To Impeach or not to Impeach? That is not the question!

Usman Khalid, Director London Institute of South Asia

There is a fierce debate going on in Pakistan whether the decision of the ruling coalition to impeach President Musharraf is really a decision to impeach him or to entrench him? The spanner in the works has come from Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, who is the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association. He was the leader of the lawyers team that successfully pleaded the case of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry before the Supreme Court that got him reinstated. He is in the USA and has said in an interview that the decision to "˜impeach' is a conspiracy to switch priorities from 'estoration of the judges' to the "˜impeachment of the President' and thus preclude both.

I do not support this particular conspiracy theory. If there is any conspiracy, it is by Aitzaz Ahsan. Since he is not in the lead in the impeachment moves, he has no interest in it. Yet, it would be too much to accuse him of a conspiracy because that would require another party to conspire with. I believe it is merely a case of "˜sour grapes'. However, since the parties of the APDM have also joined the Aitzaz Ahsan chorus, "˜sour grapes' is not a credible rationale for their decrying of the impeachment moves. It is important to understand the motives of the movers of the impeachment motion, and also of those who are decrying it. 

Our entire political class has roots in our rural areas. Every village has a few families owning relatively larger tracts of land who are forever engaged in getting a patwari (the lowest revenue official)), a thanedar (the lowest police officer), and the local magistrate of their choice appointed. The quest of every "˜politician' is that those entrusted with impartial applications of the law and the rules should bend the laws and rules in their favour. At the national level, the entire political class see the Prime Minister as the head patwari, Army Chief as the head thanedar and the chief justice as the chief magistrate. It has been the principal quest of every new ruler to have his men as the Prime Minister (or the President), the Army Chief and the Chief Justice.

General Musharraf was no different. He was himself the Army Chief and he did not tolerate a political stalwart as Prime Minister; Mr Jamali and Shaukat Aziz were handpicked by him and they both acted like a chief patwari who knew who appointed them. The entire purpose of the PCO, promulgated upon the military take over, is to eliminate any judge who might have integrity. This "˜military methodology' worked for Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zia ul Haq and Pervez Musharraf. But eight years appears to be the maximum time for which it works. Musharraf wanted to extend this period of time but failed. I have no doubt he will be impeached. He might even have the distinction of being the first army chief to be tried for treason under Article 6 of the Constitution.

  What we see now is Asif Zardari struggling to tighten his grip on power. He has own man as the Prime Minister and as the Chief Justice. The purpose of the impeachment move is to have his man as the President. He is eager to rein in the armed forces but they are institutionally strong. The attempt to place the ISI under operational and financial control of mafia boss Rehman Malik, backfired. The armed forces - despite corruption having seeped into higher ranks - still work as institutions i.e. they work by rules, and the law applies to all. But the Generals who get into political appointments learn quickly that the political class operates like Mafiosi where the only law is "˜obey the boss-right or wrong'. They cannot last too long in political office because their comrades take note of their transformation, hold them in contempt, and oust them from their fraternity.

Asif Zardari has chosen the Prime Minister well. Like every good patwari, Yousaf Raza Gilani, knows who is the boss. But the lawyers' moment, which is both unexpected and unprecedented, has made sure that Dogar led Supreme Court is still short of legitimacy. Asif Zardari has been ready to restore any number of judges who took a new oath; all he wants is that Mr Dogar stays as the Chief Justice. He has chosen to sidestep the issue and get his man into the Presidents House first. If he succeeded, he will soon be ousted himself.  The country needs and wants the institutions of the state to provide a system of "˜checks and balance'. The longer he takes trying in vain to keep his man as CJ and get his man into Presidency, the more severe becomes the meltdown of the economy.

What Asif Zardari is trying to do was tried by every ruler of Pakistan since Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. They all, more or less, succeeded in putting their men in charge and made every institution of the state into a mafia. It was their effort to transform the military into a mafia, obeying their every whim, when they became unstuck. Asif Zardari has become unstuck so early for several reasons. He does not have the popularity, credibility or the charisma of his civil or military predecessors. His close colleagues are the likes of Rehman Malik who earned world renown in shady deals. The world has changed and so has Pakistan. The media is mediocre but it is free. Pakistan is in the eye of the storm because of geo-politics. It is no longer a place where cuts and commissions is all that the PM and other ministers have to negotiate.

Asif Zardari is utterly out of his depth. He could let the institutions work by rules they make themselves for themselves as long as they apply them uniformly and transparently. They will do so for their own safety and survival. Pakistan is much bigger than a patwar: its people deserve good governance. If having his own man as CJ and as the President makes him feel secure, he is not the right man to lead the country. Good governance depends on laws and rules being applied impartially to all. It will not matter much whether Musharraf is impeached first or the judges restored first. What will matter is that Asif Zaradri shows the same good sense that he showed when he spurned the PML(Q) and MQM as coalition partners. He knew that was the recipe for Musharraf to continue to rule.

The doubts created by the APDM and Aitzaz notwithstanding, Asif Zardari can gain respect and regain stature if he was to announce that he would give one of the top jobs - the President or the Prime Minister "“ to PML(N). He would make the country ecstatic with joy if he surprised everybody and restored all the judges on the first day of the next session of the parliament "“ on 11 August.