The judiciary and the executive both need to cool down
The last thing that the country needs at this juncture is an ugly showdown between the government and the Supreme Court. The remarks by an otherwise sedate Gilani indicate that the confrontation could assume ominous proportions. The former PM who never talked about taking on the court during his trial and accepted the judgment somewhat quietly, has talked about resisting an “unconstitutional verdict”. The situation can be avoided if the apex court succeeds in finding a middle way. The PPP maintains that it has obeyed the court’s orders, even took the bitter pill of the removal of its popularly elected PM without the least resistance. The party however continues to reiterate that none of its prime ministers would violate the immunity granted in the constitution to the head of the state by writing the Swiss letter. None expects the apex court to bypass the law. There are however many who think the apex court is in a position to find a way to get the required letter dispatched without removing one PM after another.
The removal of the chief executive of a country is no ordinary matter. In the parliamentary system the PM is the central figure who plays crucial role in taking vital administrative, economic and diplomatic decisions. Being the lynchpin in the system his removal can lead to uncertainty with a highly negative impact on the economy. Removing yet another duly elected PM within months would be a sheer disaster and confirm the perception of Pakistan being a failed state. The SC being the apex judicial authority, one expects it to look at the case from a wider and comprehensive perspective. The decision to sack Gilani has already divided the supporters of an independent judiciary with some calling the decision “injudicious” while others accusing the court of giving rulings based on political bias and strategy instead of law. None expects the court to exonerate any illegality. There are many however who maintain that it must not throw out the baby with the bath water. The apex court has to take a decision that fulfils legal requirements without inadvertently bringing down the system of which the SC is itself an important part. As SCBA’s former president Justice (retd) Tariq Mehmood put it, whatever the blunders of the politicians, they are the ones who have to run the country.
One expects the PPP to avoid doing anything that adds to the confrontation. The tendency to politicise the matter and turn it into an election issue has to be curbed. One hopes the PPP would submit a sensible reply in response to the show-cause notice and the Supreme Court would accept it.
