• Home
• Video
• Books by Ikram Sehgal
• About

The PM’s tussle with the Chief Justice Loses if he wins, wins if he loses

As the only nation in the world capable of turning victory into defeat on matters of no consequence, we are constantly searching for dragons to slay and when unable to find them, we manage to invent some, convincing ourselves that every occasional windmill is that mythical monster and the gentle wind turning over the arms of the windmill is an eminent storm. The person who wrote Don Quixote had Pakistan in mind, unfortunately we are now upto our necks in a Sancho Panza-type syndrome. For those who think that the confrontation is between the executive and judiciary I have news, it is not so ! The real battle lines are drawn between two gifted but stubborn men, both with a potential to give a lot to this nation and potentially to lose more than they can give. Unfortunately, what they have put at stake are the institutions they should protect, not use them as bargaining chips in high stakes gambling with loaded dice. The institutions that the PM and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court head, respectively the executive and the judiciary, are responsibilities that they shoulder on behalf of the people of Pakistan as a trust. The believing masses are increasingly losing faith in the institutions they look upto for leading an orderly life in a world increasingly short of socio-economic facilities and long on misery and privation.

If Nawaz Sharif wins this battle against the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he will lose the war. The masses want justice, in order to have justice, they need more judges. When Mian Nawaz Sharif should be asking for 34 judges so that people get less delayed justice, he is asking that 17 be reduced to 12. And who does not know that the reason to reduce the number is to keep some Judges out of the Supreme Court? The public perception is that because of his own narrow individual interests and short-term gains he has put an insensible whole nation on hold, hostage to this constitutional crisis, one of his making. This may not be true but a quick poll shows that while the public generally believes that the Chief Justice (CJ) could have been more pragmatic in his selections for elevation given the Sharif family’s uneasy relationship with the aforementioned justices, the public is inclined to give more weightage to the Chief Justice’s opinion than that of our PM. Moreover, they have not taken kindly at all to the six judges breaking with the monolithic silence of the Supreme Court as an institution and thus “revolting” against the CJ. Whether they are right or wrong may be inconsequential in face of the public perception of bringing the institution of the Supreme Court into some disrepute, particularly when it had reached an all-time high in the recent past. While certainly the respected judges must have taken this extraordinary step of writing to the President out of their consensual as well as individual beliefs and conviction, the unfortunate perception is that they have been manipulated by the Government for individual ambitions and interest. The perception, therefore, is of a wheeler-dealer business-minded government, having a vested bent in using power and money to influence individuals to their frame of mind. This is severely damaging to our political leadership and maybe quite unfair. Those who are interested that the PM should suffer are in the meantime busily stoking the fires further. In the history of Pakistani politics, Mian Nawaz Sharif has been the major beneficiary. His present actions are deemed to be that of someone turning against his mentor. Mian Nawaz Sharif’s family has often been accused, of subverting loyalties for their own profit, this much, even if wrong, is likely to stick. All the more reason for Mian Nawaz Sharif to bail out immediately and bodily. Mian Nawaz Sharif stands to be deprived of the enormous reservoir of goodwill as well as political capital that he has painstakingly built up among the masses over years of determined effort. Politics has not come easy over the past several years for Mian Sahib, the goodwill may well evaporate. And if the PM thinks that he is only in that danger emanating from his enemies one may start praying to God to save him from his friends, i.e if some Piplias in politics but more from the bureaucracy, have not infiltrated his inner circle and are pushing him over the edge. A gathering of human vultures has assembled in Islamabad over the past several days, they have been straining at the leash at the prospect of open conflict of the executive with the judiciary. They know that in the long run the judiciary cannot lose and the present government is only five miles to midnight in self-destructing if it persists on this course.

On the other hand, Mian Sahib paradoxically emerges as the big winner if he loses the present battle with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. If he should now consider abandoning his present stubborn stance, it would be the public perception that he is the aggrieved party, the underdog, that while his stance was one based on principles he was cognizant of the probable damage to the Supreme Court due to the action of the 6 judges who filed a grievance with the President against the CJ and despite a clear majority in his own favour, the PM has taken the high road for the sake of the nation. Furthermore the Chief Justice would have won a Pyrrhic victory as the general public would the perceive any subsequent action against Mian Nawaz Sharif as a PM and as an individual as an act of vindictiveness if not outright meanness and once any anti-PM Supreme Court edict, would be seen as prejudicial. By defusing the crisis on his own initiative rather than on dictation from anybody, the PM will emerge as a selfless leader who sacrificed his own interests for the sake of the nation. The PM’s action would also leave all the hungry vultures who came to the dinner party (where incidentally he was the main course), bereft of any “casus belli” to effect his downfall. It would also expose his so-called “friends” who usually desert him at the drop of a hat, i.e people like Ijazul Haq, to ridicule and censure by the party faithful and the intelligentsia who would be clearly turned off by their display of naked ambition. The PM’s hands would be strengthened instead of being weakened once he is rid of this debilitating non-issue. Above all, in the one real constituency that he must keep and in which he is rapidly losing ground, he will come out smelling roses because “they” really admire a man show has the spirit of sacrifice in him. At the moment their perception may well be that if political leaders cannot come up with a solution, the solution may well be not to have political leadership. That would be most unfortunate for this already unfortunate nation. We need a Gamal Nasser at this time as much as we need a hole in the head. It is an unfortunate perception but if the PM gives way, the Chief Justice will have an image problem, one of a confrontationist willing to sacrifice the credibility of his revered institution because of his stubborn ego. It may not be right, but perceptions in the world is hardly fair, particularly since the CJ lacks “spin doctors” that any administration has in plentiful supply. The phased formula of elevating three judges in the first tranche, sending two on leave and elevating them later is a confused non-starter. The only formula should be on the KISS formula (keep it Simple, Stupid !) i.e to elevate all five and get on with the business of governance. The country has presently been placed on hold, for a country that needs its dynamic PM to tackle the problem of its masses, which is the economy, the economy and more of the economy urgently, this is ridiculous issue. The PM is getting bad advice, it is time to send these advisers packing before circumstances send the PM packing. Not that Ms Benazir will benefit from Mian Nawaz Sharif’s downfall but then she lives by the formula that the next best thing to her not being in power is not to have Mian Sahib in power.

If I were Mian Nawaz Sharif, I would pick up the telephone and invite the Chief Justice to come to the PM’s House for a cup of tea. One on one, I would then tell the Chief Justice that while I had severe reservations about some of his nominees, in the higher interests of the nation and to preserve the rapidly eroding credibility of both the government and the Supreme Court the confrontation should stop forthwith. While I stood to lose political face because of my compromise I did not want to compromise the moral authority of the Supreme Court and that the advice of the Chief Justice would, therefore, be respected and the five judges elevated immediately. What the Chief Justice would say I would not conjecture but he would be craven indeed not to be magnanimous in seeing his recommendations accepted and respond in kind by some solid gestures to restore the credibility of the government, in effect a substantial face-saving measure but at his discretion, not as a negotiated quid pro quo. For the sake of this nation, let us not go back to 1993 when our combined aspiration should be to reach out for the future. As a 21st century man, Mian Nawaz Sharif has no future displaying a mediaeval attitude. For God’s sake, let’s put this non-issue behind us and get on with the business of nationhood.

Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.