London — For as long as I can remember, the politics of Pakistan have been discussed in binary terms: civil vs. military, democracy vs. dictatorship, good vs. evil. The ouster this week of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on an order of the Supreme Court changes all that. Thanks to this “judicial coup,” as many in Pakistan are calling the move, the country is now in effect being run by a ménage-à-trois.
And while the politicians, the generals and the judges play tug of war, each in the name of the Pakistani people, no one is really looking out for the country’s welfare.
Gilani was dismissed for refusing to heed court orders requiring him to pursue corruption allegations against President Asif Zardari. For many, this seemed like an attack against the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. The court had been gunning for the president ever since he opposed the reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in 2009.
The decision’s timing also suggests a vendetta: Gilani’s ouster comes on the heels of a political scandal involving the chief justice himself. Last week, Malik Riaz, a real-estate tycoon with close links to both the P.P.P. and the Pakistani Army, accused Chaudhry’s son of corruption and Chaudhry himself of knowing about junior’s wheeling and dealing. Those accusations left the chief justice’s reputation tarnished and the country wondering whether Riaz had been unleashed by the civilian government or the military. Indeed, the Supreme Court has also been looking into widespread allegations that the security forces have carried out abductions and extrajudicial killings in Baluchistan, where separatists have waged an insurgency since 2006.
Not only are Pakistan’s top judges and elected officials battling it out through official channels and underhanded means alike. All of them are justifying their positions by claiming to have a mandate from the populace. Gilani has long claimed that he, an elected representative, cannot be removed from his post by an unelected bench. During a court hearing this week, the chief justice struck back, mocking Gilani’s claim to democratic legitimacy by implying that a convict could not represent a population of 180 million people. And Justice Jawwad Khawaja declared that judges also “represent the will of the people.”
Muhammed Muheisen/Associated PressAs politicians in Pakistan play tug of war, no one is looking out for the country’s welfare.Likewise, the chief of the army, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, has declared that the Pakistani people and the army “are one.” And earlier this year, the host of a popular political talk show, Kamran Khan, got into a heated on-air argument with Pakistan’s information minister after claiming that media professionals are the true representatives of the public.
While these would-be titans clash, ordinary Pakistanis remain decidedly unrepresented.
Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab, was rocked with riots for three consecutive days this week following power outages that sometimes lasted up to 20 hours. In Karachi, the country’s financial hub, 740 people were killed in ethno-political clashes during the first five months of this year. (The violence has flared up again this week.) A recent resurgence of bomb attacks across northwestern Pakistan has reminded locals that the threat of terrorism persists.
But who has time to address these pressing issues when there’s a good power struggle waiting to be won?