Musharraf
Goes Too Far
March
23, 2007
The suspension
of Iftikhar Chaudhry, the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s
Supreme Court, by President Musharraf came as
a profound shock to both Musharraf’s supporters
and opponents. It is becoming obvious that it
was a major error on the part of Musharraf, and
it remains very murky as to why he pursued this
risky course of action.
Since coming to power, Musharraf has allowed the
Supreme Court to operate more or less independently.
In fact, judicial independence has been one of
the main talking points that Musharraf supporters
have used to suggest that Pakistan is not a dictatorship
but a democracy in transition. And it is true
that the Supreme Court, particularly in the last
year, has been engaging in actions that the Musharraf
government has found irksome.
About a year ago the Supreme Court voided the
sale of Pakistan Steel Mills, which was a major
setback to the privatization program. The Court
found that legal requirements and procedures were
not fully followed, although it was not shown
that any real corruption was involved. In the
last few months the Supreme Court has demanded
that the government produce a few hundred people
that have gone missing and are presumably held
by the government.
On the other hand, the Supreme Court has given
Musharraf tremendous help in the last seven years.
The Court ruled after the 1999 coup that he had
the right to wield power for 3 years as long as
he then held elections. It also gave him the authority
to amend the constitution, which Musharraf took
advantage of in the “Legal Framework Order”
he put in place just before the 2002 elections
that granted him extensive powers as President.
The LFO also included some good changes, such
as guaranteeing seats for women in the National
Assembly, and requiring that those running for
election have a college degree.
So why did Musharraf depose the Chief Justice?
This remains a bit of a mystery. Perhaps Musharraf
became afraid of the threat the Chief Justice
might pose in the aftermath of the 2007 elections,
the outcome of which remains uncertain. Musharraf
is promising a fair election, and the US is pushing
for democracy. If the political situation becomes
uncertain after the vote, having a reliably friendly
Supreme Court could be critical to Musharraf retaining
real power.
On paper, the supporters of Musharraf are claiming
that the Chief Justice was deposed because of
corruption concerns. He apparently drove an expensive
BMW, and his son has received favorable job posting
in the police. But are these really such unique
faults of the Chief Justice? Does not everyone
in Pakistan use his influence on behalf of his
children? The BMW raises eyebrows, but if Musharraf
expects perfect behavior as the condition to participate
in government, he would end up with very few people
left in his own cabinet.
The harsh nationwide reaction to the suspension
is actually a good sign. It means that a real
civil society is taking shape, a civil society
that is becoming increasingly hostile to benign
dictatorship. The press, both print and satellite
TV, have been very critical, as have the bar associations
and the political parties. The real question is
whether this will widen to society at large. At
this stage it is probably unlikely, but there
has clearly been a major blow to Musharraf’s
standing. This is probably the last straw for
those liberals who saw him as a necessary evil,
a modernizer who could do through autocratic means
that which was not possible through dysfunctional
democracy.
Musharraf has presented his rule as modernizing,
liberal, respectful of judicial independence,
tolerant of a free press, and an essential transitional
step to a fully democratic Pakistan. The assault
on the Chief Justice does major injury to that
paradigm. Clearly he has miscalculated. Whatever
harm he may have done to Musharraf from his position
as Chief Justice, the removal of Iftikhar Chaudhry
has done even more. When Musharraf does finally
leave the stage of Pakistani politics, this act
will be seen as one the key moments in that process.
Comments can reach me at Nali@socal.rr.com.
