Till they run out of prime ministers
One might disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision to disqualify the premier but to say that the judiciary shouldn’t have given the judgment on account of the rather sensitive situation in the country is incorrect. It is not the court’s job to be circumspect when it goes about giving decisions. It has to apply the law. And that is what it feels it did.
God knows the judiciary had other options. The most lenient option was accepting the Speaker’s decision and settling for the symbolism it had struck with the initial contempt notice. A slightly tougher approach would have been to circumvent the speaker’s ruling and directly send a reference to the Chief Election Commissioner. The latter would probably have taken a leaf out of the speaker’s book.
No, the courts wanted to knock this one out of the park. And that they did.
If the PPP follows the path of least resistance, all it would have to do is to bring in another prime minister. The whole process of the letter to the Swiss authorities can start and even the new prime minister would face the same trial but if the government sits that out completely in the same manner, by the time the wheel moves back to where we are now, it would already be time for the next elections.
The PPP has, indeed, followed the path of least resistance and isn’t bringing things to a boil. As opposed to the relationship between the League and the loadshedding rioters of the Punjab, the party has instructed its activists not to get worked up. What many forget is that – hate them or love them – the PPP is the largest political party in the country with some of the most spirited political activists found in the country. And, as a result of the “manufacturing defect” that the PPP’s workers have, according to the now former prime minister, they have better when they are in the opposition. They could wreak the sort of havoc they have to potential for.
Be that as it may, the PPP could probably get the political martyrdom that it presumably sought. Mr Gilani certainly does go several notches higher in the jiyala firmament.
The king is dead. Long live the king!
