some aspects are presented out of the context. Half truth is even more dangerous than a lie. Sometimes the statements of certain political leader is given preference and published on main pages or broadcasted repeatedly. And the idea is injected in the people that particular leader is popular and most of the people support him. Previously we have experienced how a certain fundamentalist religious group was highlighted in this way. Keeping in view all these aspects of media the western governments have taken preventive measures. For example there are laws that keep check on media’s foreign relations and its political affiliations. News that is conflicting with the national interests is not published. Scenes of violence and injuries are avoided to broadcast. But over here in Pakistan beheaded corpses are shown on the TV screens. Seeing this foreign investors and businessmen will soon flee from Pakistan.Hamid Mir writes in Jang (7 Jan 2010) stating that the legal proceedings against the missing persons case in the Supreme Court of Pakistan are the real test of Pakistani media. Will the NRO-phobia anchors (Talat Hussain, Shahid Masood etc) now focus their attention on this case? Will Imran Khan, Munawar Hassan and Hameed Gul do something about this with equal fervour?
The whole notion of good governance implies that there should be a separation of power and the delicate balance of authority is maintained. While the executive should not run a one man show the judicial activism should not turn into adventurism…..
It is important for any country to run a smooth democratic system for a bright future. The separation of powers has always been a problem for us unfortunately. Due to this the common man suffers. This instability and greed for power affects the assistance coming to Pakistan. e.g Danish development increased US$8m to 28$m for the next 2 years. More focus and check should be on this of the judiciary I think.