Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
March 16, 2009
Pg. 1
By Jane Perlez
LAHORE, Pakistan — The Pakistani government agreed early on Monday to reinstate the independent-minded former chief justice of the Supreme Court, a stunning concession to the opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, who was heading toward the capital in a convoy threatening to stage a mass protest over the issue after he broke free from house arrest at his residence near here.
The concession, broadcast on national television by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, came after a tumultuous weekend in Pakistani politics in which a dispute between President Asif Ali Zardari and Mr. Sharif had escalated into a major crisis that was destabilizing nuclear-armed Pakistan, already under pressure from a growing Islamic insurgency and severe economic troubles.
The decision to restore the chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, came after calls to Mr. Zardari and Mr. Sharif, including from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, asking them to ease their differences.
The Obama administration’s special envoy to Pakistan, Richard C. Holbrooke, said the United States applauded “the statesmanlike act by President Zardari and hope that it will help defuse a dangerous confrontation so that Pakistan, with the help of its many friends, can address the nation’s pressing and urgent needs.”
Nonetheless, the restoration of Mr. Chaudhry, who was dismissed two years ago by then-President Pervez Musharraf, appeared to show new weakness by Mr. Zardari. The former chief justice’s fate was a festering unresolved issue between Mr. Zardari and Mr. Sharif while the two men led a coalition government last year.
A vibrant lawyers’ movement has agitated for Mr. Chaudhry’s return, and Mr. Sharif made Mr. Chaudhry, as a symbol of an independent judiciary, the centerpiece of his platform since his return to Pakistani politics from exile in late 2007.
Word of Mr. Chaudhry’s rehabilitation followed a momentous weekend in which the government had tried but failed to prevent a protest by Mr. Sharif and the lawyers in Lahore, Mr. Sharif’s political power base.
After the police placed him under house arrest on Sunday morning, Mr. Sharif and his entourage broke through the barricades at his home and drove to the center of Lahore, where a pitched battle had taken place between his supporters and the police.
But in apparent deference to Mr. Sharif, the police melted away, and he proceeded from Lahore in a convoy of cars through the night along the 200-mile route to the capital.
During that trip, the prime minister appeared on television, and jubilant supporters of the chief justice rallied outside the home of Mr. Chaudhry in Islamabad. Even before the formal announcement, Mr. Chaudhry was receiving elated lawyers and supporters at his house at 3 a.m.
Mr. Gillani said Mr. Chaudhry would take his seat on the Supreme Court on March 21, the day after the chief justice appointed by President Musharraf and favored by Mr. Zardari retired.
In his speech broadcast a few minutes before 6 a.m., the prime minister also lifted security restrictions imposed last Wednesday to try and deter protest by Mr. Sharif and his supporters.
Just before the prime minister spoke, Pakistani television reported that roadblocks into the capital were being removed, a sign that Mr. Sharif and his supporters would apparently be welcome as victors, not protesters.
Mr. Sharif and Mr. Zardari fought over the future of Mr. Chaudhry until their coalition fell apart last September over what Mr. Sharif said was Mr. Zardari’s refusal to reinstate the chief justice. Mr. Sharif accused the president of refusing to reinstate the judge because of Mr. Zardari’s fears that Mr. Chaudhry would repeal an amnesty on corruption charges that had been granted to Mr. Zardari and his wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
As chief justice, Mr. Chaudhry, a lawyer from Baluchistan Province, was an unusual maverick who was widely honored in the past year by universities and bar associations in the United States.
He had asked the Musharraf government to bring intelligence officials to his court to explain the disappearances of hundreds of Pakistanis believed held without charges since the American war on terrorism began in 2001.
General Musharraf dismissed him on March 9, 2007, apparently because he believed that Mr. Chaudhry would prevent him from running for a third term.
The collapse of the security effort in Lahore, apparently on the orders of the provincial police, represented an erosion of authority that foreshadowed serious problems ahead for Mr. Zardari’s weak national government, politicians and analysts said.
The emergence of Mr. Sharif from house detention and his ability to draw huge crowds demonstrated his popularity and the credence of his cause, they said.
The chief of staff of the army, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, was widely reported to have met with Mr. Zardari and Mr. Gillani on Sunday and urged a solution to the political crisis.
General Kayani has said he wants to keep the army out of politics, but there was renewed speculation about how long the patience of the army would hold.
The turnout of jubilant crowds in Lahore after Mr. Sharif broke his house detention came as police officers who had been hurling tear gas at protesters suddenly receded and stood idly by.
While there was no official explanation for the turnaround, it appeared the policemen did not have their hearts in the attack on the protesters. “It was one of the most remarkable scenes in the city’s recent history,” said Arif Nizami, editor in chief of The Nation, a national daily newspaper published in the city.
The outpouring of support for Mr. Sharif showed that “Mr. Zardari was on the ropes,” he said.
Lahore is the capital of Punjab Province, the most populous and politically significant province, where Mr. Sharif and his brother, Shahbaz, have long held sway.
Mr. Zardari made what is generally considered a power grab on Feb. 25 when he dismissed the Punjab legislature and introduced federal executive rule. The president acted after the Supreme Court had disqualified Mr. Sharif and his brother, who is the chief minister of Punjab, from holding elective office.
The events in Lahore showed the depths of resentment in Punjab against the national government, a dangerous signal for Mr. Zardari, said Jehangir Tareen, a legislator from Punjab in the national Parliament with a faction of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, Mr. Sharif’s party, and a cabinet member in the government of former President Musharraf. “This shows the people resent the arbitrary action of the national government, and the fact that it has no respect for the mandate the people of Punjab gave to the P.M.L.-N,” Mr. Tareen said.
The breakdown of authority in Lahore was startling for Pakistan, said Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States and Britain. “This is uncharted territory, there’s great uncertainty, no one knows what is around the corner,” she said.
A battle in the center of Lahore between demonstrators and the police in riot gear raged for more than an hour in the early afternoon.
As soon as Mr. Sharif broke through the cordon around his house, the police began to recede. By early evening, many of them were relaxed, sitting on the edges of the road, chatting. “The officers had been asking us to defend, but when we saw the mob was so powerful we retreated and the officers told us to retreat,” said Constable Mohammed Imtiaz. He supported the call for the restoration of the judiciary, he said. “We need the rule of law.”
One of the senior officials in the Lahore government, the chief magistrate, Sajjad Bhutta, said he had resigned and refused to carry out what he called the illegal acts of the police crackdown. He appeared among the crowds on the Mall, surrounded by cheers and waving flags.
The day in Lahore began with roadblocks around the inner core of the city. At Mr. Sharif’s house, small groups of protesters waited outside. When his car emerged through the gates of the house and, apparently with the help of sympathetic policemen, broke through the barricades that had hemmed him in, the protesters joined him on the slow-moving convoy to the city center.
Speaking to Geo television from his car, Mr. Sharif said: “This is a prelude to a revolution.”
Waqar Gillani contributed reporting.
March 16, 2009
Pg. 1
By Jane Perlez
LAHORE, Pakistan — The Pakistani government agreed early on Monday to reinstate the independent-minded former chief justice of the Supreme Court, a stunning concession to the opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, who was heading toward the capital in a convoy threatening to stage a mass protest over the issue after he broke free from house arrest at his residence near here.
The concession, broadcast on national television by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, came after a tumultuous weekend in Pakistani politics in which a dispute between President Asif Ali Zardari and Mr. Sharif had escalated into a major crisis that was destabilizing nuclear-armed Pakistan, already under pressure from a growing Islamic insurgency and severe economic troubles.
The decision to restore the chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, came after calls to Mr. Zardari and Mr. Sharif, including from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, asking them to ease their differences.
The Obama administration’s special envoy to Pakistan, Richard C. Holbrooke, said the United States applauded “the statesmanlike act by President Zardari and hope that it will help defuse a dangerous confrontation so that Pakistan, with the help of its many friends, can address the nation’s pressing and urgent needs.”
Nonetheless, the restoration of Mr. Chaudhry, who was dismissed two years ago by then-President Pervez Musharraf, appeared to show new weakness by Mr. Zardari. The former chief justice’s fate was a festering unresolved issue between Mr. Zardari and Mr. Sharif while the two men led a coalition government last year.
A vibrant lawyers’ movement has agitated for Mr. Chaudhry’s return, and Mr. Sharif made Mr. Chaudhry, as a symbol of an independent judiciary, the centerpiece of his platform since his return to Pakistani politics from exile in late 2007.
Word of Mr. Chaudhry’s rehabilitation followed a momentous weekend in which the government had tried but failed to prevent a protest by Mr. Sharif and the lawyers in Lahore, Mr. Sharif’s political power base.
After the police placed him under house arrest on Sunday morning, Mr. Sharif and his entourage broke through the barricades at his home and drove to the center of Lahore, where a pitched battle had taken place between his supporters and the police.
But in apparent deference to Mr. Sharif, the police melted away, and he proceeded from Lahore in a convoy of cars through the night along the 200-mile route to the capital.
During that trip, the prime minister appeared on television, and jubilant supporters of the chief justice rallied outside the home of Mr. Chaudhry in Islamabad. Even before the formal announcement, Mr. Chaudhry was receiving elated lawyers and supporters at his house at 3 a.m.
