NRO verdict corners govt into isolation

The government stood isolated on Tuesday. The opposition parties endorsed the Supreme Court’s orders in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case and the government’s coalition partners also did not openly support it, suggesting that they sit on the fence, not clearly siding with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), as constitutional experts also asked the government to either implement the court’s order or the prime minister should resign.
Endorsing the Supreme Court order, the opposition parties advised the government to implement the apex court order in letter and spirit to avoid a confrontation with the judiciary, with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) demanding the government immediately announce fresh elections. However, the allies of the PPP either declined to comment on the development or took the middle ground in expressing their views on what was being seen as a major blow to the government on the judicial and moral front. It seemed that the coalition partners of the government were in a fix when they were approached for comment on the apex court order. The constitutional and legal experts held opinion similar to the opposition parties, asking the government to implement the court’s order in letter and spirit or the prime minister should resign if he was not ready to implement the order of the five-member bench.
When asked to the comment on the order, Senator Haji Adeel of the Awami National Party (ANP), a coalition partner of the PPP, declined to directly comment on the development. However, he was sure that “the stage is being set to jeopardise the Senate elections”. When further pressed for comment, he said: “I don’t want to comment on the SC order but one thing is sure that all the political hustle and bustle is part of the main agenda that is aimed at blocking the Senate elections in the presence of present assemblies.” Adeel said further that the top leadership of his party would meet soon in Islamabad to discuss the political situation in the country, adding that it would also review the Supreme Court order. Senator Tahir Mashhadi of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), also an ally of the PPP, when contacted for his reaction on the SC order said his party’s Coordination Committee would study the detailed order and after that he would be in a position to comment on the issue. He said it would be premature to react to the court order without going into its details. PML-N Information Secretary Mushahidullah Khan told Pakistan Today that the government should accept and implement the Supreme Court decision in letter and spirit. He said the government should announce fresh elections to void confrontation with the judiciary. “It will be no service to democracy,” he said.
Senator Ismail Buledi of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) said it would be better for the government to implement the SC order before it was too late. “The judiciary is supreme… the government still has time to give assurance to the Supreme Court that it will implement its orders,” he said. He criticised the performance of the government, saying it failed on all fronts in addressing the people’s problems.
Liaqat Baloch of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) also endorsed the Supreme Court’s order under the prevailing circumstance, saying it was “a wise decision and according to the circumstances and situation”. He said the president and the prime minister publicly used government resources to block implementation of the apex court’s orders. “The government will have to face the consequences if it does not settle the issues and implement the SC orders,” he warned. Similarly, the legal community also chose to side with the court in pressing the PPP-led coalition government to implement the court orders.
Senator SM Zafar said no government in any country of the world could have survived after such a verdict by the apex court and the government had no grounds to stay in power and run the country’s affairs. “This is simply a charge sheet against the government. Through option six of the decision, the apex court has called upon the civil society and the people of Pakistan to rise and support the court in getting its decisions implemented. Now it is up to the civil society to respond to this call,” he added. Justice (r) Tariq Mehmood also referred to the sixth option mentioned in the court verdict and said it provided the government with a choice to go for fresh elections. He said it also provided the premier the option to resign.
Dr Farogh Nasim termed the verdict another time-giving exercise, stating that this was not an action and rather the court had given further options to the government. He said the court had said in the last hearing that action would be taken if the orders were not implemented, but this order reflected that the court wanted to give more time to the government to implement its verdict on the NRO. “Though there is a reference about initiating contempt proceedings against the prime minister, nothing has been determined by the court in this verdict and the expression of ‘prima facie’ as used by the court has reflected that the court has only talked about the options it is left with, but nothing is final yet. Rather, the larger bench may opt to further probe whether or not the prime minister is eligible or ineligible,” he added. Dr Nasim said further that the court had also opened indemnity to the president and it had hinted that contempt proceedings might also be held against the president. “This reflects that the court views that indemnity to the president was only in criminal cases and that was also limited. This also reflects that contempt proceedings can be started against the president,” he added. Dr Khalid Ranjha also termed the decision a time-giving exercise so the government could review its decision about implementing the NRO decision. He said the government had implemented most of the directions of the court except for writing a letter to the Swiss government to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. “We hope that better sense would prevail and the government would now act in accordance with the court verdict,” he said, adding that the ruling party apparently wanted to take political mileage if the court convicted the prime minister or president under contempt charges. “The defiance by the ruling party leadership reflects that they want to become political martyrs out of the NRO case to win public sympathy,” he remarked. Ahmed Owais, another lawyer, said the government’s defiance to the apex court suggested that the larger bench would now have to take strict action to save its image. “I don’t think that the PPP leadership has any option left now. This verdict is a good one. I also oppose the viewpoint that the rulers would get public sympathy or become political martyrs. There is a huge difference between martyrdom and a death without some sacred cause,” he asserted. Salman Akram Raja said the government had no other option but to write a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen cases against the president. “I wonder why the government is reluctant to write a letter to Swiss authorities. This does not mean that immediately the president would be executed. But the government has to at least respect the apex court,” he said. However, he said it was astonishing to read about the option of leaving the matter to the people of Pakistan as the matter was with the court and the government was not implementing court orders. “The court cannot state that if its order is not implemented, then a new election would be held,” he added. Hamid Khan said the apex court verdict had made it clear to everyone that constitutional obligations must be fulfilled. He said the Supreme Court had expressed leniency as it had done earlier.