News
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Nawaz Sharif’s U-turn opens Pandora’s box
* PML-N chief’s change of mind sparks new controversies over ‘settled’ issues
* Parties coming up with new demandsBy Irfan Ghauri
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif’s capricious decisions over the last three days and the preceding period have further complicated the working of the constitutional reforms committee and ignited several new controversies over issues previously considered almost settled.
The PML-N chief’s change of mind has provided room for new players to express divergent views on a range of “settled issues” – as described by various political parties. While the PML-Quaid (PML-Q) has become a party to the controversy over renaming NWFP, others – including FATA and minority members – are putting forward their own demands. Some FATA members have claimed that they were not taken into confidence over the proposed reforms package, while minority members are demanding they be given representation in the reforms committee.
The press conference Nawaz addressed on Thursday, subsequent changes in his stance over the next two days and another press conference on Saturday have gone on to muddle up several affairs.
The PML-N initially sought the inclusion of a retired judge in the judicial commission on the appointment of judges – a demand that was incorporated in the reforms committee’s recommendations. However, Nawaz simply refused to accept the composition of the commission on Thursday, saying his party had “certain reservations” over the mechanism.
While Nawaz addressed a press conference on Saturday in an apparent bid to clarify his party’s stance, the former prime minister failed to elaborate his party’s reservations by contradicting his own stance.
Nawaz mixed up two separate forums – the Pakistan Bar Council and the Supreme Court Bar Association – while failing to specify the forum he was seeking representation for in the proposed judicial commission. The PML-N chief said a single person should not be given absolute authority, but contradicted his own stance by saying the authority to nominate a retired judge must rest with the chief justice of Pakistan.
Nawaz also demanded the exclusion of the law minister from the commission, but backed the inclusion of the attorney general – which is also against the principle of impartiality. Ahsan Iqbal, information secretary of the PML-N, told Daily Times his party wanted the spirit of the Charter of Democracy to prevail in the matter and accommodate demands put forward by lawyers’ bodies.
He said while the reforms committee had proposed that the PBC may put forward a nomination for the judicial commission headed by the chief justice, “the PML-N says that instead of keeping it opened-ended, the vice chairman of the PBC be made a member of commission”. He said his party was also seeking the inclusion of the Supreme Court Bar Association president in the commission. “The PML-N also wants a retired judge to be part of the judicial commission... the appointment should either be made by the chief justice or it should be at the discretion of the chief justice and two senior-most judges of the Supreme Court... the PML-N also wants to include the presidents of the high court bar associations in the judicial commissions on appointments to high courts.”
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk