The resignation of Mr Farooq Leghari as President of Pakistan on November 2, came as a “surprise” to many. This was because Mr Leghari made no significant attempt to convey his views to the press or correct the government’s disinformation campaign against him. Indeed, Mr Leghari’s “spokesman” limited himself to a few short denials instead of lengthy explanations of the President’s conduct on a number of critical occasions. Mr Leghari’s argument for not going public was simple: he did not wish to add fuel to the fire at a time when his efforts were still directed at seeking an honourable compromise between PM Nawaz Sharif and CJ Sajjad Ali Shah.
But to those in the know, a presidential resignation was increasingly on the cards as the storm gathered momentum and President Leghari found himself stranded in no man’s land between an obdurate CJ and an aggressive PM. However, it can now be confirmed that Mr Leghari formally offered his resignation to the PM two weeks ago when the following gentlemen gathered together for a meeting at the Presidency: PM Sharif, speaker Soomro, chairman senate Sajjad, law minister Anwar and COAS, General Karamat. President Leghari explained why, in all conscience, he could not agree to a reference in the Supreme Judicial Council against the CJ. He also explained why he thought the amendment in the contempt of court law was constitutionally malafide. He offered his resignation so that the government could proceed to amend the constitution and throw out the CJ. However, when the army chief and the PM protested and rejected his proposal out of hand, it was agreed that a ceasefire would be called again and the army chief would meet the CJ and request a postponement in the hearings of the cases against the PM.
We all know what happened next: the ceasefire was violated when a two member bench of the SC in Quetta suddenly accepted a writ petition challenging the appointment of CJ Shah and ordered his suspension without assigning reasons. This was followed by further attacks on the CJ: unruly scenes in the Supreme Court followed by a mob assault instigated by the government and led by ruling party members. The final nail in the CJ’s coffin was hammered by one of the rebellious judges in Peshawar when he called a “full court” session of the SC to overthrow the CJ.
When the CJ wrote to the President asking him to provide protection under article 190 of the constitution, what could the President do? The government’s assurances had been violated with impunity. The CJ was also well within his rights to seek assistance under given constitutional provisions. President Leghari therefore directed the government to ask the army to protect the CJ. The government refused. The CJ made the same request to the army chief. The army chief passed on the CJ’s request to the defence minister. The ministry refused. The PM now went to the nation and accused President Leghari of conspiring with the CJ to undo his government.
With accusations flying thick and fast, President Leghari took stock of the rapidly deteriorating situation. He decided he could no longer play any mediatory role between the PM and the CJ because the PM had gone so far as to cast serious allegations against him too. He therefore decided to resign on the morning of Dec 1. But he was persuaded by his aides to hold back his decision pending the outcome of the initiatives of the Supreme Court Bar Council to arrange a “settlement” between the CJ and the dissenting judges. By late afternoon that day, it was announced that a settlement had been affected. The President was now persuaded to defer his decision to resign and wait for the agreement to manifest itself in the SC. However, by evening, it was announced that the agreement had broken down and fireworks could be expected in court on Nov 2. Once again, the President made ready to resign if the matter between the government and the CJ was not settled amicably.
On the morning of Dec 2, there were two benches in the SC, each purporting to be the Supreme Court itself. Justice Shah shot down the 13th amendment. Within minutes the dissenting judges shot down his judgment and proclaimed Justice Ajmal Mian the acting CJ. The government immediately sent a summary to President Leghari asking him to notify Justice Ajmal Mian as the acting CJ.
The President was deeply embarrassed by Justice Shah’s suspension of the 13th amendment. He had said time and again that he did not want his powers under the 8th amendment restored because he had decided on principle never to use such powers to dismiss a government again. Now it would appear, he reasoned, that he had conspired with Justice Shah to acquire the same powers because he wanted to dismiss the government. There was therefore only one honourable course of action open to him: resign immediately. Some of his aides tried to dissuade him by saying that the fact that he would not dismiss the government despite possessing the power to do so should prove that there was never any conspiracy on his part to undo Mr Sharif.
