Running with the Hare and hunting with the hounds

Two unelected titans thrash it out on Constitutional Avenue outside the parliament. Instead of solving the problems of the country inside the parliament, the two parties are discussing the issues in kitchen cabinets in Dubai and London. This reminds the Pakistani intellectual of a Western bar room brawl where the uncouth cowboys took their fight out in the street and dueled it out. Instead of resolving the problems in the cabinet the two parties are taking arbitrary decisions in the Zardari and Sharif palaces.

Did Long March try to keep the attention of the common man away from the budget? Was the Long March a pressure tactic on the PPP to show Mr. Zardari that Mr. Sharif was a force to contend with.

How can the government protest against itself? How can the Long March protest against those in power, when the leaders of the ruling coalition are in the march itself. Who funded the Long March? Who paid for the buses? The Zardari-Gilani government is a total failure and has not done anything to even think about the crisis of the day. Mr. Shairf is running with the fox and hanging out with the hunters at the same time. The shuttling between Dubai and London is bewildering to most analysts. Both Zardari and Sharif stay more in London than in Pakistan. Mr. Dars irresponsible statements have harmed Pakistan. He claimed that the numbers for fudged. The next day $20 Billion took off and landed in Dubai. The reckless and impetuous balderdash has led to the flight of capital and the crash of the stock market which was goring even during the BB assassination. These jokers continue to blame the last government–but the fact remains that they are totally incompetent and don’t have a clue. All they can do is smile and issue short quips.

The new coalition government is ready to implement the “MInus One” formula under which all the judges will be restored and then Mr. Iftikhar Chaudhry will resign from his post. Technically this will enable the PML(N) to say that it has kept the promises, and the lawyers can declare victory and go home. Mr. Chaudhry will recluse himself from Mr. Musharraf’s case.

When will the Pakistani politicians quit playing games and get to the real problems of the people, water, electricity, Kashmir, Afghanistan and Terrorism.

New govt plans to thank, say ‘bye to Iftikhar* Iftikhar Chaudhry may be reinstated, then forced to retire

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is drafting a constitutional package likely to sideline sacked chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Chaudhry.

The PPP is expected to submit the proposal for parliamentary scrutiny as soon as next week. It is honour bound to reinstate the judges sacked on November 3 within 30 days of the formation of the government, under a pact between PPP Co-chairman Asif Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif.

Pakistan’s new political order will thank Chaudhry for precipitating the political shift that led to the defeat of pro-Musharraf parties in February’s elections, reinstate him and then try to wave him goodbye, analysts and others said. “Restoration will redeem his honour,” said a senior PPP official in government. “But this is about reforming the judiciary, not making heroes out of people.”

“If there is any compromise on this issue then there are serious threats to the coalition,” Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, a senior minister from the PML-N, told Reuters, adding that for now “all is well”.

Independent analysts say Zardari has Nawaz’s approval to remove Chaudhry without the issue breaking the coalition, but that Nawaz won’t say so publicly as he has to manage dissent in the PML-N. “They are together on the fundamental issue, that this time the civilians will prevail,” the PPP official said. The restored judges could revive challenges to Musharraf’s re-election in October while still army chief, or go after the president for his November 3 actions.

The PPP wants to avoid an early confrontation with Musharraf.

The PPP faces several problems including stabilising its government, averting possible economic crisis, and fighting Al Qaeda-inspired militants.

“Who benefits from upheaval?” asked the PPP official. “There’s a difference between a compromise and a sell-out.”

It has been argued that forcing Chaudhry into early retirement could go some way to defusing a potentially explosive situation.

“The other option is not to remove him, but to reduce his personal power,” the PPP official said.

That would entail removing the chief justice’s right to allocate judges to cases, and choose which judges sit on benches.

Aitzaz Ahsan, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, warned of more agitation if Chaudhry is removed.

“There will be no closure of the issue. There will be continued uncertainty and instability,” he said. reuters