Heil Democracy!

PRIME Minister Nawaz Sharif's dream of becoming all-powerful finally came true on December 3. President Farooq Leghari, who paved the way for Sharif's return to power last February, was forced to resign and the chief justice of Pakistan, Sajjad Ali Shah, was ousted from office by means of a government-sponsored coup in the judiciary. For three agonising months, the Punjabi army stood by dutifully as a Punjabi prime minister blithely went on to dig the graves of the Constitution and supreme court of Pakistan.

Sharif's obsession with power first manifested itself in '93 when he turned on his benefactor, president Ghulam Ishaq Khan, and tried to usurp his 8th amendment powers to dismiss the government. Sharif miscalculated his strength and lost his job in '93. But he bounced back with a two-thirds parliamentary majority when Leghari booted out Benazir Bhutto and held elections in February '97. Sharif now moved swiftly to cover his flanks, getting rid of the 8th amendment in March through the 13th amendment and gagging dissent in Parliament through the 14th amendment in June. Then he turned to devour the judiciary.

The conflict with Justice Shah was triggered when Sharif decided to set up special anti-terrorist courts with handpicked judges, without allowing for the right of appeal before the high courts. Justice Shah objected, arguing against a parallel system of 'justice' which sought to curtail the superior courts' writ jurisdiction enshrined in the Constitution and promising alternate solutions for speedy justice within the parameters of the law. But Sharif spurned Justice Shah's advice and bulldozed the law through Parliament in July, in the process giving unlimited powers to the police to detain suspects and seek convictions on the strength of confessional statements from the accused.

In August, Justice Shah asked Sharif to fill five vacancies in the supreme court with the senior-most judges of the high courts as required by law. Sharif refused and a deadlock ensued. In mid-October, he tried to instigate a coup in the supreme court, prodding seven judges to challenge the chief justice's bona-fides while Justice Shah was out of the country. The coup was nipped in time but it left bitter divisions in the apex court.

Sharif would not be thwarted. He now asked Leghari to remove the chief justice for misconduct. When the president balked, he threatened him with impeachment. Justice Shah made a show of power by suspending the 14th constitutional amendment. Sharif hit back by blasting the chief justice publicly and accusing him of acting unconstitutionally. Justice Shah retaliated by initiating contempt proceedings against the prime minister and several parliamentary colleagues. The army chief, General Jehangir Karmat, now stepped into the fray and mediated a ceasefire so that both sides could step back from the brink and start talking again.

But Sharif had other ideas. The showdown came in mid-November when pro-Sharif judges in the supreme court banded together and illegally 'suspended' the chief justice. This was followed by a disgraceful mob attack on the supreme court in Islamabad by goons of the ruling party bussed in from Punjab and led by federal ministers and ruling party parliamentarians, which forced Justice Shah and his fellow judges to halt proceedings. Justice Shah was now compelled to ask the army to come to the assistance of the supreme court under article 190. When the army refused to budge, pro-Sharif judges sensed that victory was at hand and 'suspended' the chief justice. The government now ordered the president to appoint a new chief justice. He refused and submitted his resignation. "I took an oath to uphold and protect the Constitution," he declared, "I will not sign the execution orders of the supreme court of Pakistan." Justice Shah has gone on leave before retirement next February.

The crisis has made a mockery of the Constitution and law. Article 190, which says "all executive and judicial authorities throughout Pakistan shall act in aid of the supreme court" has been rubbished. Article 204 which deals with contempt of court has been torn up. Articles 177 and 191 which outline the powers of the chief justice and the rules of business of the supreme court, including the deposition of a judge of the high court or the supreme court and the appointment of a new chief justice, have been outlawed with impunity.

This is a sad day for Pakistan. On its 50th birthday, the Constitution has been shredded by those parliamentarians who swore to protect and defend it. The supreme court has been ravaged and totally discredited by the judges. The greatest irony is that the Pakistan army stood by and condoned the gravest acts of unconstitutionality in order to save the hide of "a democratically elected prime minister". Why didn't the generals step in when everyone knew they were restive and power was offered to them on a platter?

Several popular explanations are on offer. A largely Punjabi army chose to side with a Punjabi prime minister rather than a Sindhi chief justice. The army was warned by the Americans that the tap of foreign assistance would run dry if martial law was declared. The army chief was 'temperamentally' incapable of taking the final step. The economy was in such a perilous state that the generals shied away from assuming responsibility for it. The judges and the corps commanders were bought off by Sharif. And so on. Whatever the truth, however, one perception has gained wide currency: the army sided with Sharif and did not act as a 'neutral' umpire as it claimed throughout the crisis.

Nawaz Sharif is all powerful. For him, it is a dream finally come true. But for many Pakistanis it could become a recurring nightmare. It is instructive that Sharif should have dug in his heels and risked his all over a minor matter such as the issue of the five judges. It is even more ominous that he should have staked the country's judicial, economic and constitutional stability merely out of pique or the arrogance of power.

Those who are celebrating Sharif's victory should pause and reconsider the consequences of his budding fascism, which has historically paraded as the ultimate form of people's democracy. He has politicised and corrupted the bureaucracy and judiciary. He has decimated the opposition. He has mangled the Constitution. And he has shackled the army. Sooner or later, he is bound to turn his devouring instincts towards the last institutional pillar of democracy which still remains somewhat independent—the press. That is when the champions of democracy will be ordered to shoulder the burden of Sharif's popular 'mandate' and shut up. Or else.

(The writer is the editor of The Friday Times and Aaj Kal, Lahore.)