By Sarla Handoo New Delhi (Syndicate Features): The renewed lawyers’ strike in Pakistan is turning out to be a major challenge for the government which has yet to find its feet, months after it assumed power. The Long March by lawyers starting off from Multan and culminating in Islamabad has proved that lawyers are still a force to be reckoned with and can not be brushed aside. They have proved it with enthusiastic side rallies held during the march with plenty of rose petals showered on the marchers all through the route. The huge rally in Islamabad was attended by over 20 thousand lawyers, political workers and civil society activists.
What should be more worrisome for the government is that PML (N) Chief Nawaz Sharif made his appearance at the Islamabad rally. That Nawaz Sharif has thrown his weight with the agitators indicates that he is in no mood to reconcile with his demands. For the government that is no good news.
Nawaz Sharif wants the Gilani government with Asif Zardari as backseat driver to take immediate steps to reinstate the judges and sack Musharraf. For the PML (N) this is the top most priority before the government can settle down to take up other business. Both PPP and the PML (N) agree on this but have differences on the mechanics. Nawaz Sharif is emphatic that the dismissed judges, numbering 60, including the supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chowdhury, must be reinstated through an executive order by the Prime Minister and that Musharraf should not only step down but be tried for treason for violating and manipulating the constitution of the country. Also, all his actions taken after imposing emergency in the country on November 3 last year should be reversed. But Asif Ali Zardari does not want any confrontation with Musharraf .As he says he wants to maintain a “working relationship” with president Musharraf till he steps down or is thrown out. Nawaz Sharif is not ready to accept this as it is bound to take time
Asif Ali Zardari on his part has been trying his best to dislodge Musharraf without initiating an impeachment process for which the government is not well equipped as it does not have the required 2/3 rd majority in Parliament. He is also trying alternative ways to reinstate the dismissed judges while retaining the newly appointed ones as throwing them out can lead to another constitutional anomaly. He is therefore pursuing the idea of increasing the number of judges of the Supreme Court. But this too doesn’t seem to work. In fact Zardari in one of his recent statements described Musharraf as a “relic of the past” showing his disgust for Musharraf. Promptly, Musharraf called off all contacts with PPP. No more dialogue with them, he told his aides.
Why is Zardari finding himself in a helpless situation to act against Musharraf? Is there any US pressure on him because Bush has all through been extending support to Musharraf through his phone calls? And why is Nawaz Sharif so impatient with his demands? Is he playing his own political game to be ready to go to the electorate for a fresh, wholesome mandate in case the government falls? These are questions which may take time to be answered.
The challenge to the Gilani government takes an ominous turn because Musharraf has announced that he has no plans to resign. He is also dead-set against reinstating the former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chowdhury whom he dismissed a day before Choudhry was to pronounce the judgment on applications challenging Musharraf’s re-election as president for the second term. Musharraf had an apprehension that had he allowed Choudhry to continue as the Chief Justice, he could have declared the re-election staged by the outgoing National Assembly as void. So, for Musharraf and Chowdhury it is an either or situation. For the government, it is turning out to be the toughest thing to handle.
In this situation will the government respond to Nawaz Sharif’s demands or ignore the long march. Zardari will have to take a quick decision on it. If the two major parties the PPP and the PML (N) continue to have differences on the issue, it can jeopardize the very stability of the government. And for Musharraf that would be a God sent opportunity to saddle himself firmly. What better thing he can wish for. As of now, the political scene in Pakistan does seem to be promising for him. (Syndicate Features)
