General reprieve – Mir Jamilur Rahman
General reprieve – Mir Jamilur Rahman
It is now evident that former dictator Musharraf would not be tried for annihilating the constitution. Saudi Arabia, the US and the UK have rescued him from the clutches of the Article 6. In fact, Prime Minister Gilani’s condition of unanimous parliamentary vote to prosecute Musharraf was an admission that he could not put Musharraf on trial. Musharraf after his Riyadh visit has disclosed the existence of an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan that virtually guaranteed him indemnity. According to Musharraf the Saudi king has said that this agreement should be honoured by all the parties. It is expected that Nawaz Sharif would soon visit Riyadh. He would certainly take King’s advice to tone down his attitude against the former dictator. Nawaz Sharif might remember that Musharraf would have hanged him in the bogus plane hijack case if the Saudi king had not intervened.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik has philosophised that Musharraf’s unconstitutional measures are now history and the government has no intention to dig the past. When does an action become history – after one year, 10 years or more? Musharraf’s unlawful acts have not become history because they are so fresh. If they are history, as Mr Rehman Malik claims, then all the criminals who committed their crimes a year or two ago should be set free. The crime does not wither away with the passage of time. There are cases in history which tell us that criminals who had escaped justice in their lives were dug out from their graves and punished.
Article 6 has so far been a useless provision of the constitution. There have been two army coups after 1973 wherein the army chief captured the government, suspended the constitution replacing it with his own version (PCO) and subverted it to strengthen and prolong his hold on power. Musharraf’s collaborators – Shaukat Aziz at top – have also been reprieved for ‘aiding and abetting’ the constitution buster. Obviously, the collaborators could not be tried if the chief conspirator is let off.
It is vital for achieving the rule of law and sanctity of the constitution that we either repeal Article 6 in its entirety, because we cannot implement it, or recast it to fit the ground realities. Such an action would restore the leftover dignity of the constitution and establish the rule of law. The deletion of Article 6 would spare the government the embarrassment of not prosecuting the constitution-busters.
Conducting of opinion polls is a very tricky business especially in developing countries. The questions are framed in a manner that elicits sensational answers. President Zardari is a frequent victim of such polls. Every two months they announce that Zardari has lost ground in popularity contest. President Obama and Gordon Brown have both suffered falls in their popularity.
Mr Zardari may not be an imaginative leader but he is practical to the core. Parliament is running smoothly despite occasional outbursts from the PML-N. The international agencies have given an improved rating to Pakistan’s financial credibility. He is winning the war against terrorism. Loadshedding has largely disappeared. However, his perception in public is rather unfavourable. It is due to corruption charges which are afloat against him and the government. The PML-Q parliamentary leader in the National Assembly has asserted on the floor of the house that the government is receiving kickbacks on the rental power projects and both the president and the prime minister are involved in it.
The writer is a freelance columnist. Email: mirjrahman@hotmail.com
