Pakistani-Americans Hail Removal of NAB Chairman as a Landmark Victory for the Rule of Law

Washington, DC: The Pakistan American Democratic Forum (PADF), a grassroots organization founded in 1982 in support of the Movement for Restoration of Democracy in Pakistan (MRD), has welcomed the removal of the Admiral Fasih Bokhari, the intransigent Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau, as a landmark victory for the rule of law, accountability, and transparency.
The Supreme Court has ruled that Mr Bokhari's selection was in violation of the constitution.
"Removal of President Zardari's henchman would, finally, bring an end to the shoddy accountability process", the PADF Founder Dr Agha Saeed said.
Mr Bokhari had deliberately and consistently defied the Supreme Court of Pakistan. His removal would essentially bring about the supremacy of the rule of law.
PADF's statement in part reads:
1. Pakistan's most reactionary feudal forces, being dispatched to the dustbin of history, have been dealt a crushing blow.
2. The silhouette of an emergent democratic order based on the rule of law, accountability and transparency is now visible to the public eye.
3. The pattern of this democratic transformation can be clearly seen in five historical steps:  A) Pakistan's progressive intelligentsia, Faiz Ahmed Fiaz and Habib Jalib in particular, created a  definite longing for freedom and equality; B) this awareness-based longing led to the creation of an independent media;  C) the independent media led the civil society's heroic struggle to bring about establishment of an independent judiciary, and D) all of these forces have brought about an independent Election Commission.
4. Now with the cumulative impact of the above four processes, the final obstacle to the independent functioning of the National Accountability Bureau has been removed.
5.  We need to continue our campaign of vigilance to bring about the creation of an independent Planning Commission so that a truly just, honest and rational reordering of Pakistan could be started.

 

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