Guardian : Court politics

Court politics

The Guardian | November 23, 2007

The supreme court of Pakistan yesterday threw out the final challenge to General Pervez Musharraf's re-election as president. In so doing, it removed the final hurdle that stood in the way of the general taking his uniform off and being sworn in as a civilian president. In other circumstances this development would have been welcome. But the general imposed a state of emergency three weeks ago. He has thrown 5,000 lawyers in prison and has closed independent television stations.

The court which met yesterday was more kangaroo than supreme. The gaggle of placemen rubber-stamped the general's re-election, while the real judges of the land, the former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and five other justices, were kept under house arrest. For all America's protestations about lifting the state of emergency, the US deputy secretary of state, John Negroponte, was careful not to mention the chief justice by name when he was challenged at a press conference. Another disquieting consequence of Mr Negroponte's visit to Islamabad was the renewed equivocation of Benazir Bhutto, to whom the US diplomat has talked. The leader of Pakistan's largest political party has yet to decide whether to join the opposition boycott of the January election. Whether or not the emergency is lifted by then, it is a fair bet that the election will be as closely controlled as the actions of the judiciary are. If they were not, Gen Musharraf would be revealed for what he is - a man without political support. Shorn of the protection of his military uniform, Gen Musharraf's survival strategy amounts to ensuring that the January elections return a parliament that is loyal to him.

None of this is good news for Pakistan, whose cause Gen Musharraf invokes to justify his actions. The closer the general gets to a power-sharing deal with Ms Bhutto, the less plausible it becomes. The military and the Bhutto dynasty are old enemies, and for all Gen Musharraf's personal hatred of Nawaz Sharif (the prime minister he unseated in a coup), the powerful establishment behind the general would far prefer to deal with him. The west may be tempted to congratulate the general for staying in power, but the pacts that he is stitching together are so loose that it is only a matter of time before they come undone.

There is also a more fundamental objection to what is going on. The state of emergency was declared in the name of saving Pakistan from the threat of Islamic militants. But in valleys such as Swat, in the North-West Frontier Province, many embrace sharia law not because they are forced to, but because state law and order has so totally failed. Into whose hands does the general play by clinging to power at all costs?