Protesting lawyers destabilising for government
Updated
Police in Pakistan have clashed with lawyers and their supporters who tried to march on the capital.
Organisers had intended the four-day march from cities across Pakistan to climax in a peaceful protest outside Parliament in Islamabad. They want President Ali Asif Zardari to fulfil a pledge to reinstate all judges sacked under military ruler General Pervez Musharraf. The government however, says the march is doing nothing but destabilise the country.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speaker: Dr Shabir Cheema, senior fellow at the East West Centre in Hawaii
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CHEEMA: The rhetoric of the leader of the Opposition, former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, has intensified. The government had no choice but to stop it, to avoid violence, as well as to create a situation where the extremist militants can create more violence. The president declared president's rule in Punjab, the largest province in Pakistan, which I think was a mistake and then the, one of the leaders of the Opposition, Nawaz Sharif felt that this was a time for him to go to the politics of agitation. Then the president tried to see if there could be some reconciliation, but it doesn't seem that they have succeeded. So to me, it's really a failure of leadership on both sides.
LAM: But, wasn't Nawaz Sharif already convicted of corruption and the trade off of his return to Pakistan was that he kept a low profile and not stir trouble. So why is he acting up again?
CHEEMA: Well, you see what happened was that after he came back and unfortunately, Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister got murdered, elections took place and Nawaz Sharif won a lot of seats. I think that has more or less gone to his head and all of the politicians they put their personal interests first and national interest second. I think in my view, he has been too stubborn, Nawaz Sharif, that is, has been to stubborn in his approach and politics is the art of the possible and negotiation and compromises, but he doesn't want to change at all.
LAM: Islamabad says the so-called Long March is aimed at destabilising the government. Is that true? Do the lawyers want the government to go?
CHEEMA: I won't say that the lawyers want the government to go. I mean I have no reason to believe that. But I think what the lawyers don't understand is that through their action, they are doing exactly that, because if this long march becomes very violent, it will have no other effect other than further destabilising the already weak civilian government which is being clobbered from all sides.
LAM: Indeed, this is a distraction that the government does not need, as it grapples with the threats of terrorism. Is there a danger that the protests if they continue, might be hijacked by militant elements?
CHEEMA: Obviously, in this kind of situation, who benefits? It's only the extremist militants, al Qaeda. Whenever there is uncertainty, instability, it's only the extremists who will benefit. And that's why I really feel that the lawyers are not being foresighted enough to recognise what Pakistan is going through. Pakistan is going through the crisis of its life, its history and so therefore, before you can introduce the independence as judiciary, you need stability, you need the writ of the government to be recognised and I don't understand why these so enlightened lawyers don't recognise that.
LAM: So is that why President Asif Ali Zardari and his government are a bit tardy, a bit late in reinstating the judiciary, that they have bigger issues at hand to deal with?
CHEEMA: Partly it's that, and partly it's also the fact that Zardari ... cases against him was dropped and against former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto for them to come back and he is afraid that if this former chief justice Iftekhar Chowdhury is restored, he may eliminate that order, so he's also trying to save his political future, as Nawaz Sharif is. But again, I argue that in this kind of crisis situation, one cannot have one person take all. There should be compromises and the need is to have some stability in that country. And in any case, finally, I feel that this Judge Chowdhury has lost his credibility. He's partisan to be really a credible chief justice of Pakistan as it is now.