Mr. Gillani said Mr. Chaudhry would take his seat on the Supreme Court on March 21, the day after the chief justice appointed by President Musharraf and favored by Mr. Zardari retired.
In his speech broadcast a few minutes before 6 a.m., the prime minister also lifted security restrictions imposed last Wednesday to try and deter protest by Mr. Sharif and his supporters.
Just before the prime minister spoke, Pakistani television reported that roadblocks into the capital were being removed, a sign that Mr. Sharif and his supporters would apparently be welcome as victors, not protesters.
Mr. Sharif and Mr. Zardari fought over the future of Mr. Chaudhry until their coalition fell apart last September over what Mr. Sharif said was Mr. Zardari’s refusal to reinstate the chief justice. Mr. Sharif accused the president of refusing to reinstate the judge because of Mr. Zardari’s fears that Mr. Chaudhry would repeal an amnesty on corruption charges that had been granted to Mr. Zardari and his wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
As chief justice, Mr. Chaudhry, a lawyer from Baluchistan Province, was an unusual maverick who was widely honored in the past year by universities and bar associations in the United States.
He had asked the Musharraf government to bring intelligence officials to his court to explain the disappearances of hundreds of Pakistanis believed held without charges since the American war on terrorism began in 2001.
General Musharraf dismissed him on March 9, 2007, apparently because he believed that Mr. Chaudhry would prevent him from running for a third term.
The collapse of the security effort in Lahore, apparently on the orders of the provincial police, represented an erosion of authority that foreshadowed serious problems ahead for Mr. Zardari’s weak national government, politicians and analysts said.
The emergence of Mr. Sharif from house detention and his ability to draw huge crowds demonstrated his popularity and the credence of his cause, they said.
The chief of staff of the army, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, was widely reported to have met with Mr. Zardari and Mr. Gillani on Sunday and urged a solution to the political crisis.
General Kayani has said he wants to keep the army out of politics, but there was renewed speculation about how long the patience of the army would hold.
The turnout of jubilant crowds in Lahore after Mr. Sharif broke his house detention came as police officers who had been hurling tear gas at protesters suddenly receded and stood idly by.
While there was no official explanation for the turnaround, it appeared the policemen did not have their hearts in the attack on the protesters. “It was one of the most remarkable scenes in the city’s recent history,” said Arif Nizami, editor in chief of The Nation, a national daily newspaper published in the city.
The outpouring of support for Mr. Sharif showed that “Mr. Zardari was on the ropes,” he said.
Lahore is the capital of Punjab Province, the most populous and politically significant province, where Mr. Sharif and his brother, Shahbaz, have long held sway.
Mr. Zardari made what is generally considered a power grab on Feb. 25 when he dismissed the Punjab legislature and introduced federal executive rule. The president acted after the Supreme Court had disqualified Mr. Sharif and his brother, who is the chief minister of Punjab, from holding elective office.
The events in Lahore showed the depths of resentment in Punjab against the national government, a dangerous signal for Mr. Zardari, said Jehangir Tareen, a legislator from Punjab in the national Parliament with a faction of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, Mr. Sharif’s party, and a cabinet member in the government of former President Musharraf. “This shows the people resent the arbitrary action of the national government, and the fact that it has no respect for the mandate the people of Punjab gave to the P.M.L.-N,” Mr. Tareen said.
The breakdown of authority in Lahore was startling for Pakistan, said Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States and Britain. “This is uncharted territory, there’s great uncertainty, no one knows what is around the corner,” she said.
A battle in the center of Lahore between demonstrators and the police in riot gear raged for more than an hour in the early afternoon.
As soon as Mr. Sharif broke through the cordon around his house, the police began to recede. By early evening, many of them were relaxed, sitting on the edges of the road, chatting. “The officers had been asking us to defend, but when we saw the mob was so powerful we retreated and the officers told us to retreat,” said Constable Mohammed Imtiaz. He supported the call for the restoration of the judiciary, he said. “We need the rule of law.”
One of the senior officials in the Lahore government, the chief magistrate, Sajjad Bhutta, said he had resigned and refused to carry out what he called the illegal acts of the police crackdown. He appeared among the crowds on the Mall, surrounded by cheers and waving flags.
The day in Lahore began with roadblocks around the inner core of the city. At Mr. Sharif’s house, small groups of protesters waited outside. When his car emerged through the gates of the house and, apparently with the help of sympathetic policemen, broke through the barricades that had hemmed him in, the protesters joined him on the slow-moving convoy to the city center.
Speaking to Geo television from his car, Mr. Sharif said: “This is a prelude to a revolution.”
Waqar Gillani contributed reporting.