Judges’ Reinstatement Splits Pakistan’s Government

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has announced that his Pakistan Muslim League-N is quitting the coalition government in Pakistan. The split has come over the reinstatement of the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf late last year. Mr. Sharif wants the judges back with all the powers they had before they were relieved of their offices (quite unconstitutionally). The biggest party, the Pakistan Peoples Party, wants the judge’s powers limited. Mr. Sharif’s 9 ministers will resign from the cabinet tomorrow.

“We are quitting the cabinet because the promise to reinstate the judges was not fulfilled,” Mr. Sharif said. At the same time, he added, “we will continue to support the PPP government and would continue to be part of the coalition.” His younger brother Shabaz Sharif noted, “We will not totally part ways with PPP, we would continue to talk to them on case to case basis, but we have to think on our party lines as well.”

This was inevitable. The judges are the key to all of Pakistan’s politics at the moment. Their power and independence was the cornerstone of the restoration of democratic rule (such as it is) after the November state of emergency. They were fired because they were about to rule against Mr. Musharraf’s candidacy as president while still holding the job of top general and were considering the validity of the amnesty granted to the late PM Benazir Bhutto and her husband. If they have their full powers back, these cases could be revived. Should they rule that his election was unconstitutional and/or that the amnesty was illegal, yet another constitutional crisis arises.

The winner for the moment is President Musharraf. With the split in the coalition, his allies in parliament gain in influence. If they are wise, they will back the PPP proposal to reinstate the judges with lessened powers. That would effectively head off any attack on the president from that quarter. Moreover, the division reduces the possibility of his impeachment.

All of this was inevitable given the highly personal nature of the PML-N and the PPP. One is a vehicle for Mr. Sharif and the other for the Bhutto family. They are less divided over policy at the moment than they are over who should be leading. This distancing of the PML-N from the government is part of the dance of party politics, which in a democracy is normal. At the same time, it could destabilize the regime, something no one needs right now.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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