Better sense seems to have prevailed and the dust raised over the executive-judiciary standoff is likely to settle with both sides showing flexibility as a middle ground has been taken, with the government agreeing to implement the Supreme Court’s order vis-à-vis Establishment Secretary Sohail Ahmed, who had been made an officer on special duty (OSD) for issuing the notification to transfer Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director Hussain Asghar, and the court tacitly accepting the authority of the executive in matters of transfers and postings.
“The conflict is over and the issue has been settled,” a top official close to the president and the prime minister told Pakistan Today on Friday. When asked if the situation had returned to normal, he said: “One hundred percent… the system has to move forward…some agenda-pushers wanted a clash between the state institutions but the government would not come up to their expectations.”While the government reiterated its position that it did not want a clash between the institutions, it, however, did not budge from its position that parliament was supreme and its authority could not be undermined by any other institution. “There can be no compromise on the supremacy of parliament,” the official said.
Another source said the prime minister would decide on the implementation of the Supreme Court’s direction regarding Sohail Ahmed after seeking views from his legal team within the seven-day time limit stipulated by the Supreme Court. In the case of Hussain Asghar, he said, the decision would be taken after his return from Gilgit-Baltistan.
After the six-member Supreme Court bench asked the government to reinstate Sohail Ahmed within a week and appoint him to any appropriate post, and to let Asghar lead the Haj scam investigation team upon his return from Gilgit-Baltistan, former law minister Babar Awan told reporters that the apex court’s decision about Sohail Ahmed would be implemented without saying a word about the government’s position on Hussain Asghar.
He said the government always respected the constitutional jurisdictions of all the institutions including the judiciary and it would strengthen them further. “Those who want to create confrontation between the institutions will always be disappointed. The government has the ability to run the institutions aside from running the country’s affairs,” Awan said, adding that all back doors had been closed for those conspiring and the people of Pakistan would never allow anyone to subjugate the constitution.
While some elements in the government were supporting the idea that the government should take the judiciary head-on, others wanted it to implement the Supreme Court’s orders as it was a constitutional obligation. “The prime minister would speak in the National Assembly on this issue… but the content of his speech is being discussed in the party,” the source said.
However, he said after the development on Friday the tone and tenor of the prime minister’s speech would certainly not be harsh. “It’s a positive development but taking a position at this time would be premature,” he said, adding that the government had always been saying that it did not want confrontation between the institutions.
To review the overall political situation and the executive-judiciary tension, President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani co-chaired an important meeting at the Presidency. Governors of all four provinces and chief ministers of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Raja Riaz, Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Syed Mehdi Shah, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President-elect Sardar Yaqoub, AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed and Babar Awan attended the meeting. In a carefully-worded statement, Presidential Spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the participants reiterated their resolve to ensure respect for all state institutions and that they worked in a spirit of harmony and within the parameters of a “trichotomy of power” as enshrined in the constitution. “The meeting dispelled the notion propagated by some of a clash of institutions and expressed satisfaction that there was no danger of any clash among institutions,” the statement said. The statement said the participants expressed the view that the parliament reflected the will of the people and being the mother of state institutions, it was supreme.
Better sense prevails, finally
