The 10% Judiciary
On the eve of the April 30 Murree declaration deadline I wanted to place on record my views on the subject. I have refrained from commenting on the issue up till now as I had hoped the PPP would be interested in extinguishing the fire that is today Pakistan, instead they seem ‘Duracell-ready’ to inflame the fire further and add more petrol so it causes even more harm to the wretched of this nation.I have engaged in some intensive research and analysis on the issue and produced a perspective on the issue which has not been considered before. Indeed the perspective brings to the fore the great game of deceit being played by Zardari’s Pervez People’s Party.
Consequently I wrote an article on the subject with a view to it being published in The NEWS so the deceit becomes common knowledge however due to my overt criticism of the PPP it has been decided it will not be published as an opinion piece but rather as a letter in tomorrow’s The News. I have chose to repeat the entire article here and hope all readers will pass the message on to all Pakistanis inside and outside of Pakistan:
Far more eminent commentators than I have passed their verdicts regarding the PPP’s obvious dilly-dallying if not downright deceit on the judges restoration issue. Even the PPP rebuttals recently published in The News on the issue fall flat and only serve to leave a bad taste in the mouth and include a wild allegation that the newspaper and Ansar Abbasi in particular are being negative in sensationalising the judges issue so as to sell more newspapers!
Such allegations demonstrate a victim mentality taking shape in the corridors of power against the media once again and the former journalist herself Sherry ‘Sunglasses’ Rehman should take note and disassociate the PPP from such viewpoints fast instead of enjoying dinner parties with the alleged murderer of their slain leader.
One can only marvel at the PPP’s transformation since 18 February. Gone forever are the references to ‘Gorbachev’ and the ‘Qatil League’ and fast forgotten is the final email and dying will of Benazir Bhutto to Mark Siegel regarding General Musharaff’s alleged role in her untimely death. Instead the new Prime Minister and his PPP colleagues never tire of singing the praise of their arch nemesis - one General (Rtd) Musharraf.
From musical evenings to foreign trips it seems the PPP has fast become the Pervez People’s Party all in name with her acts of omission and commission, culminating in a open betrayal to the memory of Benazir Bhutto. Do remember that the PPP themselves alleged of their own volition and free will in December 2007 that Benazir Bhutto was killed by the very establishment and army leadership they are busy gyrating to right now.
Few doubt that for the PPP the god of the NRO reigns supreme. It is within this context that the recent graduation judgement and the multiple Asif Ali Zardari acquittals from the canine sounding Doggar court should be viewed when noting that the real Supreme Court had stayed the NRO.
Thus the PPP’s reticence to restore the Chief Justice and his brother judges in the Supreme Court and High Courts is obvious. The minus-one formula as well as the planned reduction of the power and tenure of the Chief Justice is all a part of this deceit, hidden under the guise of a constitutional package that will bring about our ticket to paradise the so-called independence of the judiciary. However there is a greater game in play here and it is this.
A constitutional package as planned by the PPP that clips the powers and tenure of the Chief Justice will lead to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry’s enforced retirement almost straight away or by 2009 at the latest. The evil of such an eventuality need not be stated. Part two of the plan will implement the minus-two formula thereby restricting Justice Javed Iqbal from becoming Chief Justice as the PPP is considering him not worthy of a return to the Supreme Court at all.
Next, part three of the deceit comes into play. Given the PPP has decided to protect the Doggar court judges, it then follows that the PPP’s favourite Sindhi son Justice Doggar would take over and reign in the Supreme Court as Chief Justice. The situation becomes worse in 2010 when Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan and Justice Khalil-ur Rehman Ramday two non-PCO judges and the next senior-most Supreme Court judges are set to retire leaving Justice Abbasi of PCO fame the next Chief Justice by default.
In simple the plan is aimed at strengthening the PCO-taking Doggar Court judges as it will in effect retire six of the ten judges who did not take the PCO on November 3 from Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to Justice Khalil-ur Rehman by 2010 at the latest. Instead the new Supreme Court will be led initially by Justice Doggar and then Justice Abbasi with senior most judges like Justice Khokhar and Justice Buttar of PCO fame gracing us all with their presence.
In terms of percentages by 2010 it will mean 75% of the Supreme Court will be PCO-led judges subservient to the executive and establishment again and so the gains of the lawyers movement in terms of an awakened judiciary will have died a terrible death.
The PPP government’s promised panacea and mantra of an independent judiciary would hide the deceit via a package of judicial reform comprising of improvements in judicial appointments and other welcome reforms that will strengthen the judiciary in name only given the real Supreme Court will be sent home.
This great game of deceit is being played as I write and needs to be placed on record for the PPP will as a result be seen to restore the judges and protect their independence through constitutional amendments. The PLMN and the nation as a whole will be taken for a ride and will have been duped, for few people will consider the longer-term implications of the PPP’s decisions and hence this article serves a notice to the nation in that regard.
Asif Ali Zardari was made infamous as ‘Mr 10%’, a name that still haunts him. However he has received many a plaudit for his political guile since his enforced return to Pakistan. The new Mr. Zardari on display has begun to put to death such a tag and must resist from installing a puppet judiciary, and thus strengthening the Gorbachev General he once despised, indeed Mr Zardari’s ‘10% judiciary’ is not welcome here.
- Originally posted on 29th April 2008, 23:19 PK Time, written under MARTIAL LAW