Lines clearly drawn over memo issue

The lines are clearly drawn. As the government on Wednesday admitted that the Defence Ministry had no control over the operations of the army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), not budging from its position, seemingly put its weight behind the security institutions in the memo case as – rejecting Husain Haqqani’s reply submitted to the Supreme Court and preferring the judicial process over the parliamentary probe into the alleged conspiracy against the state – it demanded the truth be uncovered.
The Defence Ministry’s admission in its written reply filed in the Supreme Court that it had no control over the army and the ISI’s operations indicated that both security institutions, contrary to what the prime minister claimed, were not on the same page with the government, particularly in the memo issue. The Defence Ministry, in its brief affidavit, maintained that it was not in a position to make a statement in the court on behalf of the army and the ISI saying that their operations were not in its knowledge. The Defence Ministry’s reply regarding the army and the ISI unambiguously make it clear that the civil and military establishments do not work in unison as there is no synergy between them on matters related to national security, obviously because of lack of trust. Though PML-N President Nawaz Sharif’s stated position against the army and the ISI’s role in politics remains unflinching, his support for the position taken by the army and the ISI on the memo issue puts him on the same page with them, at least on this matter of national security, against the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and its leadership. Complying with the order of the Supreme Court, all the respondents filed their affidavits, which the apex court had seemingly sought to further confirm the stance of all the respondents, who had already submitted their replies on December 19, before finally proceeding in this case. The apex court will take up the memo case on Thursday (today).
Parallel to the judicial process, the Parliamentary Committee on National Security on Wednesday also formally started its proceedings but the PML-N made an attempt to throw a spanner in the works, asking the committee to disengage its members as they were unable to be part of the proceedings, apparently because the Supreme Court was also involved in the matter, but tacitly expressing no-confidence in the parliamentary committee dominated by the PPP and its allies. Justifying his move to approach the Supreme Court, Nawaz Sharif has already said that parliament is not independent and sovereign.
Submitting his rejoinder, largely a ditto of what he had already submitted to the Supreme Court, on the concise statements of other respondents including the federal government over the memo issue, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani reiterated his stance that the memo was a reality and it should be probed into.
General Kayani submitted his rejoinder along with an affidavit through Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq. He repeated his previous stance over the issue, stating that he had not concealed anything known to him. He said the memo had tried to decrease the morale of Pakistan Army but was unsuccessful in doing so.
In their separate rejoinders, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and MNA Khawaja Asif endorsed the stance of the COAS and the ISI chief besides supporting the reply of Mansoor Ijaz and rejecting that of Husain Haqqani. They also opposed the federation’s stance and contended that the court had jurisdiction to hear the memo case.
The government’s position is that the case does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the parliamentary committee is the proper forum to investigate the matter.
In its rejoinder, the federal government also repeated its earlier stance saying that the president and the prime minister had no link to the memo, also ruling out that President Asif Ali Zardari was the originator of the controversial document.
The federation again objected to the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction to hear the memo case under Article 184(3) of the constitution. It stated further that all the political parties in parliament were members of the committee on national security and it was an independent body to investigate the memo issue.
The federation contended that the parliamentary committee had the right to record evidence in the matter. It had also opposed the court’s observation that criminal aspects of the matter could only be taken up by the court.
According to well-placed sources, President Asif Ali Zardari will not file his concise statement in the memo case and the government will take its previous stance that it had submitted the reply on behalf of the president. This suggests that the government will make it a political issue as most of its men are publicly outraged and are criticising the court.
Talking to reporters at the Supreme Court building, Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq said parliament and the executive could not stop the proceedings of the Supreme Court in the memo case. Besides the army chief, the ISI chief had also submitted his affidavit, he said.
Asma Jahangir will today appear on behalf of Husain Haqqani, the main respondent, and argue his miscellaneous application seeking a recall of the court’s December 1 order in the case. On December 19, the court had also observed that despite passing of orders on December 15 in chambers, replies/rejoinders had not been filed by the respondents, which were deemed necessary for just decision of the case.