After a gruelling, six-hour cabinet meeting on Thursday 20th November in which it was finally decided to impeach President Farooq Leghari and drag Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah before the national assembly’s privileges committee, everyone paused to take stock of the consequences of their decision. Yes, it was plaintively admitted, the PM’s “plan” would lead to an irrevocable constitutional breakdown and conceivably provoke martial law.
In the stunning silence that followed, one man who had kept his council boldly raised his hand and suggested an alternative. Yes, yes, speak up, they urged him, hoping against hope for a miracle “solution”. The chief minister of the NWFP, Mr Mehtab Abbasi, cleared his throat, looked at the PM with all the sincerity in the world, and said softly: “You could resign, PM”.
After the uproar had died down, Mr Sharif turned to the beleaguered CM, spread his hands in mock humility, and asked: “But what have I done? Where is my fault? Why should I be the one to go home”? A pregnant silence ensued. Why should this question have gone abegging?
There is, after all, a rational answer to it. Mian Nawaz Sharif should go home because he is guilty of the premeditated murder of democracy in Pakistan. He is guilty of destroying the legitimacy of the parliament of Pakistan. He is guilty of contemning the Supreme Court of Pakistan and instigating attempted coups against the Chief Justice of Pakistan. He is guilty of attacking the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Pakistan. He is guilty of spreading institutional anarchy and political chaos across the length and breadth of Pakistan. And he is guilty of the most abysmal mismanagement of the economy which has brought it to the brink of breakdown.
The tragedy is all the greater because those who voted for Mr Sharif had such great expectations of him. But he has mocked, humiliated and injured his mandate at every step. The people of Pakistan threw out Benazir Bhutto because they thought Mr Sharif had learnt his lessons and reformed himself. But he has betrayed the people and their hopes like a treacherous enemy. Has he taken leave of his senses?
Mian Nawaz Sharif had everything going for him. The President of Pakistan had swallowed his pride and prejudice to extend the hand of friendship and cooperation to him. But Mr Sharif has chosen to impeach him for upholding the constitution and protecting the national interest. The Chief Justice and the Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld the dissolution of Benazir Bhutto’s government and paved the way for the elections so that he could become prime minister. But Mr Sharif has sown bitter divisions in the ranks of the Supreme Court and brought it into acute disrepair.
The people of this country rejected Benazir Bhutto and reposed their trust and faith in Mian Nawaz Sharif so that he could give them peace of mind and security of life. The people yearn for governance, not power play; they yearn for stability, not disorder; they yearn for cohesion, not confusion. But Mr Sharif has gifted us with soaring inflation, unemployment and violence in equal measure. What is he going to do now, what last-ditch attempt will he make to stop the sky from falling on his head? What further havoc will he wreak on the hapless institutions and people of this country?
It all began with Mr Sharif’s obsession with a Saudi Arabian type of summary justice system which would have direly threatened, even destroyed, our age old institutions and traditions of justice and law. The Chief Justice cautioned him, even promising to meet the same objective of speedy justice within the parameters of the existing system. But no, Mr Sharif insisted on having his way. Then he wanted to pack the Supreme Court with handpicked judges, an offence for which Ms Bhutto had to pay dearly. When the chief justice resisted, Mr Sharif conspired to have him overthrown by his brother judges. When that failed, he tried to personalise the constitution and save himself from being convicted of contempt of court. He now threatened the President with impeachment if he didn’t go along with him. When the President dug in his heels, Mr Sharif sent an SOS to the COAS, General Jehangir Karamat, and begged him to intercede on his behalf. [This, from a prime minister who has cried himself hoarse emphasising the “supremacy” of parliament.] However, after the COAS arranged a cease-fire to enable Mr Sharif to step back from the brink, the prime minister did not let up on his madness. In another mad move, he tried to inspire another coup against the chief justice and failed. How can anyone or any institution feel secure in the presence of a prime minister such as Mian Nawaz Sharif?
If Mr Sharif wants a “solution” to a crisis exclusively of his own making, he should make way for a more sane, rational, reasonable and efficient incumbent of the prime ministerial chair. If he cannot bring himself to do that, someone should have mercy on us and show him the way out.