"Pakistani official downplays judicial dispute" by Associated Press | February 15, 2010
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The country’s prime minister sought to defuse tension yesterday over a Supreme Court decision to strike down a presidential order appointing two top judges, saying the dispute would not threaten political stability.
So when can we get our troops in, 'murka? Blackwater and CIA already there; however, this will make it U.S. ground troops official.
But Pakistan’s leading opposition figure, Nawaz Sharif, sought to emphasize the issue to pressure President Asif Ali Zardari, saying his decision to appoint two judges opposed by the court showed he was “the biggest threat to democracy.’’
Zardari has clashed with Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry in the past, and the court’s decision to reject the appointments late Saturday sparked fears that the conflict could destabilize Pakistan at a time when it is battling a raging Taliban-led insurgency.
“Today, if there is really a danger to democracy, it is through these kinds of acts by Zardari,’’ Sharif said. “The government is attacking the judiciary to protect its corruption.’’
Hey, just like here, American!!!
Remember the Bush years and AttorneyGate? No?
Related:
["Democracy" has never stood a chance of really taking root in Pakistan because of the multiple powerful interests who treat the nation like their personal possession. Democracy relies upon the basic goodness of most human beings, expressed in a consensus, to oversee government. If the people, in the goodness of their hearts, grow weary of the games and ego trips ruling Pakistan with an iron fist, they will stand together once again behind their Chief Justice as he defends them against the powers that be.] -- Zardari/Gilani Disrupting Government to Distract From Inquiry Into State Terrorism
"Judiciary backed in opposing Zardari" by Bloomberg News | February 16, 2010
ISLAMABAD - Pakistani lawyers and opposition parties will back the judiciary in a renewed confrontation between the chief justice and President Asif Ali Zardari’s government over the appointment of judges.
Didn't they just go through this with Mushariff-raff?
Lawyers boycotted courts across the country yesterday and gathered in several cities, including Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore, shouting slogans against the government and burning flags of the ruling party.
That is not a threat to democracy; that is democracy!!!
Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif told a news conference Sunday that Zardari was a “threat to democracy’’
The conflict with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Sharif, twice a former premier, is weakening Zardari’s government as it faces economic turmoil and fights Taliban militants in its northwest. Chaudhry shot to fame when he was fired by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in 2007.
“This is the biggest challenge Zardari has faced since taking office,’’ said Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, associate professor of international relations at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad. “It is also the first time that Sharif has directly started criticizing the president.’’
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The threat is all in your point-of-view, isn't it?
"A Smart Coup: Why One Last Military Intervention In Pakistan Remains A Possibility
.... If the national deadlock continues with mounting domestic instability due to massive corruption and mismanagement by our politicians, the military may have to contend with one last intervention. It would be the last because if the military failed this time to help set Pakistan on the right track, it could be a free fall after that because Pakistanis are getting increasingly restless with the existing decay. Social turmoil simmers just beneath the surface.
If it comes to a military-led intervention, both military officers and politicians will have to stay out of actual power. The army chief may not become a chief executive. The military might have to look into a new concept called the ‘Smart Coup’, where the military can bring capable Pakistanis to power with a firm executable plan of reform over five years, or more, fully backed by the military. There may not be time to put the plan to vote. It will have to be implemented.
This would be the absolute last option. But we are nowhere near that right now. Gen. Kayani certainly has no such thing in mind according to people who have met him. He wants democracy to work for the time being and he has proven this by resisting several opportunities to intervene over the past two years.
Pakistan is full of resources and opportunities, but it lacks good leadership and clean management. Even the bare minimum of these two commodities is not available in today’s Pakistan.
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[Perhaps Mr. Quraishi is repaying a debt to his political benefactors within the Kuwaiti occupation authorities who discovered him, recognizing his potential to contribute to their right-wing cause, or maybe its his lifelong infatuation with the military, but Ahmed has really strained his own credibility with this paean to Gen. Kayani. Kayani is joined at the hip with Admiral Mullen. To welcome a military intervention by the Pakistani Army is to welcome American intervention in Pakistan's struggling democracy. Pakistan's only real hope is for some stout-hearted Pakistani leader, perhaps a doctor, or other respected professional man to come forward and gather popular support to Chief Justice Chaudhry, as he tries to find Pakistan's "disappeared" and reign-in the all-powerful agencies of Pakistan, who answer to no one.] -- A Military Coup Is Never A Smart Thing
While I agree with the gist of the commentary via military coups, I certainly can understand Mr. Quraishi's feelings and concerns seeing as I've entertained the thought here at times over the last decade.
And IF Obomber and his crew continue with the missiles and GIVE the ORDER to BOMB IRAN I want our military to do the right thing and ARREST his WAR CRIMINAL CABINET!!
