Pakistan’s deepening political crisis

The Supreme Court ruling to bar the opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif from elected office has plunged Pakistan into political turmoil once again. It is the last thing the country needed as it reels from the Taliban’s offensive in Swat on one hand and India’s aggressive diplomacy and US pressure over the Mumbai attacks on the other.

The optimism that enveloped the country following the elections last year and the return of genuine democratic rule is nowhere to be seen. The task of restoring autonomy to institutions such as the judiciary should have begun with the reinstatement of Iftikhar Mohammed Choudhury as Chief Justice. Instead, the failure to honour the Murree declaration severely harmed the spirit of political unity. The verdict of a Musharraf-appointed Supreme Court, whose legitimacy is constantly under question, has set the discord that began over differences on restoring the judiciary along an irrevocable path. Mr Nawaz Sharif has already denounced the court ruling as politically motivated by saying, “It’s an edict, not a verdict.”

Allegations by the PML-N of PPP’s offer of a business deal to Mr Shahbaz Sharif granting amnesty in return for legitimising the Supreme Court and dropping the demand for the restoration of the judiciary has further damaged the PPP’s credibility and commitment to empowering democratic institutions. The deployment of police to disallow the convening of the Punjab provincial assembly, where Mr Shahbaz Sharif is chief minister, has only highlighted the PPP’s unwillingness to uphold democratic norms. Lawyers throughout Pakistan have condemned the decision, calling it a ‘presidential’ verdict and protesting in large numbers at the Mall in Lahore and outside the locked Pakistani parliament in Islamabad.

Pakistan is unfortunately heading for the divisive politics of the 1990’s that created the justification for military rule. Mr Zardari’s contentious decision to assume the post of president has only deepened the mistrust between the two major parties, especially since he has not shown any inclination to curtail the extra-constitutional powers invested in the post during Musharraf’s reign. At a time when the political establishment needs to stand united to root out the menace of rising religious fundamentalism and other challenges facing the country, the recent events do not bode well for democracy’s future. Mr Zardari has repeatedly raised a call to the spirit of ‘reconciliation’, but he has increasingly taken steps to isolate and vanquish the PML-N in the political arena. A year later, democracy’s early promise once again lies battered.

This appeared as an editorial in The Daily Word, the paper at the Asian College of Journalism.