Word: musharraf
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Surprisingly, perhaps, Chaudhry has some supporters among members of the old regime."In any democracy, there have to be some check and balances," says Tariq Azeem, a senator who served as Musharraf's deputy information minister and had backed the removal of Chaudhry. "Normally, it is the opposition that takes up that role. But at the moment there is no opposition. People now have to look to somebody to give them relief, and the only people left are the courts. No wonder when they take a popular step, people are happy...
...President Asif Ali Zardari worries that the Supreme Court's action could trigger a fresh phase of political instability. "This is exactly what we were worried about," says the aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, in reference to Zardari's reluctance to reinstate Chaudhry and the judges sacked by Musharraf. (Zardari was forced to back down in the face of a crisis generated by nationwide protests led by lawyers.) "This judicial activism goes against our message of national reconciliation." During the 1990s, deposed civilian governments routinely found themselves dragged into court. "We don't want to a return...
...reason Musharraf had dismissed Chaudhry, whom the former military ruler had appointed as Chief Justice, was the judge's enthusiasm for harrying the government with rulings that were popular with the public. Chaudhry had burnished his reputation by striking down the planned privatization of a steel mill and hearing petitions raised by the relatives of Pakistanis that human rights groups allege are being held in secret custody as terror suspects. When Chaudhry refused to yield to Musharraf's demand that he resign, the country's lawyers took to the streets in his support...
Azeem also foresees personal trouble for Zardari if Chaudhry moves to revive corruption charges dropped by Musharraf as part of a presidential amnesty linked to a political deal that cleared the way for Zardari and his slain widow, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to return to Pakistan. The couple always denied the charges, maintaining that the cases against them were politically motivated...
...lightly." Zardari is already burdened by unpopularity, public anger at power cuts and prices, and the challenges of taming Islamist militancy. If the Supreme Court continues to flex its muscles and revisits the president's old corruption cases, he could find himself in even more trouble than Musharraf seems...