But the President was unmoved. His counter argument was simple: the government had formally asked him to denotify Justice Shah as CJ and appoint Justice Ajmal Mian as the acting CJ. He could not do so because he believed it would be a travesty of the law and the constitution which he had pledged to uphold and protect. No, he insisted, it was time to go home because he could no longer sit in the Presidency and sign the death warrants of the judiciary. The question of being impeached if he didn’t sign on the dotted line did not bother him for a minute. Indeed, he relished the opportunity to address parliament and “go down fighting” for a good cause. But that course of action was rejected because it would have prolonged the conflict to no different end and added to the agony of the people of Pakistan. Now that he is gone, it may be worthwhile to assess Farooq Leghari’s role as a politician in the murky world of Pakistani politics.
Many of Mr Leghari’s actions in the first two years of his Presidency were indefensible because he chose to be more loyal than the Queen. However, he stood his ground when Ms Bhutto tried to demolish the judiciary. Since then, all his actions have been constitutionally valid and consistent, including the dismissal of his mentor’s government which he did most reluctantly. His caretaker regime was under tremendous pressure from all sorts of forces, including sections of the press, to postpone the elections, carry out ruthless accountability, to debar both Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif and to put the economy on the rails again. But he stuck to the constitution and put elections before accountability, in the process antagonising those who felt that all politicians were corrupt and accountability was the need of the hour. He was criticised for relaxing election rules so that the leaders of the two main parties could contest the polls. But he had no choice: if he had debarred Bhutto and Sharif the elections would have lacked all credibility. He was harangued for his choice of certain caretaker ministers and governors. But this was not an unforgivable lapse in view of the limited and non-heroic objectives of his administration.
Later, he went out of his way to pave the path for Mr Sharif’s new government. He had no objection when Mr Sharif decided to get rid of the 8th amendment. He signed on the 14th amendment even though he had some qualms about it. But when it came to the independence of the judiciary, he would not be swayed, as in 1996. At all times, he was careful to give advice to the new government only when it was sought. He cautioned Mr Sharif not to clash with the CJ over a minor issue like the elevation of five judges to the SC in which the CJ was well within his rights. He tried to play the role of a mediator until Mr Sharif, obsessed by power and haunted by demons, lashed out at him and made his position as President untenable.
Some people don’t like Farooq Leghari because of his political background as a Piplia. Some are alienated from him because he is “Sardar of the Legharis”, an unhappy reminder of colonial largesse. Others complain of his stiff, even haughty demeanour. One should not quibble over such half-truths. The fact is that Mr Leghari remains amongst the cleanest politicians in Pakistan. The fact is that he sacrificed his life-long friendship and association with Ms Bhutto for the sake of the country. The fact is that he did not allow his own political ambitions in late ’96 to thwart the will of the constitution. The fact is that he stood up for the judiciary against the encroachments of power hungry PMs like Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif. The fact is that he refused to compromise on the rule of law in exchange for a second term in office. The fact is that he chose to resign from the highest office in the land when he could no longer bring himself to sanction the murder of the constitution. How many politicians can lay claim to such attributes in this hapless country? Farooq Leghari may be out but he is by no means down. At 58, he will be up and about in no time. And that is, perhaps, the way it was meant to be.
A fair judgment on Justice Sajjad Ali Shah will take time to come. For the moment, his detractors will hold the ground. But history has a funny way of mocking the present. In the end, when all the facts are available, when all the conspirators have been identified, and when political or personal provocations have been sifted from the inherent rights of the judiciary, Justice Shah will be acknowledged, however grudgingly, as the first, true liberator of the judiciary in Pakistan.
PM Nawaz Sharif has now become all powerful. For him, it is a dream finally come true. For some of us, it could become a recurring nightmare. It is instructive that Mr Sharif should have dug in his heels and risked his all over a minor matter such as the issue of the five judges. It is even more ominous that he should have staked the country’s judicial and economic stability merely out of pique or the arrogance of power. Those who are celebrating his victory should pause and reconsider the consequences of budding fascism, which has historically paraded as the ultimate form of peoples democracy. Mr Sharif has destroyed the bureaucracy and the judiciary. He has decimated the opposition. If there is any unshackled institution left, it had better watch out. Sooner or later, Mr Sharif’s instinct for devouring institutions is bound to focus on it. That is when the real fun will begin. We hope and pray that those who gallantly stood by Mr Sharif in his hour of need will not rue this day for a long, long time to come.