Judges sacked by Musharraf to get jobs back
Salman Masood and Carlotta Gall in Islamabad
Salman Masood and Carlotta Gall in Islamabad
April 22, 2008
PAKISTAN'S new government plans to present a resolution in parliament calling for judges sacked by the President, Pervez Musharraf, when he imposed emergency rule in November to be restored to their positions, government officials said.
It would be the first big legislative challenge to Mr Musharraf by the new government. Khawaja Muhammad Asif, the Petroleum Minister and an MP for a faction of the Pakistan Muslim League Party led by the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, said the resolution would be presented by Friday.
It would call for the reinstatement of about 60 judges to the Supreme Court and provincial high courts.
The issue has become a matter of immense public interest, not least because the reinstatement of the judges, including the former chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, could threaten Mr Musharraf's legitimacy and political survival.
Officials of the big parties in the coalition Government said that after the resolution - which would declare the removal of the judges void - was passed by a simple majority of parliament, the Government could then restore the judges to their positions with an executive order.
The Government also plans to seek constitutional amendments that would strip Mr Musharraf of many powers, reducing him to little more than a constitutional figurehead.
The amendments would take away the president's power to dissolve parliament and to appoint military and security chiefs, the auditor-general and provincial governors.
The main parties that formed the governing coalition after the parliamentary elections in February - the Pakistan People's Party of the assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and Mr Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League - pledged to reinstate the judges within 30 days of taking office.
Mr Sharif has insisted the Government keep its promise, and he seems to have prevailed over the more pragmatic Asif Ali Zardari, Ms Bhutto's widower who is leading her party.
The state-run news agency quoted the Law Minister, Farooq Naek, as denying media reports there was a plan to shorten Justice Chaudhry's term, set to end in 2013. Lawyers have condemned any such step and warned of another crisis in the country if Justice Chaudhry was restored with limited powers.
Mr Sharif, whose consistent hard line against Mr Musharraf has been regarded warily by US officials, has pressed the Pakistan People's Party to restore the judiciary, a step he sees as vital for the eventual removal of Mr Musharraf.
Political and legal analysts said the reinstatement of the judges would be a euphoric moment for the people, but that it might not immediately affect Mr Musharraf.
"I don't see him leaving till he is made to leave," said Babar Sattar, a lawyer and columnist in Islamabad, the capital. "I don't think that the People's Party has a policy of confrontation. It does not want to rock the boat."
Mr Sattar said he did not believe the judges would reopen the cases regarding Mr Musharraf's eligibility to stand for president last year.
He said any action to remove the President should come from parliament in the form of an impeachment, and that the High Court should not be dragged into politics.
The New York Times
PAKISTAN'S new government plans to present a resolution in parliament calling for judges sacked by the President, Pervez Musharraf, when he imposed emergency rule in November to be restored to their positions, government officials said.
It would be the first big legislative challenge to Mr Musharraf by the new government. Khawaja Muhammad Asif, the Petroleum Minister and an MP for a faction of the Pakistan Muslim League Party led by the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, said the resolution would be presented by Friday.
It would call for the reinstatement of about 60 judges to the Supreme Court and provincial high courts.
The issue has become a matter of immense public interest, not least because the reinstatement of the judges, including the former chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, could threaten Mr Musharraf's legitimacy and political survival.
Officials of the big parties in the coalition Government said that after the resolution - which would declare the removal of the judges void - was passed by a simple majority of parliament, the Government could then restore the judges to their positions with an executive order.
The Government also plans to seek constitutional amendments that would strip Mr Musharraf of many powers, reducing him to little more than a constitutional figurehead.
The amendments would take away the president's power to dissolve parliament and to appoint military and security chiefs, the auditor-general and provincial governors.
The main parties that formed the governing coalition after the parliamentary elections in February - the Pakistan People's Party of the assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and Mr Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League - pledged to reinstate the judges within 30 days of taking office.
Mr Sharif has insisted the Government keep its promise, and he seems to have prevailed over the more pragmatic Asif Ali Zardari, Ms Bhutto's widower who is leading her party.
The state-run news agency quoted the Law Minister, Farooq Naek, as denying media reports there was a plan to shorten Justice Chaudhry's term, set to end in 2013. Lawyers have condemned any such step and warned of another crisis in the country if Justice Chaudhry was restored with limited powers.
Mr Sharif, whose consistent hard line against Mr Musharraf has been regarded warily by US officials, has pressed the Pakistan People's Party to restore the judiciary, a step he sees as vital for the eventual removal of Mr Musharraf.
Political and legal analysts said the reinstatement of the judges would be a euphoric moment for the people, but that it might not immediately affect Mr Musharraf.
"I don't see him leaving till he is made to leave," said Babar Sattar, a lawyer and columnist in Islamabad, the capital. "I don't think that the People's Party has a policy of confrontation. It does not want to rock the boat."
Mr Sattar said he did not believe the judges would reopen the cases regarding Mr Musharraf's eligibility to stand for president last year.
He said any action to remove the President should come from parliament in the form of an impeachment, and that the High Court should not be dragged into politics.
The New York Times
No comments:
Post a Comment