Word: courting
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Musharraf's resort to emergency rule was widely derided as a self-serving move by to stave off political challenges. As both army chief and president, Musharraf suspended the constitution, sacked the Supreme Court bench, arrested opposition activists and muzzled sections of the media. Many Pakistanis, including even some of Musharraf's erstwhile allies, have welcomed the court's decision to hold him accountable. But there are also fears, even among some of Musharraf's staunchest opponents, that the move represents an activist judiciary overstepping its role, playing to popular sentiment and positioning itself as an alternative authority...
Musharraf currently faces no charges, but the court has demanded his presence for an interview that could form the basis of a future prosecution. Leading political figures such as former prime minister Nawaz Sharif - who was overthrown by Gen. Musharraf in a 1999 coup - have long demanded that he be charged with "high treason" for "subverting the constitution." The current summons is not binding, so Musharraf has the option of dispatching a lawyer to speak on his behalf. On Friday, after consulting with former ministers, he has appointed a team of high-powered lawyers to mount a defense. The chances...
Ikram Sehgal, a respected defense analyst who served in the army with Musharraf, welcomed the Supreme Court's move. "Personally I like Mr. Musharraf very much," he says. "But I also believe that everyone should be held to account for their actions. And his actions were blatantly illegal when, as army chief, he imposed a state of emergency. It set a worrying precedent that any future army chief could use to send the judiciary home." Sehgal says stabilizing democracy in Pakistan will require the judiciary to revisit the constitutional tangles left over from the Musharraf years. But Sehgal raises...
...aide to current President Asif Ali Zardari worries that the Supreme Court's action could trigger a fresh phase of political instability. "This is exactly what we were worried about," says the aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, in reference to Zardari's reluctance to reinstate Chaudhry and the judges sacked by Musharraf. (Zardari was forced to back down in the face of a crisis generated by nationwide protests led by lawyers.) "This judicial activism goes against our message of national reconciliation." During the 1990s, deposed civilian governments routinely found themselves dragged into court. "We don't want...
...What is bound to create problems for many people is when the Supreme Court takes up the National Reconciliation Ordinance," says Azeem, in a reference to the presidential amnesty. "The Chief Justice has already said that it's a pending matter. It's very significant. If he's going to take it up, it is naturally going to ruffle feathers, to put it lightly." Zardari is already burdened by unpopularity, public anger at power cuts and prices, and the challenges of taming Islamist militancy. If the Supreme Court continues to flex its muscles and revisits the president's old corruption...