A pre-dawn telecast to the nation in the wee hours of Monday defused the simmering political crisis in Pakistan. And the announcement by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani that the government had agreed to reinstate the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, forced people out on the street to celebrate the victory of Pakistan’s civil society and the civil disobedience movement.
The climb-down by President Zardari led lawyers and Nawaz Sharif to call off the long march planned for today. But both sides were cautious and declared that the government’s future moves needed to be watched. They were specially concerned about moves to bring about a constitutional amendment to curtail powers of the Chief Justice.
Gilani in his telecast to the nation declared that the CJ would resume office on March 21, when the present incumbent retires.
The stand-off with lawyers and Nawaz Sharif, and the subsequent climb-down, have considerably weakened Zardari, who has shied away from public contact since September last year, and eroded his credibility. But political observers describe him as a survivor and expect him to live with the humiliation.
The next round of the battle is expected to be fought in Punjab province, which elects more than half the members of the National Assembly. The provincial government headed by Shahbaz Sharif, younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, was dismissed and central rule imposed in the province after the supreme court debarred the brothers from holding public office. Sharifs claim that the ruling is vitiated and relied on old and politically motivated cases.
But while the Pakistan Muslim League (N) is the largest party in the provincial Assembly, it does not have a majority. Zardari’s PPP is the second largest party and a smaller party, said to be loyal to former President Pervez Musharraf, holds the balance of power. Any attempt to deny power in Punjab to the Sharif brothers might lead to yet another stand-off.
Yet another potential flashpoint is Zardari’s fear that the reinstated Chief Justice might allow petitions challenging the amnesty granted to Zardari. While senior lawyers expect Iftikhar Chaudhry to be cautious and circumspect, it is unlikely that he will be able to stop such petitions from coming up, they say.
