Musharraf on collision course with judiciary

FE Team | Published: September 12, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Jo Johnson in New Delhi and Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad, FT Syndication Service
The arrest and deportation of Nawaz Sharif, returning former prime minister, has set Pervez Musharraf on collision course with Pakistan's Supreme Court. The move significantly raises the possibility that the army chief-cum-president might be forced into a desperate attempt to muzzle the judiciary by imposing martial law.
In the short term, packing Mr Sharif off to Saudi Arabia will stop him from becoming the face of the pro-democracy movement in Pakistan.
Mr Sharif intended to organise a procession from Islamabad to Lahore, mobilising thousands of political activists across the Punjab, Pakistan's richest and most populous province.
Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court, said the government was guilty of a "gross violation" of the court's August 23 order.
"The Supreme Court verdict was clear. It said that, as a Pakistani national, Mr Sharif had the right to return to Pakistan and that his stay should not be obstructed."
The decision to level corruption and money laundering charges against Mr Sharif and to dispatch him to Saudi Arabia dismayed western diplomats, many of whom had hoped General Musharraf recognised the need for a new modus vivendi with the Supreme Court after his botched attempt to sack Iftikhar Chaudhary, the chief justice.
Christiane Hohmann, a European Union spokeswoman, said the government should have respected the Supreme Court's ruling that Mr Sharif had an "inalienable" right to return to Pakistan.
"The ruling is clear and should be respected. If there is any legal case against Mr Sharif, he should have a chance to defend himself in a Pakistan court."
The stand-off between Gen Musharraf and the increasingly independent-minded bench comes at a delicate time for the key US ally. The court will soon rule on whether he can stand for re-election as president while still serving as army chief. He is expected to seek re-election by legislators by mid-October.
"I think Pervez Musharraf has decided to take on the court," said Shafqat Mahmood, a Lahore-based political analyst, warning that the government's actions could "boomerang" against the president. "The government will now face continuous problems [with the Supreme Court]."
Mr Sharif argues the charges are politically motivated and will challenge the deportation in court.
Analysts warn that this could lead to another Supreme Court defeat for the government, after its reversal of Gen Musharraf's decision to remove Mr Chaudhary as chief justice in March.
After two terms in power in the 1990s that were marred by corruption claims, Mr Sharif has emerged as the comeback kid of Pakistani politics on the back of implacable opposition to Gen Musharraf.
"Musharraf has managed to achieve the next-to-impossible feat of making Nawaz look good," one western diplomat said.
Mr Sharif's anti-government, anti-US stance has won him support in opinion polls, even as his other principal mainstream rival, Benazir Bhutto, another former prime minister, has lost ground by negotiating a power-sharing deal with Gen Musharraf ahead of the imminent general election, due to be held between November 15 and February 15 next year.
The harsh treatment of Mr Sharif will complicate Ms Bhutto's attempts to negotiate a third term as prime minister. Many in the Pakistan People's party, founded by her late father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, worry that widespread perception she has sold out the pro-democracy movement will hurt the party at the polls.
Wajid Shamsul Hasan, a close aide of Ms Bhutto, said in an interview that Mr Sharif "should not have been treated in this way".
He expressed disappointment at the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's failure to organise street protests last Monday. "They had made promises of bringing out massive crowds. I am disappointed."