NRO, Independent Judiciary and The Nation

The failure of government on National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and publishing the list of beneficiaries of NRO; a new Pandora box has been opened in the Pakistani politics. Many observers and analysts are of the view that the incumbent ministers having their names in the NRO list should resign from their respective offices; whereas these public office holders believe that unless and until they are proven guilty; they should and will not resign from their portfolios.

The debate can be a never ending and the points put forth can go from logical to illogical; but perhaps these leaders and politicians of ours, do not realize that they are not only playing with this country but also with this nation that is going through one of the most torrid times of their lives. The list of the NRO beneficiaries has already been mentioned in one of our previous posts; and it surely includes one of the most important office holders of our country.

The funny part here is that one institute of the government will fight the other institute of the government i.e. NAB versus Law Ministry or Attorney General; one of the most unique incidents ever. This marks another debate in the country that the so-called ‘Independent Judiciary’ will be put to test. The will be the first test of the Judiciary, after the reinstatement of the Judges which was marked by struggle, sacrifices and a Long March.

The pressure of putting a sitting government’s minister to task is undoubtedly huge but then finding out the ground realities and making a judgment on merit is all what an Independent Judiciary stands for. After going through the new Judicial Policy – 2009; it seems that it should not take much time for the cases to be solved; as in the new judicial policy the whole stress has been laid on making the system more effective and prompt.

The cases which vary in nature from Corruption to Criminal; all will be put forth. The media has already has its hands full due to NRO and a debate is underway; whereas the lawyers are prepared to be hired and public is ready to witness a unique situation in the country, and perhaps the Judiciary is about to go through the toughest challenges of its history.

The judiciary already enjoys a notorious nation for always being part of the greater evil in the country; whether it was hanging of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto or validating marshal laws in the country. For the first time in Pakistan; the judiciary has fought its way back and people for once are trusting; the judiciary for a fair decision. Though not much relief has been provided by the current ‘Independent Judiciary’ even the suo moto’s taken so far has not reaped out a fruitful result for the dreading nation.

Perhaps the symbol of independent judiciary, Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr. Iftikhar Chaudhry; might not be even hearing to a lot of cases; as the political people accused usually request for that and in such a case nothing can be done by Chief Justice; as it is the first and foremost right of the accused. Once you take the Chief Justice out of the picture than it seems easier for the powerful politicians to bully aside the other judges of Supreme Court.

The NAB director has already stated in an interview that cases closed in NRO cannot be reopened; for which the stakeholders will wait till the deadline put forth by the Supreme court and that is 28th November, 2009; after which these NRO-beneficiaries and their respective cases will be aligned in high courts and supreme court.

I wonder what stake the nation has in all this. Terror, financial and commodity crisis hit nation will only get some entertainment and time pass from the tensions and hostilities of the government. Though if the cases are sought on merit and if the judiciary and the opposition parties are successful in bringing the plundered money back to the country’s exchequer; it will not only reduce the debt burden of the country but will also be helpful to the nation either through development projects or through a subsidy or whether employment creation; but perhaps this is over-optimism because neither the judiciary nor the opposition parties or for that matter any leader has any power to bring back the looted money. And the very reason for me making such a statement is the example of petrol, sugar, power and missing persons issue.

Remember at one point in time all of this was presented in front of this ‘Independent Judiciary’, it’s the same incumbent government, same opposition parties, same parliament and same nation.

What happened to petrol prices? The Supreme Court took a Suo Moto; and government reduced the petrol prices by PKR 1 less than 10% of the than petrol price.

What happened in the sugar crisis? Another Suo Moto; judgment was passed to sell sugar at PKR 40, and what happened? There is no sugar in the market at PKR 40!

What happened on power crisis? The Federal Minister yelled in his immature exuberance that there will be no load shedding after June, 2009; then he changed his stance to December, 2009 and now to June 2010! Who has held him accountable? He is still the Federal Minister of
Power – which by the way has been declared one of the most corrupt ministries of the year

Last but not the least –Missing persons! Well they are still missing; and there were so many promises and so much enthusiasm to do something; but perhaps too late and too little is the order of the day!

We are an emotional nation; we believe in the promises made by not-so-credible people; they do evil things for many years and their one good deed makes them super heroes for us;

Asif Ali Zardari – ‘Pakistan Khapay’

Nawaz Sharif – Nuclear tests

Ifitkhar Chaudhry – ‘No to a dictator’

And remember all these good deeds were personally motivated and not for the nation!

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