UPP Survey: How Should the CJP Saga End?
Understanding Pakistan Project Team August 3rd, 2007
By: Athar Osama
In early June of 2007, with the Presidential Reference against the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary, before the full-bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP), we asked our visitors the following question:
How should the current constitutional crisis be resolved?
The visitors had five choices to pick from. These were:
- CJP reinstated by the Court
- Gen. Musharraf admits his mistake (and withdraws the reference)
- CJP resigns from office and enters politics
- Gen. Musharraf resigns as Chief of Army Staff
- Caretaker government is installed
Clearly, the choices provided for the survey went far beyond the the legal domain of the current case in the Court and encompassed the potential far reaching implications of the decision itself. In doing so, they attempted to incorporate the considerable damage that the reference had already done to General Musharraf’s credibility among Pakistani and international audiences as well as his the hold onto power. Many of us also noticed, and felt quite dismayed, by the use of public office in open political activities that were below the dignity of these offices. These excesses were committed by both sides.
General Musharraf and his advisors wore military uniforms and used the perks and privileges of their offices to openly engage in political lobbying for the rigtheousness of the Presidential reference as did Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary, who used all the perks, privileges, and protocols–atleast the ones that he could still afford to use–as he openly lobbied the nation for his innocence and against the sitting government. It was high political drama of the highest calibre never before witnessed in the state of Pakistan. Partly to incorporate this element into the equation, but also somewhat selfishly too, a demand was made by Mr. Altaf Hussain of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) that should the CJP resign and enter politics, his party would support his case against the presidential reference. Of course, a similar offer should have also been made to the sitting General as well for he too, in the past, has been guilty of holding onto one office while lobbying for another. Understanding Pakistan readers saw it all coming…
While the online survey is scientifically not representative of all Pakistanis or even all UPP visitors, it does provide a sense of what at least some of the Pakistanis were thinking at that time. The survey was answered by 87 respondents over a two week period of time. The results are self-explanatory. More than one third of the respondents (36% to be precise) thought that most appropriate resolution of the ongoing constitutional crisis in the country was the reinstatement of the Chief Justice of Pakistan by the apex Court. Only 14.5% thought that the crisis should (or could?) be resolved by General Musharraf apologizing for his ill-intentioned Presidential reference and perhaps withdrawing the reference altogether. In that sense, not only were the survey respondents correct in picking the right choice but also in correctly assessing the mood of the presidency. So far, even after the SCP judgement on the issue, there has been no apologoies from the Presidency on the filing the reference in the first place. Instead, the approach adopted by the Presidency has been to find scapegoats (in the Attorney General of Pakistan) to put the blame on.
It is also useful to consider the fact that just under half of the respondents (~45%) thought that the resolution of the crisis would require measures that would go beyond the relief to the CJP himself in that the Presidency has overstepped its authority and must be brought to its rightful size. It is no secret that General Musharraf has been badly beleagured by the reference. It was indeed a drastic miscalculation–a miscalculation that long-serving dictators in power are bound to make someday (remember Ayub Khan’s “decade of development”)–that the government has been trying to find a face-saving exit from. Of these 45% respondents, as just over half or 24.5% believe that the only way out of the crisis is for General Musharraf to resign from his post as Chief of Army Staff and then (hopefully) face a fair challenge to his presidency as a result. 19% respondents believed that a care-taker government must be installed. Clearly, while this has not happened, any of these outcomes cannot yet be ruled out. With the newly acquired independence of the judiciary and the increase in its stature, the unconstitutionality of General Musharraf’s dual office is likely to be challenged in the apex Court as are the allegations of pre-election rigging etc.
Finally, it is interesting to note how little support the MQM Leader Altaf Hussain’s position has received. Only 6% respondents believed that CJP should resign his office and contest an election. Perhaps one of the reasons for this perfectly legitimate position is that nobody could see it fairly applied to all concerned. Frankly, I would have personally supported this option for I was quite repelled by the use of perks, privileges and protocol by both parties in this very political battle–provided that it could be equally enforced. That clearly was not possible under the current political dispensation in the country.
Needless to say that the stature of the judiciary has only enhanced since the short verdict was announced and UPP readers saw it all coming!
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